“Paka,” the Swahili word for “cat,” might be a strange name for a man from Kirkland, but it’s what the people of Namibia call the Peace Corps volunteer.

“I go by Parker but the local people here have a hard time with the letter ‘r’ so when they say my name it comes out as ‘Paka’ sounding like ‘pahkah,’” said Parker Lewis in an e-mail for this story.

Lewis – a 2004 Lake Washington High School graduate and most recently Lewis and Clark College in Portland with a degree in mathematics – joined the Peace Corps after he finished school in 2008.

“I first came to Africa on a study abroad trip in 2007 to Kenya and Tanzania, and always wanted to come back and volunteer in some capacity,” said Lewis.

According to his blog, “Paka in Afrika,” Lewis has been in Namibia for almost 24 months teaching math to children in grades 7-10 at the Elamba Combined School for grades 1-10. The school is a 10-minute walk from the village where Lewis lives with a local family.

“I live in a village called Okatha Kombago, which means ‘put the pot in the puddle,’ near the small town of Tsandi in the North central part of Namibia,” said Lewis. “It is in the Omusati region.”

Lewis said Tsandi is a small town with one grocery store, one paved road and “about a thousand bars.” Once off the paved road, travelers are in Okatha Kombago.

“Each family lives on their own homestead, which is surrounded by their farmlands,” said Lewis. “The village is extremely rural and the locals are almost all subsistence farmers. The main crop is millet, from which they make the staple food of a thick porridge. They also grow spinach, pumpkins, melons, beans, corn and some kinds of squash,” Lewis said. “There is no electricity, although we do have a single water tap at our house. In between the homesteads are flat floodplains and scrub forest, thorny acacia trees, huge termite mounds, palm trees and scattered berry trees. Cattle, goats, and donkeys are roaming everywhere.”

Judy Lewis, Parker Lewis’ mother, said, “I’m impressed that he’s maintained such a positive attitude with all the challenges of living there and adjusting to that culture.”

Lewis starts his day at dawn with his usual breakfast of oatmeal, apples and peanut butter before heading to school from 8 a.m. to 2 or 3 p.m. After school, he visits with neighbors and students before coaching soccer at dusk with the local children. Once soccer practice is over, he walks home for a “bucket shower” under the stars and a meal of porridge and meat with his host family.

The avid juggler and crossword puzzle enthusiast also spends time teaching his “learners,” what Namibians call students, fun games to improve their math skills, including Uno Jenga and checkers.

In addition, Lewis has worked to improve the school’s library. Randy Lewis, his father, saw the school’s library before the improvements when he visited his son in May 2008.

“We’re really proud of this — when he got there, and when I visited, what was considered a library was just a messy old room with books stacked on the floor,” said Randy. “He’s built a pretty extensive library now with shelving, a numerical system and a checkout system.”

Lewis said he’s enjoyed his time in Africa, but he’s ready to be home, visit with family and give presentations at Kirkland schools about his experience.

“Every aspect of my life here has its ups and downs, pluses and minuses,” said Lewis. “Two years was the perfect amount of time to experience such a different culture.”

Lewis will fly home on Dec. 16 and plans to relax and enjoy the holidays with friends and family.

“After being scorched by the ruthless sun in this dry, desert, flat country, I am looking forward to rain, snow, cold, mountains, forest, and all things Pacific Northwest that I have been missing for two years.”

Rachel Quick is a student in the University of Washington Department of Communication News Laboratory.