I am breaking radio silence for the first time in four weeks. I don't really know where to begin, because my experiences continue to be overwhelming. I want to describe every ounce of what has been going on in my life, but that would require a novel and I am sure you would get bored. Ill begin briefly where I left off from my last post.
When I left off we were about to leave for Swakopmund. It is on the coast of Namibia and one of the most beautiful places I have ever seen. I watched the sun set over the Atlantic for the first time in my life and it was beautiful. The first full day we spent at the Rossing Uranium Mine. Namibia is something like the 3rd largest exporter of uranium in the world although not one of the uranium mines in Namibia is owned by a Namibian company. I am taking a class next semester about multinational corporations, so that I can better understand the effects of having multi national corporations control the resources of a country. From the examples I have seen in Namibia, the influence does not appear to be a beneficial one for the people of Namibia.
The next day we went to the Export Processing Zone offices. Namibia has EPZs all over the country, they basically allow foreign companies and investors to come in and set up companies without paying taxes. The whole idea behind the EPZs was to create jobs, but they haven't at all. Instead they discourage and hinder the development of Namibian companies and engage in huge human rights abuses. The process, I believe, is extremely detrimental to Namibians nor Namibian economic growth.
I see a lot of horrible conditions and unsolved problems here, it is very important to learn about the issues facing a country, but it can be overwhelming if you never see or hear of a solution. That is why I was really touched when we got to visit the Sunshine Center for Disabled Children in Walvis Bay. It might be a small center which can only serve a small amount of children, but it has saved and enriched the lives of the children which it has served. In Namibia, and probably other developing countries, because non-disabled children are often forgotten members of society, those with disabilities fall even further behind the children without them. They are left at home alone or abandoned, because it is expensive to care for a child with special needs. Some times they are beaten because they are seen as a bad omen to the family. The Sunshine center takes in these children and develops individual learning plans and creates a safe space for them. We met a young boy who had fetal alcohol syndrome but had been taken in and worked with one on one, so that he was now going to be able to attend school.
The most upsetting story however, was of a young girl who was born without disabilities, but had been so horribly abused that she had brain damage, loss of sight and was wheel chair bound. The center had helped her regain some of her motor functions, she could sit up completely now and was regaining some of her sight. She was such a sweet young girl and we got to toss the soccer ball back and forth for a bit, which was a really good time for both of us. The center teaches different skills to the children as well, so that they can get a job and start to learn how to manage an income.
Before we left, this young boy with down syndrome came and gave me a hug. I was startled at first, but it was such a genuine, loving hug. There was no intention other than to express happiness and I wish it could express how it made me feel, but I feel as if there isn't a word or phrase which can truly measure how happy it made me. We move so fast in our daily lives that stopping to really express happiness and love are activities that seem to take backseat to whatever else we may be doing. We assume our love for one another is implied, so we forget to show it or say it, yet that reminder of happiness and love can be the most powerful feeling and for me often times it overcomes, all the negative feelings I may be harboring. Try and give someone a real hug today, for no other purpose than to say how much you love that person, it sounds corny I know, but just try it.
After leaving Swakopmund, we had about a week before we left for the North. When we arrived in Ondangwa we spent one night in a guest house before departing for our rural homestays. I was really nervous, because I had such a tough experience on my urban homestay. This home-stay could be in a house without running water or electricity, which could make a tough family dynamic even harder. Before meeting our host families, we visited Ruacana Waterfalls. The falls border Namibia and Angola. They were beautiful and at one point we sneaked across the Angolan border and dipped our feet in the river. There is a point where you can walk below the falls and it is so cool, you get pretty much drenched from head to toe, and if you have contacts it can be pretty tricky to keep them in, but past that it is awesome. the falls just crash down around you and there is a beautiful rainbow which extends down the river.
That evening when we returned from the falls we met our host families. My dad (Tate) and a my host sister, Moijtie came to get me and we rode in the back of the truck, down the railroad tracks to our farm. The property was beautiful. Since they are surrounded by farms and most of their extended family lives on their land or next to it, there are vast open fields, littered with small farm houses surrounding us. The house is encircled by planted mahangu, beans and corn. In the yard there is also a garden which has lime and guava trees. There is a large coral on the property for the cows and goats, which were not there while I was but, random herds of cows and goats came on to the property to graze so often that it felt like they were. The rest of my host family consisted of two host brother, Boy and Patrick, a host cousin, Tomas, my Meme, and my host nephew, Junior. They were all so welcoming, I shared a room with Moijtie and we would go into the main house for dinners and breakfasts. Meme made the most amazing food. The first night we had cabbage, carrots and potatoes which were so delicious, with chicken and mahangu porridge. Snacking is not part of their culture so when they eat meals they often take huge amounts, whereas my meme was insulted as I tried to explain that I did snack often and also ate lunch so I did not need as much food. I was also careful about how much I took, because you can throw food away, it is wasteful and insulting, so I figured it was much easier to go for seconds than to have to take too much and have to finish more than I needed.
The next morning I woke up early to go for a run, and my host brother Patrick was tasked with accompanying me. My meme was worried I would be attacked by a dog, so she sent him out after me at 6 in the morning. It was still dark when I began my run but then the sun began to rise and it was the most beautiful sunrise I had ever seen.
For the rest of the week, I would meet up with the family for dinners and then for breakfast Patrick and I would eat together and then trek out to the railroad tracks where I would meet my friend Siobhan and we walk to the guest house to meet with the rest of our group. Every morning I had fresh guavas (which I had never tried before, but were amazing). Over the weekend, Meme taught me how to make mahangu porridge and we made dinner that night as well, which consisted of carrot salad, beef, and pasta with sauce. On Sunday morning, Moijtie and I woke up early to go the salon. We both got extensions, which she picked out for me. The experience was painful to say the least, but a fun cultural experience. My real hair was braided circularly into my head and then the extensions were sewn into my hair. It took the women at the salon 30 minutes to find extensions that even remotely had a similar hair color to mine and even then the texture was completely off. I sat there getting them done for 2 1/2 hours. My head was so sore and I asked Moijtie when the soreness usually wore off and she said probably after 3 weeks or so. I took mine out the next because I am a baby and I also had no idea how to wash my hair. That process took three hours. But it gave me interesting insight in to what many black women go through to have "good hair". Nobody at the salon could understand why I wanted to change my hair. I consistently told Moijtie she had beautiful hair but she insisted she didn't. The standard of beauty that women are forced to strive towards all over the world is infuriating. This trip has shown me (through conversations with my host families, comparisons of South African magazines versus US ones and discussing with my housemates) just how much women and men at times, are taught that the natural way they are isn't good enough and it is infuriating.
Anyways, after getting my hair braided we went to my host grandmother's house. She lives in a traditional style home with different huts set up for different things, such as cooking, eating, sleeping, greeting, etc.That night my friends Siobhan and Pat came over for dinner.
Tuesday was the last night of our home-stay. That night my meme gave me a traditional Ovambo dress and necklace as well as vambo beads, which women wear underneath their clothes tied around their waist. Moijtie and I have the same Vambo beads. She gave me a beautiful basket and the mahangu I had pounded earlier to take back to the US and make for my family (so everybody better be ready to eat it) :). The next morning she sent me on my way with 12 guavas and another necklace for mom, so that my meme in Namibia and my meme in America have the same necklace.
I felt so different leaving this family.They were so welcoming, they made me feel like a part of the family instantly. They included my in all parts of their daily life and were as eager to learn about my cultures and traditions as I was about theirs. I really missed them when I left.
The next three days we spent in Etosha National Park. It was a lot of fun and we saw tons of cool animals, including a pissed off black rhino which attempted to charge our combi. The coolest thing we saw was ten giraffes attempting to scare off four lions that were in their territory. On Friday, the group split up to go our separate ways for spring break. 16 of us headed for Botswana, 3 went for a rafting trip on the Orange River, two went back to Windhoek and two went on a trip with their parents.
Botswana and Zimbabwe were so much fun that I do not have time to do them justice at the moment. So hopefully today or tomorrow I will be able to tell you about them. For now, you are almost totally caught up on my daily happenings, and I love and miss you all.
Kala po Nawa,
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