In 1998/99, I worked as a military observer for UNTSO in the Golan Heights and in southern Lebanon. For the first six months, my wife and I lived with our two small boys in Damascus in the big city, then in Nahariya in the north of Israel. My time in the Middle East taught me above all to organize myself with others, to improvise and, of course, to master the cultural challenges of working together. I was able to put this to good use in my civilian job: First as a training manager at the Aargau Cantonal Bank and then for the Vocational Training Office of the Canton of Aargau. I couldn’t let go of vocational training, which is why I completed a higher teaching qualification and started teaching at the vocational school in Aarau. As principal (first as vice-principal, then as principal), I experienced great satisfaction in organizing the school and supporting teachers and students in their day-to-day work. After retiring, I was therefore looking for a challenge in the education sector. This is how I came across the development organization Comundo, with which I am now stationed in the Caprivi Strip in the far north-east of Namibia, not far from the Victoria Falls. I work there for the regional Department of Education and support principals in the development and expansion of vocational training in secondary schools. The challenges, but also the opportunities, are manifold. I benefit from my experience as a military observer, even though the cultural, professional and social environment is completely different. You live very consciously in the moment, the future is far away. Certain things take forever (if they happen at all!), while we in Europe can take a leaf out of their book when it comes to how uncomplicated and spontaneous things can be done. I also experienced this in my main project, the construction of a new school building. My role was to support the school management in coordinating the work: The idea was for the school to construct the building itself with the construction teachers as site supervisors and the apprentices as bricklayers, carpenters and metalworkers. On the one hand, the teachers familiarized themselves with new ways of practical training and, on the other, the apprentices were able to put into practice what is otherwise often only taught in theory. My contract will expire in June 2025 after two and a half years. Perhaps there will be another short-term assignment in another region of Namibia where they would like to take over the experience I gained from my work on the Zambezi. But that is still a long way off – the future is a long way off. Either way, I can benefit a lot from my assignment here; I hope that the locals will be able to say the same from working with me.
Link to the assignment: www.comundo.org/knoblauch
