3. Namib Dunes and Salt Pans at Aminuis and Etosha - surreal
4. Kombi rides from Gobabis to Aminuis and back and from Windhoek to Ongwediva - never a dull moment!
5. Brai, Biltong and Curry Bunny - tasty! - brai is the Namibian version of barbecue, biltong is "jerky" made with every game meat imaginable, curry bunny is a "pocket sandwich" with curried meat and veggies tucked inside
We left Ongwediva Wednesday morning in a taxi, rented a small car (which we promptly nicknamed "Porridge") in Ondangwa and headed two hours south for our Etosha National Park safari. We soon learned why a 4 wheel drive vehicle is handy! Hopefully we will not have to pay any damage fees on the car. Gravel roads, rocks, mud ... we drove through it all. Despite being told that we might not see any wildlife until dusk, we saw smaller animals such as jackal, warthog and springbok and larger animals such as impala, giraffe, oryx, wildebeest, kudu and zebra all as we were making our way to our first night's lodging at Halali.
Etosha features a huge salt pan, the remnant of an inland lake no longer filled by rivers that have changed course over hundreds of years. Etosha translates as "place of mirages", "land of dry water" or "the great white place". If there has been sufficient rainfall to the north, the pan holds some water. During the dry season, animals are attracted by natural and solar powered, man-made watering holes.
Halali features a small, lighted watering hole. Tourists assemble silently on benches behind a low rock wall as the sun sets, waiting for the show to begin. On our first evening we sat for about 20 minutes with no action as darkness set in. Then, slowly out of the bush, a line of 17 elephants appeared, both adults and youth. They drank and drank and stood and stood. Next, out of the shadows came a lone thirsty black rhino. All was peaceful.
Thursday we continued to make our way west through the park to Okaukuejo, once again seeing many animals during the daytime hours, including very close up views of two hyenas, a trio of elephants and a large herd of zebras. At one small watering hole we were fortunate to see three female lions laying in the grass, having a lazy morning.
Our second evening was similar to the first, but Okaukuejo has a much larger lighted watering hole. Jackals, oryx, giraffes, zebras, elephants and three black rhinos (including a mother and child) made appearances, group by group.
Friday morning we drove south out of the park towards Windhoek with a stop along the way at the Cheetah Conservation Fund near Otjiwarongo. This is a research center founded by American Dr. Laurie Marker in 1990. She is a sort of Jane Goodall-figure, but with a focus on cheetah conservation, research and education. You can see orphaned cheetahs close up and learn about the efforts of the Fund via a Cheetah Walk conducted by the staff and at their Visitor and Education Centre. As cheetahs are predators, many have been killed by Namibian farmers trying to protect their goats and sheep - for many their entire economic livelihood. Laurie and her staff focus not only on saving cheetahs and their habitat, but also on working together with local farmers to create a sustainable agricultural system. She breeds and sells Anatolian Shepherd dogs specially trained to protect goats and sheep. Farmers can purchase a trained dog for $1000 Namibian dollars (current exchange rate 8 Namibian dollars to $1 US). The dog then lives among the goats and sheep and protects them from cheetah attacks. We were told there is a one year waiting list for her dogs. Laurie has over 100 staff and is very interested in having interns and volunteers - Bretta I'm thinking it would be perfect for you.
I leave for the airport in about two hours for my return to the U.S. After my return I will add links and pics and one more entry - so check back in a week or so. Kalapo nawa Namibia.
We are now in northern Namibia, in what is commonly known as Ovamboland. Zoom in on northern Namibia on the map on the home page of this blog and you will notice something interesting about the toponyms (place names) here. They all begin with the letter O! We are staying in Ongwediva, between Ondangwa and Oshakati, and have been working with learners at Oikango Combined School. Most of the learners walk somewhere between 30 and 60 minutes each day to get to school.
More than half of Namibia's population lives in this region on only 6% of Namibia's land. The dominant ethnic group is Ovambo speaking the Oshiwambo language. Many are subsistence farmers growing mahango and sorghum (types of millet) and raising cattle, goats and sheep. Ovamboland was the physical location of Namibia's independence struggle against South Africa, and is a stronghold for SWAPO, Namibia's ruling political party.
Our last school visit of the trip was phenomenal, thanks in large part to Abby, the WorldTeach volunteer that hosted us. We spent two days in classrooms conducting art exchanges, sharing videos and answering many, many student questions about ourselves, our schools and the U.S. Today's most interesting question from the learners: "What kind of animal do you kill for weddings?" Here, it is typical to slaughter a cow, goat or sheep for a wedding feast.
On our first day, all of the female staff members dressed in their beautifully patterned fuchsia and black Ovambo dresses to greet us. At break time, community women set up a table at the edge of the school grounds to sell "fat cakes" (fried bread) and fried fish (hake) to the students for snacks. Last night we were treated to a home cooked meal by Abby's host mom. At the end of our second and last day today, we were gifted with Oikango's regional competition winning HIV/AIDS awareness skit and a cultural and contemporary dance presentation as a farewell. The skit was entitled "Diamonds are hard to crack and so are we. We are stronger than HIV." There is a high incidence of HIV/AIDS here (13% of adults are estimated to be infected - resulting in a life expectancy of only 52 years), HIV/AIDS awareness billboards and advertisements are common and educational materials prominent in all the schools we have visited.
The staple food here as in other regions of Namibia is porridge, made from mahongo or maize meal. I would describe it as tasting like thick Cream of Wheat. You scoop it up with your hands and dip it in a savory sauce, the contents of which vary depending on what the cook has available and has decided to make for you. A second traditional Ovambo dish to accompany the porridge is Ovambo chicken. This is a whole chicken cooked and served in a special ceramic bowl. A guest is chosen to rip the chicken into parts with their hands and then others serve themselves the pieces. To wash it down, you may be served maroela juice, a sweet, fermented juice made from the maroela fruit which grows on trees and looks like a small, green apple. We have been told that another regional delicacy is mopane worms, but have not had a chance to try them yet!
Despite the fact that we are in northern Namibia, globalization's reach is evident. The most dominant cultural influences are from South Africa and the U.S. Cell phones are ubiquitous, most have access to the Internet via their cell phone if not a computer, and American movies and pop music are well-liked. Among the favorites of the students we have been working with? The primary age students like to watch the Disney Channel, the young teenage girls swoon over Justin Bieber and the boys seem to favor the music of Chris Brown! In addition, they have their own home-grown music stars here in Namibia. Two favorites that the students have mentioned are PDK and Gazza. Check them out on YouTube or iTunes!
Tomorrow we are off bright and early on a safari to Etosha National Park, the last major stop on our trip before returning one last time to Windhoek.
Female Staff In Traditional Ovambo Clothing
Mahango
One of Abby's Classrooms - The Computer Lab
Community Women Selling Fat Cakes and Fried Fish - Delicious
Student Leaders Axel and David
After School Netball
HIV Play Visuals
Dance Performance
Herbert (in hat) Danced To Ne-Yo's Let Me Love You
Explore the map of Namibia on the home page of this blog and you will see that it has a prorupt morphology (shape) and many different types of international boundaries, as we studied in our Political Geography unit. Namibia's western border is natural (the Atlantic Ocean), its southern border with South Africa is natural (the Orange River), its eastern border is geometric (looks like a straight line, or a series of straight lines), and its northern border is part natural (the Kunene and Okavango Rivers) and part geometric.
The prorupt portion of Namibia is the Caprivi Strip, or as Namibians call it, Itenge. As you see on the map, it forms a passageway to Zambia and Tanzania. In colonial times, Namibia's German colonizers negotiated with the British to gain control of Caprivi as it provided access to the Zambezi River, and theoretically, trade routes to East Africa and Germany's colony of Tanganyika (modern day Tanzania). In reality, this water route proved unnavigable due to fluctuating river levels and the Victoria Falls. The southern boundary of Caprivi has been an issue of dispute between Namibia and Botswana. This border dispute, based upon the channel of the Chobe River, was ultimately settled by the U.N.'s International Court of Justice in 1999 in Botswana's favor.
The Caprivi region receives much more rain than the rest of Namibia, and is home to diverse plant and animal species and three national parks. We met several grad students in Windhoek that were on their way to or from Caprivi to conduct research or work with wildlife conservation NGOs. Culturally, the predominant ethnicity is Lozi. The Lozi people are also found in Angola, Zambia and Botswana.
AP HuG students, you should remember our study of the issue of devolution. Caprivi has been subject to ethnocultural and spatial devolutionary forces. In 1976, Caprivi formed its own government and developed a flag and national anthem. In 1999 they attempted to secede from Namibia, but their efforts were crushed within days by the Namibian Defense Force (Namibian military). The ruling party in Namibia, SWAPO, considers the Caprivi rebels as traitors, as they sided with the Angolan rebel movement UNITA and South Africa during the Namibian struggle for independence from South Africa. Among the Caprivi, hopes and dreams of self-rule persist.
Returned today from our second trip to Swakopmund on the western coast of Namibia. Our first was a 24 hour trip last week so that Liza and Sarah, fellow teacher volunteers who were only here for our first week, could see the dunes. Our second, more "official" visit was a three day trip to spend time at Vrede Rede Primary School conducting One World Classrooms arts, video and Q & A exchanges.
Swakopmund is a tourist destination, and we were there for the celebration of Namibia's 23rd Independence Day. Namibia became a German colony in 1885, was mandated by the League of Nations to South Africa in 1920 (during which it was called South West Africa) and ultimately achieved its full independence from South Africa in 1990 after an armed conflict under the leadership of SWAPO (South West Africa's People's Organization).
Despite it being a holiday weekend, with Namibia's sparse population of only two million people, the beach and town never felt too crowded. As for tourists, it is most common to encounter college aged Germans and South Africans in addition to vacationing Namibians.
As you travel west from Windhoek to Swakopmund you pass several large uranium mining operations - mining is the backbone of Namibia's economy. Renewed concerns about the safety of nuclear energy generation after the Japanese earthquake and nuclear plant accident have negatively affected demand for Namibian uranium on the global market. Diamonds, gold and several other metals are also mined here. We met a man who works on a DeBeers diamond ship - spends one month at sea, one month on land - mining diamonds from the sea bed off the western coast. Namibia's only deep water harbor is located south of Swakopmund at Walvis Bay. Guess what students - lots of container ships there transferring their cargo to trains and trucks (another geoword comes to mind - intermodal transportation!)
From 1904 to 1907, two indigenous groups, the Herero and the Nama, violently resisted German colonial rule. In what some consider a "rehearsal" for the Holocaust, German soldiers killed more than 75,000. Survivors were detained in concentration camps. Upon their release, they were subjected to a system of severe racial and ethnic discrimination that foreshadowed the apartheid policies that South Africans would extend during their rule.
This brings me to our visit to Vrede Rede Primary School. In contrast to our first school, Van Rhyn, a middle income school in Windhoek, and Mokaleng, a rural boarding school in Aminius, Vrede Rede is a "location" school. Locations are the native word for what were formerly known as black-only townships under South African imposed apartheid (segregation). We spent Thursday morning exploring the location, walking and talking with residents. Some residents are legal, with concrete block homes with electricity and water, others are squatters living in cobbled together structures made from scrap metal, wood and cardboard. Interestingly, but not surprisingly, most adults in the location have a cell phone. Very basic models, but this is their communication lifeline. All phones are pre-pay (buy a sim card and insert it), no plans.
Our host during our stay in Swakopmund was Damaris, a WorldTeach volunteer from Vermont. WorldTeach is similar to the U.S. Peace Corps, but is an independent NGO not affiliated with the U.S government. She had a positive first teaching year, felt supported by her colleagues and had other WorldTeach volunteers close by. This year she is struggling with classroom management and feeling isolated. She was concerned that her students would misbehave, but her fears were not realized.
Damaris asked one of her classes to stay after school to work with us and we had a great experience with the 40 students. (The average class size here is 40.) We shared a video submitted by a U.S. classroom with students creating artwork, showing off their step dancing and asking questions about Namibian life. The Vrede Rede learners created their own drawings reflecting themselves and their lives and Ian took lots of photos and recorded video of traditional and contemporary dancing. (All of the materials that we are generating will be uploaded to the OneWorld Classrooms website for use by teachers and students around the world.) We then took four students to the nearby Namib Desert dunes where they provided us with a tour and had lots of fun climbing and playing in the sand. Our last stop of the day was a tour of Ana's (one of the Vrede Rede learners) home in the location. Her grandfather has a legal home, she and her mother and sister are squatting in a cardboard structure in his yard with 3 "rooms": her mother's room, the cooking room and the room that Ana and her sister share. They have rigged up electricity from the grandfather's home to theirs so that they can power a two burner cookstove. Many people in the location do not have electricity, so cook outside over small wood fires.
A wonderful thing about this experience is that we have been able to peek into many corners of Namibian life across the socioeconomic spectrum. Although Namibia is no longer legally segregated by race, as with many countries in our world, great economic disparities persist. In every corner we have found warm, friendly, gracious Namibians curious about us and happy to share their knowledge and diverse cultures.
Tomorrow morning we begin the last leg of our journey, an eight hour kombi ride (!) for a six day trip to northern Namibia to visit a school near Oshakati and experience Etosha National Park. Thus far the largest animals I have seen are warthogs and a few giraffes from a very long distance, so I am looking forward to my first glimpses of Africa's Big 5!
Vrede Rede's students' favorite dance song: Chop My Money!
Squatting in the "Location" (also called DRC - Democratic Resettlement Community)
Vrede Rede Junior Primary School
The Dunes Near Swakopmund
Ana and Her Grandpa At Home
Ana's Mother Inside Their Home - Ana's Bedroom On The Right - She Shares With Her Sister
We departed early Sunday morning for Aminuis. The journey proved to be as interesting as the destination. We hired a car and driver to take us east to Gobabis, an easy two hour drive on paved roads. In Gobabis we rendezvoused with Kelsey, a U.S. Peace Corps volunteer teaching at the school we were to visit, Mokaleng Roman Catholic Combined School. Kelsey had arranged a ride to Aminuis for us in a kombi, the Namibian version of the rented van. The driver makes the trip daily (sometimes multiple trips), waiting until the van is full to depart. Fortunately all the seats were spoken for, so we did not need to wait long. The van was FULL with nine adults, a baby, the driver, and a birthday cake. Bags were roped on top and we took off for the three and a half hour drive on VERY bumpy gravel roads. Dirt, bush, dirt, bush into the Kalahari. Small cars can not withstand the poor road conditions, and we were told vans like our driver's last only a couple of years under the harsh conditions.
We arrived in Aminuis in the late afternoon. Basic rooms and meals were provided for us by the Sisters of Mary Immaculate. These are Catholic nuns, two German, one Namibian. The two German nuns have been in Aminuis for more than forty years! Currently the responsibility of the Catholic church is to run the hostel where the children stay. The school itself is the responsibility of the government. In Namibia, a free public education is provided to children from Grades 1-10.
Approximately 600 students (in Namibia they are called learners) attend this school, with most also boarding there. Their parents purchase their school uniforms and pay a fee for their board which includes a bed, group toilets and showers and three meals a day. Breakfast is bread and tea or coffee, lunch is porridge (called "pop" and made from maize meal), dinner is also porridge. The student body is representative of the ethnic groups found in southeast Namibia, including the San (Bushmen) who speak a Khoisan click language.
Other than Kelsey, our U.S. Peace Corps volunteer host and the two German nuns, most of the children have had little interaction with non-Namibians. The language of school instruction is English, so the learners in Grade 7 and above were able to speak good English and peppered us with questions about ourselves, our families and the U.S. once they overcame their initial shyness.
Local families survive by raising cattle, goats, sheep and donkeys. Crop agriculture is nearly impossible due to the harsh physical geography. Donkey carts are a common mode of transportation and donkey meat is a delicacy.
At each school Ian likes to capture a video of the students providing a tour of their surroundings. Aminuis is located near a huge salt pan. There has been no rain for nearly a year, so the salt pan looks like a huge dry, white lake. When there is rain, it fills and attracts thirsty animals. The learners took us on a tour of the salt pan, introducing us to all of the edible plants along the way. On our last evening the choir danced and sang in beautiful multi-part harmony on the salt pan as the sun set. Gorgeous!
Today we are off to Swakopmund until Saturday. We will visit our third school there and visit the Namib Desert dunes again.
On The Road From Gobabis to Aminuis - Dirt, Bush, Dirt, Bush
Mokaleng Roman Catholic Combined School
Morning Assembly
Kelsey's Classroom - The Library
Kelsey
Students Love To Participate!
Lunch - Porridge with Cabbage Sauce
The Salt Pan - Amazing
Nam Posing on the Salt Pan
The Borehole
Donkeys - For Transportation and Food
Village Scene
Evening Walk to the Salt Pan
Singing and Dancing on the Salt Pan
Kombi Troubles On The Way Back to Gobabis - Eventually Solved
