About Paulina

Paulina, doing her best to hide a smile, in the classroomNext there is Paulina, or Tandaveleni, which is her Oshiwambo name. Her generous spirit and hard working nature constantly inspired us.

Those of you who read our blogs know that the children LOVED working to help us. Paulina, however, stood out from the rest in this regard. When the other children would be coloring or playing games, Paulina would be searching for the broom, cleaning the kitchen counters, or helping herself to the laundry detergent under the sink (often without asking either of us -- she simply knew where to find it) and proceeding to take our laundry outside to wash.

Initially, this behavior made us a little uncomfortable at times. The last thing we wanted, as volunteers who came to Namibia to assist in the education of these children, was to exploit them. And there were times when we had to gently let Paulina know that, please, it was time to stop working and play with the other kids. But it didn’t take long for the true nature of Paulina’s behavior to sink in with us: it isn’t that she has merely been trained or conditioned to work hard by adults in authority over her; she is an extraordinarily giving person, who genuinely wants to be of service to others.

Paulina with some of her friendsFor us as American citizens, this kind of selfless motivation takes some time to sink in. It might have been one of the times that we gave Paulina some candy (a “sweet,” Namibians call it) as a reward for doing well, and she took it upon herself to split up the treat and share with all the other children who were in our home at the time. It could have been when she, along with several other girls, received a gift from us -- a little handbag -- and went home and gave it right away to her mother. Whatever it was that most strongly affected us about Paulina, by the end of our year in Omungwelume there was no doubt that she is a truly rare sort of person.

Paulina lives with her great aunt, who cares for her in addition to several other children. While it is a warm and loving household, the family has very little money, and Paulina’s parents do not live there (her mother lives in a nearby village, and her father lives in Windhoek, Namibia’s capital). Of course, if living in Namibia taught us anything, it’s that you don’t need money to be happy or to live a fulfilling life; however, it’s also true that, in Namibia as in the United States, those with no money enjoy fewer opportunities and often have greater trouble overcoming problems -- for instance sickness and hunger -- that can be easily solved with a little money.

Fortunately, no one in Paulina’s family is afflicted with any serious health issues (that we know of). But the notion that Paulina, a person with tremendous promise, could go her whole life without experiencing what the world is like outside her village, or without receiving an education beyond the secondary school level, is one that we are simply not willing to accept. We know that Paulina has an amazingly bright future ahead of her, and we want to be a part of it.