Email journal: June 6, 2005, Namibia After completing my studies with the Center for Global Education based in Windhoek, I was ready to begin full time work with the Child Hope Initiative Project (CHIP). So far, it has been an amazing learning experience for me and has been a great way to apply my interest in community development and social justice. Working with CHIP has shown me a lot about how grassroots community efforts work and what it takes to execute projects with limited funding and volunteer support. I have finished my second week with the organization and will finish my time at the end of July. The organization runs most of its outreach activities in the Hainyeko Community Center in Hakahana, an informal settlement located in Katutura, the former black township in Windhoek. In the informal settlement, most residents own their land, but lack the ability to erect permanent structures. As such, most live in structures that are "informal" in nature, made out of zinc sheeting, wood and any other found materials, but "formal" for all intents and purposes, until sufficient finances are available. There is communal access to water points where people must use pre-paid water cards, as well as communal toilets, shared amongst a number of families. Although our outreach is focused at the community center, for a lack of any other facility, many of the organization's beneficiaries walk a very long distance from informal settlements to take advantage of CHIP's work in the community. My main responsibility is to assist CHIP with their school readiness program. This is a program intended to take out-of- school youth and prepare them, socially and academically, to reenter formal schooling. Many youth in the informal settlements have fallen out of school for a host of reasons. Some children have lost school placements because of their family's inability to pay their school fees, or because of urban migration where students have traveled to the city and have been unable to find school placements. Currently, there are four community volunteers that help run the School Readiness Program. We are currently working on supporting the children registered in the program to strengthen and become comfortable with the basic skills needed in schooling in Namibia, such as reading, writing, and English comprehension. I have been working with the volunteers to help them come up with activities for the children and have been working to create a schedule for activities during the day. So during the morning, I am at the Community Center providing support for the volunteers and students. In the afternoons, I have been able to work with the Program Coordinator on assisting the organization as a whole. I have been networking with public and private organizations in Windhoek and soliciting assistance for our programs. With that said, I will certainly be sending more updates soon on the latest work I've been doing and my latest observations. Evan