Last Day

Well, it's my last day on the farm, and I'm feeling a bit sad to be leaving. I think what I'll miss most is playing with the kids in the kindergarten. They are so sweet and smart, and it was great to be a part of their school experience, even if it was just for a short time. Being an only child (and not having done any previous teaching), I have often felt a bit clueless about little kids, so I think I might have learned more than they did! I sent a long email to the next volunteer with a detailed update on what we've covered so far and what they like / don't like and what songs we're singing, etc. He probably thinks I'm being a bit over the top, but I get the impression that kindergarten lesson planning is a bit haphazard as volunteers come and go, so, in my usual style, I'm trying to inject a little structure into the process;)

As far as the other projects go, it's been a busy 4 weeks. The owner and I have worked out a sustainable development management plan for the farm, and we have a series of goals and timeframes for projects relating to wildlife conservation, water conservation, energy efficiency, waste management, and staff and community development. These are based on recommendations from the Eco Award Namibia organization, HAN (Hospitality Association of Namibia) and MET (Ministry of Environment and Tourism). I've also drawn up some employee annual review criteria and forms so that the owner can start giving staff more regular feedback on how they are doing, as well as communicate expectations and goals more clearly at the beginning of the year. This is part of an overall push to improve guest services (since we have mainly European clients, and African levels of service are quite a different thing from European style interactions). To relate the annual review objectives to measurable goals, I've revised the guest feedback questionnaire to include some more metrics on levels of service and satisfaction with the different activities, etc. To bring all of this together, we now have a staff "best practices" handbook for the different areas (reception, meal/drinks service, guides, etc.) as well. So, as you can tell, I've been running around the farm from kindergarten to computer to put all of this documentation together. It's been really interesting, though, and I know I've learned a huge amount just by being here and seeing what ecotourism means in the context of a developing country, as well as what sorts of social development projects are working well in the community vs. what has not gone so well.

I hope you have enjoyed the blog - I haven't been as prolific a writer as I'd hoped, but it was still nice to know that my friends and family were following my adventures. If I get internet access during my time in Etosha or Sossusvlei, I'll probably post again. Otherwise, it's back to the UK on the 16th!