Watermelon Is Life: Invaluable Lessons from Teaching English Abroad

by Wes Weston

AN INSPIRING TALE OF A VOLUNTEER TEACHER ABROAD! Namibia is a country of intrigue and mystique. Many of the country’s regions are economically deprived, but rich with culture and tradition. For one year, Wes Weston lives and teaches out in the rural countryside. Water and electricity are intermittent, donkeys and livestock roam the school grounds, and the pace of life is almost at a standstill. But Weston learns invaluable lessons in this new environment, ultimately discovering that perhaps one person can’t change the world, but the world can certainly change one person. Watermelon is Life is a lighthearted and humorous travelogue of a volunteer teacher in rural Namibia. It is the second book in the Do U English series, chronicling the educational misadventures of Wes Weston. Follow along with the extraordinary journey, as Weston attempts to teach the world.

231 pages, Kindle Edition

First published December 27, 2013

About the author

Wes Weston is nomadic. Upon graduating from the University of Colorado in 2002, he spent the following two years pursuing various adventures. Wes backpacked across Western Europe, traveled to Paraguay to work as a volunteer, completed a thru-hike of the Appalachian Trail, and worked seasonal jobs in Florida and Alaska to finance his wanderlust. Then, in 2004, Wes moved abroad for the first time in his life. What better place to begin an international escapade than the tropical country of Costa Rica. While living in Costa Rica, Wes worked as a volunteer coordinator for Habitat for Humanity International. He also encountered numerous people who taught English overseas. Finally, a vocation was chosen.

Since 2006, Wes has taught English abroad in several different countries. His work experience reflects a unique and diverse teaching career, involving various cultures, learning institutions, and age groups. Wes has taught ESL in South Korea, working one year at a language academy and two years at a university. He has also worked at a public high school in rural Namibia, discovering what it's like to live without comfortable amenities both in and out of the classroom. Most recently, Wes taught at a Catholic orphanage in the Dominican Republic working with at-risk children.

Reviews

[Buchdoktor · Rating 5 out of 5]

Wes Weston hat durch Vermittlung der Organisation World Teach ein Jahr lang als Lehrer an der Eengedjo Senior Secondary School in der Nähe von Oshakati in Namibia gearbeitet. Oshakati liegt weit im Norden im Ovamboland und ist mit 36 000 Einwohnern das wirtschaftliche Zentrum der Gegend, in dem man seine Einkäufe erledigt. Weston wohnt, wie auch viele seiner Schüler, in der Schule – und dort gibt es außer der Hauptstraße mit ein paar Kiosken nichts. Weston ist für seine Tätigkeit vorher von seinem Veranstalter sehr viel besser vorbereitet als viele andere Freiwillige, die Flug und Unterkunft für ihren Einsatz selbst finanzieren. Nicht vorbereitet ist er auf den schieren Mangel, es fehlt in seiner Schule an Stühlen für jeden Schüler und auch an Lehrmaterial. Wichtigstes Lehrmaterial ist hier die Persönlichkeit des Lehrers. Wie weise ein Rat eines Windhukers war, wird Weston erst zum Ende seines Einsatzes erkennen. Der Man gab ihm mit auf den Weg: Du sollst deine Schüler unterrichten und erziehen, du sollst sie nicht bemitleiden.

Als US-Amerikaner ist Weston die Erfahrung anderer Nationen völlig fremd, dass Kinder viele Jahre damit verbringen die Amtssprache oder ihre erste Fremdsprache in Wort und Schrift zu lernen. Aus meiner Sicht als Europäerin, die auch Jahre mit dem Lernen von Fremdsprachen verbracht hat, liegt ein amerikanisches Gehirn teilweise brach, weil es sich nur mit der Muttersprache beschäftigt. Aus seinem für mich als Europäerin sehr begrenzten Blickwinkel reflektiert der junge Mann seine Unterrichtserfahrung. Weston wird sogleich damit konfrontiert, dass sich in Namibia ein ganz eigenes Englisch herausgebildet hat, mit Wörtern, die in anderer Bedeutung genutzt werden als in den USA und dessen Grammatik vielleicht ihren Sinn in ihrer Ähnlichkeit zur Stammessprache des Sprechers hat. Vermutlich war Weston sich nicht darüber klar, dass amerikanisches Englisch in anderen Regionen der Welt auch nur als ein Dialekt innerhalb der englischen Sprache betrachtet wird, über dessen Sinn man streiten kann. Eine der wichtigsten Einsichten Westons war der Umgang mit Zeit, der sich in Afrika und Asien eklatant vom Zeitbegriff der Amerikaner und Europäer unterscheidet. Zeit wird hier der Gemeinschaft, der Familie, auch: der Schulfamilie untergeordnet. Das fällt nicht schwer, gibt es doch kaum einen Zeitvertreib, für den es lohnen würde, Freizeit für sich selbst zu schaffen. Weston fällt dadurch auf, dass er es stets eilig hat – warum soll man sich in Afrika beeilen, muss er sich fragen lassen, davon kommen die anderen Menschen noch lange nicht schneller zum Unterricht oder zur Lehrerkonferenz.

Mit dem Fortschreiten der Schultrimester erkennt Weston, dass seine Schüler für ein 12-klassiges Schulsystem erstaunlich niedrige formale Leistungen bringen und warum ihnen grundlegende Fähigkeiten fehlen, formale Leistungsüberprüfungen abzulegen. Der spezielle Umgang mit Zeit, ein Verhalten, das er als Apathie erlebt, und die fehlende berufliche Perspektive der Kinder schließen sich in Westons Verständnis zum Kreis. Die Schüler stellen nüchtern fest, dass sie arm sind und bleiben werden und dass sie alle dieses Schicksal teilen. Weston ist wie viele Weiße mit dem Bild von hungernden Negerkindern erzogen worden und vermutlich haben nur wenige Weiße die Gelegenheit, das Schulsystem eines jungen afrikanischen Staates so direkt selbst zu erfahren wie er hier im Ovamboland.

Durch Westons Kritik speziell am Niveau des Englischunterrichts im staatlichen Schulsystem Namibias kann ich nun auch den Unterschied erkennen zwischen sich einigermaßen verständigen können und dem Beherrschen der Verwaltungssprache im globalen Vergleich. Als authentischer, selbstkritischer Beitrag aus der Sicht eines Helfers trägt Westons Buch zur dringend nötigen Auseinandersetzung bei, wie viel Hilfeleistung für afrikanische Staaten sinnvoll ist.

[Kimberly · Rating 5 out of 5]

I read this book during my trip to Namibia. It’s an easy read which makes it the perfect holiday book. Obviously what I liked most was that it offered some insight on Namibian traditions and the lives some people are living in the north. I also enjoy reading about other people’s experiences while living abroad, I think Wes wrote this down nicely in this little book.

[Kenya Starflight · Rating 2 out of 5]

Thanks to authors like Bill Bryson and Tony James Slater, I've found myself interested in travel books. Seeing as I can't afford to travel to exotic places myself, the next best thing would naturally be to live vicariously through those who have traveled themselves. And while I wasn't expecting "Watermelon Is Life" to be as uproariously funny as either Bryson or Slater, I figured it would at least be informative and entertaining. Well, it sure is informative -- Wes Weston loves to drop huge swaths of information whenever he can -- but as for entertaining or even telling much of a coherent story, it wasn't so much. And while his work as a volunteer teacher in Namibia has its amusing and heartbreaking moments, I never felt I connected with him or the people he interacted with in the same way I did with Bryson and Slater's work.

"Watermelon Is Life" documents the story of Wes Weston, an American who journeys to the African nation of Namibia to teach English and other courses at a rural school for a year. Both water and electricity are patchy, the school is distressingly understaffed and under-supplied, and the students have a lackadaisical approach to their own learning and often are more interested in watching "Harry Potter" movies and playing computer games than actually applying themselves. Wes is frustrated but determined to make a difference... and over the course of a year he will befriend these students, learn a great deal about the country, and in the end leave a part of himself behind...

While I enjoyed Weston's writing, it's nothing masterful, and he often spends pages info-dumping on the reader. I don't mind a little history interwoven with a travel story -- it's a poor traveler who doesn't stop to learn more about the nation he's visiting, after all -- but little attempt was made to weave these sections seamlessly into the rest of the story, and at times it felt more like I was reading a textbook than a memoir. I came away from this book having learned quite a bit about the history and culture of Namibia and its educational system, but precious little about Weston's experiences or his relations with the people.

That's not to say there aren't entertaining passages in the book. There's confusion over the language (Namibians tend to use British English instead of American English, which results in some hilarity when a female student asks Weston if she can borrow a "rubber"), a festival where Weston is enlisted to help butcher chickens, and a moment of horrific-but-hilarious shock when a teacher praises Hitler during a speech. These moments are rather few and far between, though, and I had to plow through a lot of dry facts to get to them.

I wanted to like this book, but it was fairly dry and bland, and while I learned a lot about an overlooked country and its plight, I ultimately found Weston's story fairly forgettable. I suppose it also doesn't help that I read this book soon after reading The Poisonwood Bible, a book about American efforts to "help" an African nation going horribly awry... but even so, this book is fairly weak in comparison to that one, or to Bryson or Slater's work.

[Jo-Ann Duff · Rating 3 out of 5]

A personal tale of teaching in Namibia.

Wes Weston approached me to read and review Watermelon is Life and I'm glad he did, otherwise I never would have found it. I usually stick to fiction and shy away from autobiographical books, but this was a colourful, fun and easy read.

Educators and travellers will love this bite size (180 pages) personal snapshot of life as a Westerner working as a teacher in a Namibian School. The prose is very personal and chatty, more like an un-edited diary entry than a book. Wes's tale is speckled with humour and detailed situations which demonstrate the cultural and social differences between Wes and his new friends, colleagues and students.

An interesting personal insight into teaching and being an outsider in a close knit community.

I did try and read this on my kindle app for iPhone but it wasn't mobile friendly, although worked fine on my Kindle App for iPad.

I was given a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

[Scott Miller · Rating 3 out of 5]

Weston's memoir provides a unique view of his world while volunteering as a teacher in a small village in Namibia. As he shares the reality of his experienes, he is quite honest in his thoughts, his potential mistakes, and his growing pains. He provides a window into a world that anyone who teaches or even lives overseas can appreciate it.

[Jeanne · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is an excellent book about the author's experiences teaching as a volunteer for WorldTeach in Namibia. The book strikes a perfect balance between teaching, travel and the regular lives of Namibians. The stories are often humorous and always heartfelt.

[Karen · Rating 3 out of 5]

I enjoyed the author's previous book about teaching in Korea enough that I picked up this one about his further adventures teaching in Namibia. I appreciated the view into his experiences living in this rural part of Africa and of how the educational system works there.