The Home Stretch

 In exactly one week, we will be boarding the plane that will whisk us away from Windhoek, Namibia and on to Cape Town, South Africa. Just yesterday, we finished our final week of classes, and all that remains for us is to complete and present our wrap-up projects. Also, we're all looking forward to cooking our own Thanksgiving for ourselves and the CGE staff/professors, though it will certainly be bittersweet to miss out on celebrating with our families. 

   Since I posted last, there have been some memorable experiences to share. About 3 weeks ago, we traveled to Southern Namibia to learn about the tourism industry in Namibia. Each night, we camped at a different campsite, owned and run by the government, a community-based group, or a private company, respectively. We learned about the difficulties of community-based tourism, the development that affects these communities, and the troubles with remaining a sustainable, eco-friendly business.  In addition to learning, we also got to spend some time with an HIV/AIDS awareness club at a local primary school, and hike to the top of a dormant volcano near one of our campsites.

    In the past week, I also finished up my internship at The Big Issue Namibia. I had a really good experience working there, though it was certainly a challenge that I will never forget. While I never really got to do the arts and crafts focus that I was told I would be able to do, I still managed to make the most of my time there and do my best to get The Big Issue some funding in order to make those arts and crafts for street women a reality in the near future! The kindness and committed spirit of social responsibility the people at the Big Issue certainly inspired me to live a life set by their example to care and advocate for others whenever possible-- even if it means receiving no salary for 5 months! 

     Just yesterday, our group visited Penduka, the most successful women's craft cooperative in Namibia. It was an amazing place, where women with disabilites and sicknesses like TB or AIDS are trained and hired to make embroidery, batik, pottery, beads and dolls to sell for profit at various Craft markets in Namibia. I fell in love with the place, and I now want so badly to go back there and learn how their organization works so that I might be able to start up such a successful and beneficial organization one day...

     Well, that's about it for now. I'm off to the farmer's market with a few friends to peruse the homemade cheeses and tzatziki sauces and German breads...This may well be my last post until I return home to Denver, as I won't have much internet access in Cape Town. Cheers!

    

An Election from Abroad

  Hello! It's been an exciting week here in Namibia-- the two main events being the election and a trip to Southern Namibia. But first, the election: All of us here were biting our nails and hanging on to every news tidbit and wishing that we were back in the homeland for the momentous occasion. However, it has been an exciting and interesting experience to witness such a historical event as an American overseas. 

    We all stayed up into the wee hours of the morning watching CNN until 6am here, when they announced Obama as the winner. We all sat and watched both candidate's amazing speeches and cried and cheered together! Regardless of who I thought should have won, I feel compelled to share with you the reaction here in Namibia, as it has been incredible. It's as if in a matter of hours, our reception an Americans has gone from both friendly and somewhat wary, to absolute acceptance and enthusiasm. Namibian's I've talked to have seemed genuinely proud of Americans in their decision to elect an African American to be the leader of our country, despite its history of divisiveness and racial tension. It has given Namibians hope for their own country that they too can overcome their own issues along the race and power divide. 

   There has been many stories from students of post-election receptions by Namibians. Some students received free newspapers on election morning from happy street sellers. One girl had a woman stop her in the street and kiss her on each cheek, telling her how happy and proud she was of America. While buying ice cream on the 5th, the girl behind the counter told me how excited she was to have a black man as the leader of America and how much hope gave her for Africa. It has certainly been difficult to be away on such an important occasion, but nonetheless rewarding to experience it from another vantage point as another kind of experience. 

The Past 3 Weeks

For the past 3 weeks, we've been traveling all over Namibia, beginning with a week-long home stay in a rural area of Northern Namibia. All the students stayed with families that lived in clusters of farms, which had no electricity or running water. I stayed with a woman named Esther whose niece Johanna and her 2-month old baby Tanya came and stayed too. Esther didn't have a farm, per-say, it was more like a little house situated across from her grandmother's large farm where another CGE student was staying. Every day, I got to help with the farm chores, like milking the goats and preparing food, fetching fire wood and water, and avoiding the heat of the midday sun which got up to about 106 F. It was quite the experience to learn about how to live so simply and subsist as much as possible off of the land.

    While we were there, Esther and her grandmother's family decided to slaughter one of their goats for us. We watched the slaughter (unpleasant) and then they had me help prepare the meat and cook it for dinner. Goat meat is quite good, especially when prepared in the traditional Southern African barbecue method of dry-rubbed spices. During the process, they also roasted some of the goat intestine for me (it's quite the delicacy) so I got to nibble on a that. I preferred the meat over the intestine. I had a great experience on the rural home stay, and Esther's hopsitality and kindness was truly amazing. It turns out that she is also a quilter, so when I presented the gift of a quilt that my grandmother and her church friends made, Esther was ecstatic (pictured)! 

    After the home stay, the group spent a few days camping in Etosha national park, a huge wildlife reserve in the north. We went on a game viewing drive and I spent every spare minute hanging out at the watering hole observation deck. I saw elephants, rhinos, giraffes, lions, a cheetah and all sorts of springbok, gemsbok and birds. It was amazing being in such close proximity to nature. 

    Last week was our Fall Break, which was free for us to plan to do as we liked. I traveled with a group of fellow students to the South Africa/Namibia border for a 4-day canoe trip down the Orange River. We spent each night camping under the stars and all day paddling, floating, swimming and hiking. It got fairly cold at night, but it was still a gorgeous setting and made for an excellent fall break. 

     

       

Swakopmund

Today we returned from a 4-day trip to the coastal town of Swakopmund. It is a German colonial-style town, and also a big tourist destination (also were Angelina Jolie had one of her children, apparently). Our trip was a combination of lectures and seminars with vacation-y free time and some minor tourist stuff. We got a glimpse into the local economy of Arandis, a small mining town adjacent to the 3rd largest uranium mine in the world. We saw how the mine provides vital employment, but also saw how people are worried about the environmental and economic sustainability of the mine in the long run. We were also able to visit a local elementary school there, which happens to be named after one of our professors, Urbanus Dax. He was the principal there for many years, so it was fun to see his school and hear his opinions on the education system there.

    Outside of the more academic stuff, we spent an afternoon climbing Dune 7, a big old dune formation just a few kilometers from the Atlantic ocean. For those Coloradans out there, it was comparable to the Sand Dunes of the Sangre de Christos, if not just a little smaller. We all had a lot of fun, and I'm still picking sand out of my ears and eyes as a result! 

    Saturday was a free day, and my friend Cameron and I decided to take it easy. We walked around the town of Swakopmund and did a little shopping, but mostly just took in the town and walked along the beach. Swakopmund was a nice break from the heat of Windhoek, and the sea breezes were wonderful, though the water was pretty chilly. I did manage to find a yarn shop in town, aptly named "Heidi's Craft Shop" but I must say the selection wasn't the best. Still, I was amazed to find a yarn shop at all, so I still count it as a success! 

    Well, now we have just one week here in Windhoek until we head off for 3 weeks of travel to the Northern region for our rural home stays,  visit to Etosha National Park and our Fall break. Until then, I hope all is well. Drop me an email or letter and let me know what you're up to!

On the Farm (again)

As I mentioned a few posts back, I decided to stay an extra week with my host family, the Geisebs. I was really enjoying all the kids in the family and interacting with all the relatives that would come over multiple times day. In Katatura, everyone lives in such close community with one another, and family is no exception. The Geiseb's entire immediate family and much of their extended family all lived within just a few blocks from them, and they all depended on one another on a daily basis to watch the kids, cook meals, pick up groceries and any number of other things. We're learning about the philosophy and practice of Ubuntu in our classes here, and I really got a sense of it in action during my home stay. Ubuntu is the idea that "I am because you are", or that an individual requires interaction and mutual dependence on those around him/her in order to exist and flourish. It's a really prominent philosophy here and is very apparent in those that I've met. 

   Anyway, during my last weekend with the Geiseb's, we went to their farm again, but this time we spent the night there. We left Saturday afternoon and took two carloads of people (mostly children), 3 Americans (I got to bring two friends along), food, blankets, supplies and 4 piglets. The Geiseb's were adding the piglets to their livestock on their farm, so it was both an exciting and pungent endeavor! While on the farm, we cleaned and cooked and hiked around with the kids and got very familiar with mother nature (no plumbing on this farm)! We had a barbecue (called a braai here) and made s'mores and watched the stars come out. It was a tremendous night, and I felt so lucky to have been paired with such a nice host family. 

    My home stay is over now, but I already have plans with the Geiseb's for dinner so I'll be sure to see them again during the remainder of the semester! 

A little catch-up

Hello, sorry I've neglected to update this blog in so long! Between homework, my internship, and my home stay family, I've had very little time to devote to my new hobby of blogging. Anyway, I'll do my best to cover the highlights of the past 3 weeks. right. now. 

     On September 14th, so exactly 3 weeks ago, I got to go to a wildlife conservation reserve with my host mom and 6 Finnish librarians. That's right. Wildlife reserve. 6 Finnish librarians. My host mom works for the city of Windhoek, and she was in charge of taking care of this delegation of Finnish folks who were here setting up a library in a poverty-stricken informal settlement near Windhoek. So, on the 14th she took them (and me) to this conservation place to do a "game drive" which entailed riding around in a big vehicle to various fenced-off sites, where our guide would call the animals and feed them over the fence. All of the animals had been at the reserve for most of their lives, so they were essentially raised in captivity. We got to see young baboons, cheetahs, leopards, wild dogs and lions. The lions were absolutely terrifying because they growled and charged at the fence for about 5 minutes until our guide fed them lunch. It was a tremendous experience to be so close to these amazing animals! It was also great to spend time with all the Finnish librarians, who were an excited and friendly bunch. One of them gave me a keychain and another gave me her contact information in case I ever made it to Finland again and needed a place to stay! 

Katatura Homestay

For the past week, we've been staying with host families in the Katatura area of Windhoek. I have a wonderful family, the Geiseb's, who have a 10-year-old son, Ndeapo, and a whole slew of nieces, nephews and cousins that come to visit at their house frequently. This past weekend, they took me to their farm which is about an hour from Windhoek. They built the farm themselves, and it consists of a little house/cabin, a chicken coop, goat pen, pig pen and water tower. Ndeapo, some of his cousins and I spent the afternoon chasing around baby goats and running after chickens and singing songs and so forth. It was a blast. My study abroad program has given us the option of staying longer with our host families beyond the original 10 days, so I've decided to stay a week longer in order to spend more time with the family (outside of the fairly crowded CGE house where we normally live) and visit the farm again. They're planning on spending the night there next weekend, so I'm hoping to go with them! 

!Gai tse

!Gai tse, everyone. 

   For those of you who don't speak Damara, that means "good day," and the exclamation point means that you have to click your tongue a certain way. Damara is the clicking language, and we started weekly language classes this week to prepare for our rural homestay which will happen in October. Damara has no fewer than 4 kinds of clicks, including one called the "devil click" and is absolutely impossible for a foreigner to perform without inducing gales of laughter from any Damara speaker in the vicinity. 

   Aside from practicing my clicks, I also started working at my Internship this week. I'm working with an organization called The Big Issue, which is a street newspaper organization that employs homeless and impoverished people, or "vendors" as they're called, to sell The Big Issue Magazine for profit. They also have activities and events for vendors to keep them off the streets when they're not selling papers. I found out that my job this semester as the intern is to set up a Women's Craft Program for women vendors. As of now there are no events or activities specifically for the women vendors, so they wind up back on the streets. I have been drafting a proposal and putting together funding ideas that I will apparently have to present to some higher ups in the community later on. I'm really excited, and hopefully I can make it happen! 

       Well, I've got some homework to do-- we started our real classes today, and we've got loads of readings. I'd love to hear what any and all of you lovely people back home are up to-- feel free to email me at jamesh@stolaf.edu if you get the urge! 

Fried Worms and Fat Cakes

No, you didn't read the title incorrectly. And, to make things more interesting, those are two things that I ate yesterday. We went to an open marketplace in Katatoura, a poverty-stricken black settlement area in Windhoek. Katatoura literally means "the place we don't want to live", as it was the area that the whites forced the blacks to move to.
At the open market, we saw how Namibians sell and consume basic staples of traditional food and goods. Because of gas prices and general economic woes, prices of food in Namibia are sky high. At these open market, the cheapest prices are to be found, as are the most filling and basic food staples. These food staples included fried tree worms, which have a lot of protein in them. They tatsted a lot like eating tree bark, and weren't bad except for the aftertaste. Fat Cakes were actually quite delicious, as they're basically a giant donut of thick, greasy friend dough. I only ate half of one, but was full for hours.
Anyway, that's about it for now. I'll have more updates after my internship begins on Monday!

Our Week in South Africa

Hello! I apologize that it has taken me so long to update this blog with a first real post. For our first week in South Africa, we only had brief moments of paid internet access at local malls-- just long enough inform family that I was still alive.
We just arrived and settled into our house in Windhoek (pronounced Win-took), Namibia yesterday, so I should have more reliable and frequent internet access now. But not much has happened in Namibia yet, so instead I'll backtrack to highlight from our whirldwind 10 days in Johannesburg.
- A walk through Kliptown, an informal black settlement just outside of Johannesburg. There is an 80% unemployment rate among Kliptown residents, their houses are two-room shacks made from tin siding and spare metal, and raw sewage runs through the streets. As we entered the settlement, children came running from every direction and grabbed onto our hands. They held our hands for the entire 15 minute walk, and rubbed our palms and knuckles to feel how our skin felt.
- The Aparthide Museum: an incredible look at of the fledgling history of freedom that South Africa is experiencing as a nation, and a solemn reminder of the sheer brutality that humans are capable of inflicting on one another.
- Our 3-day homestay: We stayed with families in Soweto, the largest black township in South Africa and a place where whites are rarely seen. We stayed with a kind windowed woman and her four nearly-grown children. The two youngest were 19 and 21, and took it upon themselves to teach us as much of the Zulu language as possible. I can now speak some basic Zulu phrases, and was even given a Zulu name by my host sister: Togo-zili, which means "Happiness".
We did and and saw and learned and experienced so many things this past week, it's a lot to process and remember all at once, so I'll leave it at that for the time being. I miss you all, and hope you're doing well! Much love, Togo-zili

Greetings from a Fledgling Blogger

Hello! Welcome to this blog-- a decidedly clumsy attempt on my behalf to utilize some available cyberspace in order to keep anyone interested updated about my experiences. After some entirely nonessential internal debate over the pros and cons of mass-emailing versus a blog site, I decided on the blog. Why? Because blogs don't usually get lost in email inboxes, and most importantly, they're prettier.
Anyway.
I will be departing for South Africa in roughly 11 days. I have yet to find a good sunscreen or pick up my anti-malarial meds or find that one pair of pants. But you are inevitably busy wrestling with similar issues that tend to plague the human existence.
So I wish you good luck with whatever is pressing you, and I wish you happy reading of this blog, whenever you happen to pause and take a look at it. I don't really have any idea of what my free time will be while in Africa, but I will do my best to update this as often and as engagingly as possible.

- Heidi