In this interview, you’ll hear from Sean Fienberg, a Peace Corps Community Economic Development (CED) volunteer in Namibia. Sean shares what daily life looks like, the work being done, and how service has shaped their personal and professional growth. You’ll learn about housing, cultural differences, project work, language learning, and what it’s like to live and work in a new country. This interview offers a real look into Peace Corps service and what future volunteers can expect.
Table of Contents
- Volunteer Experience and Motivation
- Living Arrangements and Cultural Integration
- Surprises and Challenges
- Advice and Support
- Practical Tips and Language Learning
- Social Identity
- Impact of Media and Final Thoughts
Volunteer Experience and Motivation
1. What do you do as a Peace Corps Development volunteer in Namibia?
I am partnered with a local municipality in central Namibia. Together with my counterpart, we are focused on uplifting and empowering the local entrepreneurs and business owners in our town.
We hold monthly market days, regular business skills trainings, repurpose old buildings and shipping containers to house new businesses, and I hold a weekly free help-desk in which community members can come in and get help on their resumes, job interview prep, digital literacy assistance, business plans required for bank loans, or any sort of assistance that they need that will help them in their professional endeavors.
I also recently helped upgrade the local library’s computer lab, and I teach there three times a week in computer basics, covering everything from mouse usage to Excel and other free software, depending on the class’s skill level.
2. Why did you decide to join the Peace Corps and serve in Namibia?
I decided to join the Peace Corps, mostly because of hearing stories about one of my aunts, who served in Turkey during the early 1970s. Her stories, heard from her as well as other family members, and the impact it had on her felt inspiring. And as I was finishing my undergraduate degree, I was interested in working overseas, but at the grassroots level and being in a community I could get to know and understand.
I chose to apply anywhere in the world. I actually did not pick the Africa region at all, as I wanted to be in Asia, where my studies and expertise were. However, the Peace Corps picked I would go to Namibia, and that is how it shook out. I would not trade that decision now for anything.
Living Arrangements and Cultural Integration
3. What is your housing like in Namibia?
I live in a small town in central Namibia that is on the main highway between the coast and the capital region. I have a small flat on the compound I work in, and have running water, electricity, 5G LTE service, and multiple grocery stores and pharmacies where I can get almost everything I need.
Namibia is very rural and very sparsely populated; however, the towns are all quite developed and almost everything is available that you would find in an American store.
4. What moments or interactions stand out during your service?
Interactions that have stood out are just how important greeting people is here. Greetings are very important, and not greeting is seen as rude. These greetings can quickly turn into long conversations, and the next thing you know, you’re an hour behind on whatever you needed to do since half the town is saying hello.
Surprises and Challenges
5. What has surprised you most about living or working in Namibia?
There is a very strong sense of protocol and hierarchy when working in Namibia, particularly in development. I come from a background where there is a chain of command system, but it is much less regimented, whereas here, it is all important. Paperwork requires multiple levels of signatures going up to the boss. Projects can take much longer than they expected due to them sitting at someone’s desk. People often say something will be finished quickly, but their definition of quick may be months, whereas I think that quick means days or weeks.
Progress can be very slow due to this, and I have learned to accept that some of my projects will be finished long after I leave Namibia.
6. What challenges have you development in your Development work, and how did you respond?
Sometimes there is very strong buy-in for an initiative, training, or project, and many people will register; however, on the day of, only half or a quarter of the people will turn up. This can be very frustrating, as oftentimes these are ideas that the community wants and supports, yet those same people are the ones who become no-shows.
I have found that being annoyingly persistent in my reminders is truly the only way to overcome this. I will call the week before, the day before, and the morning of, and create group chats in which I constantly remind people of the events that they have registered for. Sometimes this works; sometimes this doesn’t.
7. What secondary projects have you worked on during your service?
I have been involved with my local Ministry of Education library, in which we were able to upgrade the aged computer lab during my first year of service. Through persistently writing letters and emails to the Ministry, we were able to get five new desktop computers, and I was able to begin digital literacy classes that I teach three times a week.
Each session lasts for two weeks, in which participants are taught basic computer usage, starting from the ground up. We slowly progress to internet use, email basics, and etiquette, and finish with Microsoft Office.
The participants often have zero experience with using a computer; however, almost all have some sort of smartphone, and they are all very quick learners. I am consistently impressed with how well and how fast people pick up the skills and are able to demonstrate with very little guidance after learning the basics.
Advice and Support
8. What advice would you give to future Development volunteers in Namibia?
Take the first three months at the site to understand what the community’s needs are, and how your skills can be plugged in to assist your organization. Oftentimes, development volunteers come in with grand ideas and try to assert what they want to accomplish when the community has zero need or interest in the project. Only by talking to community members, business owners, and other local institutions can you truly become a useful volunteer.
Do not expect to see many of your projects see completion. Reduce your expectations for how fast things can be accomplished, and embrace that some of your projects will only be finished long after you have left. For example, a volunteer built a community garden back in 2019. Almost seven years later, we are still working on getting the final wrinkles out to get it consistently operational.
9. How did Peace Corps training prepare you for service?
Pre-Service Training (PST) taught us some very valuable language, cultural, and technical skills. For Economic Development, we hosted a business skills training and a market day to emulate what we might be doing at our sites, and our cultural training was extremely valuable in teaching us about the different tribes, the social dynamics of the country, and some of the nuances that are not available anywhere online.
The Peace Corps Namibia training staff is excellent, and I felt that for my sector, they did a very good job in trying to prepare us for what we would see over the course of our service.
Practical Tips and Language Learning
10. What would you tell future volunteers to pack—or leave behind?
Pack light, long-sleeved clothing that can be worn in the sun and can be dressed up or down. Namibia is a formal country, and especially at work, it is expected to be in some sort of formal dress clothing.
Bringing a bluetooth speaker and my Kindle were also game-changing. Electronics are very expensive in Namibia, so it is better to bring your own. Also, some sort of charging converter for your electronics. Namibia uses a Type M plug, and they can be found easily online.
Leave behind all the camping gear. I ended up being able to see my parents at the halfway mark, and I gave almost all of it back except the backpack, sleeping bag, and tent.
Leave behind your expensive electronics, and if you can, bring an older phone you don’t mind getting stolen. I was pickpocketed in my first month of service, and lost my phone, and my AirPods were taken out of my bag on a hitchhike quite early in.
Overall, pack less than what you think you need. Most of everything can be bought at the Capitol, from running shoes to iPhones (albeit at a markup).
11. How has language learning been for you in Namibia?
I learned Afrikaans during my Pre-Service Training, but I rarely use it. For some tribes, they will speak it consistently, but others view it with hostility as a result of it being the official language during the Apartheid era, when South Africa occupied Namibia up until 1990.
I use greetings instead in the local languages, depending on what tribe I am speaking to, and can understand and speak Afrikaans at a basic level if I need to; however, it is not consistently used, as for business, English is the official language.
Social Identity
12. How has your personal identity shaped your service experience?
As a Japanese American, I am often mistaken for Chinese. The Chinese here are generally not looked upon favorably due to a myriad of reasons, stemming from their strong business presence in the country. Therefore, I notice that I am often at first regarded with some suspicion until I open my mouth and they realize I am an American.
13. Did your identity lead to specific challenges or situations?
I often have children or even adults who will make quite racist remarks towards me, or say generalizations about Asians in general. This stems mostly from a lack of exposure to Asian cultures, so I often find myself in dialogue in which I show or explain some of the differences so that the next time they see another Asian person, they don’t do the same thing.
14. What advice do you have for volunteers who share your identity?
Be patient, and try to understand that it does not come from a place of malicious intent, but rather a place of misunderstanding. If you’re up for it, try to educate. If not, that is totally understandable, but do not lash back out or hold a resentment against it.
Impact of Media and Final Thoughts
15. If you share content online, how has that shaped your service?
I have a Peace Corps-only Instagram @seanmibia where I post regular updates, mostly for my friends and family to look at so they can see what I am up to. Has it shaped my service profoundly? Not really. But it’s a good way to keep people in the loop, as due to the time difference it can be really hard to catch up with everyone back home individually.
16. What final advice would you share with future volunteers?
Do it scared! Peace Corps is scary. There are so many firsts you will encounter, no matter if you are fresh out of college or just retired and looking for a new journey in life. Keep an open mind, always keep learning, reading, and asking about the country you are living in, and take service day by day. Sometimes it is an adventure of a lifetime, and sometimes it’s just a Tuesday at work.
Are you thinking about joining the Peace Corps? If you’re curious about service and ready for something new, apply today. Like Sean, you can live abroad, work with communities, and grow in ways you didn’t expect. Apply to the Peace Corps and take the next step.
The content of this post does not necessarily reflect the views of the U.S. Government, the Peace Corps, or Namibia Government.
