Email No. 3
Email No. 3
Windhoek, Namibia
March 3, 2005
Hi Everyone,
We feel as though we have been in a National Geographic special. Last Saturday we spent half a day with in a tribal village with a group known as “Ova Himba”. They are a band of people that live in the Northern Region of Namibia approximately 8 hours drive from the capital, Windhoek. Of course, once you get there you could be 80 hours away from the capital; there is no electricity, water, plumbing, or any other modern convenience. People live in small round clay/mud huts with roofs made of straw. Food is cooked over open fires and eaten with hands. Minimal clothing is worn and what is worn is made of animal skins or scraps of material. Men wear loincloths and women wear, mostly, goat skin coverings on their lower bodies and nothing on top, except for elaborate hair decorations also made of animal skins and pieces of plastic bags, yes, plastic bags like the ones you get groceries in at the supermarket.
The women also cover their bodies with a cream made from fat and crushed rock, the color of ochre. They spread it over their entire bodies including their hair and it makes them have a slight red glow. (Perhaps the color is similar to full blood American Indians). See accompanying photos.
All of the men except for a couple of adolescent boys were working in the fields, so we spent all of our time with the women and children. All very friendly and warm, with the women taking very good care of the children. It was evident that they care a lot about their young ones and treat them very well. They were happy to spend time with us since most tourists just come and take photos of them and go away but we actually took photos and then sat on the ground with them for several hours and shared food that we had brought. We also had two translators with us both of whom the women felt comfortable with since they were both from the same tribe, knew the language and customs and were quick to tell them that we were volunteers here helping their people.
These people are meat eaters so they have goats and cows that they use for milk and meat. They also hunt when necessary. Some vegetables are grown but they do not eat fruit since it is not found there. We shared some dried fruit that we had and they loved it. They were very curious about the prunes and wanted to know if they could grow these if they planted the seeds. We also brought them apples, bread, cookies, lollipops and tobacco.
The children were well behaved and lined up for the distribution of the cookies and lollipops. Since the lollipops were all different colors they were licking each other’s to see what the different colors tasted like. Sadly, non of the children attend school, therefore they are all illiterate.
The women also danced for us and guess what? Hinda got to dance too, she didn’t bare her breasts but did dance with the women and you can see the photos when we get home.
One of the really interesting things was a young woman who was a member of this tribe but lived in town. She no longer dressed in skins but wore western clothing and we spent a long time talking to her. She was having a difficult time leaving the village but wanted to live in town. Town is a very small place where there is high unemployment, high alcoholism and some of the poorest people we have seen so far. She was struggling with having gone to the modern world and now wanting to stay there but how to leave her. family? It was truly a dilemma but how do you go back to primitive ways when you have seen the lights of the city?
The was truly a once in a lifetime experience that we are so lucky to have had.
We see and hear from all over about what we would call the non official, but never the less real vestiges of apartheid. Very little relationship between the Afrikaners, whites, colored, and blacks. It does not feel comfortable to us, and we can sense that many of the Afrikaners and whites would not be unhappy to see apartheid return. It won’t of course. Also, we are concerned about the land reform going on which we hope won’t happen like it is in Zimbabwe, but we don’t feel comfortable about it..
A week or so ago we spent a few days south of here doing some training and got to see many orphans and vulnerable children. Many are living in some very poor areas where the housing is more hovels than houses, and in many cases just squatters camps. Never the less, there are many poor people who hardly have 2 quarters to rub together but who in any case, take these kids in and who have started some small programs with what little resources they have. The most they have is love and caring, of which there seems to be plenty and that is the most important thing.
Peter as usual is learning a new language – this time it is Afrikans which seems to be the lingua franca of Namibia. You only need to say a few words and faces light up. People like it when you learn their culture and language. Already Peter is getting many requests to take photos for this organization or that one. He was the official photographer at the recent Orphans and Vulnerable Children’s conference where he took the official photo of Namibian President Sam Nujoma and the kids. Get ready George!
Here are some funny expressions:
Panel Beater = Collision Repair
Slap Chips = French Fries
Robot = Traffic Light (“go 3 robots and take a left”) No one knows the street names because they change so often, but the number of robots stay the same.
At work, we are doing a bunch of infrastructure and systems things including developing job descriptions, policies, fundraising plans, proposal evaluation procedures, reviewing proposals, development of a board training session and formation of a board nominating and executive committee. Working hard and having fun. The boss says he hasn’t ever worked this hard, and from now on only wants older volunteers!
So, that’s it for now. Our computer is broken for the time being so hopefully we can send this tomorrow.
Love, hugs, and peace!
Peter and Hinda
Windhoek, Namibia
March 3, 2005
Hi Everyone,
We feel as though we have been in a National Geographic special. Last Saturday we spent half a day with in a tribal village with a group known as “Ova Himba”. They are a band of people that live in the Northern Region of Namibia approximately 8 hours drive from the capital, Windhoek. Of course, once you get there you could be 80 hours away from the capital; there is no electricity, water, plumbing, or any other modern convenience. People live in small round clay/mud huts with roofs made of straw. Food is cooked over open fires and eaten with hands. Minimal clothing is worn and what is worn is made of animal skins or scraps of material. Men wear loincloths and women wear, mostly, goat skin coverings on their lower bodies and nothing on top, except for elaborate hair decorations also made of animal skins and pieces of plastic bags, yes, plastic bags like the ones you get groceries in at the supermarket.
The women also cover their bodies with a cream made from fat and crushed rock, the color of ochre. They spread it over their entire bodies including their hair and it makes them have a slight red glow. (Perhaps the color is similar to full blood American Indians). See accompanying photos.
All of the men except for a couple of adolescent boys were working in the fields, so we spent all of our time with the women and children. All very friendly and warm, with the women taking very good care of the children. It was evident that they care a lot about their young ones and treat them very well. They were happy to spend time with us since most tourists just come and take photos of them and go away but we actually took photos and then sat on the ground with them for several hours and shared food that we had brought. We also had two translators with us both of whom the women felt comfortable with since they were both from the same tribe, knew the language and customs and were quick to tell them that we were volunteers here helping their people.
These people are meat eaters so they have goats and cows that they use for milk and meat. They also hunt when necessary. Some vegetables are grown but they do not eat fruit since it is not found there. We shared some dried fruit that we had and they loved it. They were very curious about the prunes and wanted to know if they could grow these if they planted the seeds. We also brought them apples, bread, cookies, lollipops and tobacco.
The children were well behaved and lined up for the distribution of the cookies and lollipops. Since the lollipops were all different colors they were licking each other’s to see what the different colors tasted like. Sadly, non of the children attend school, therefore they are all illiterate.
The women also danced for us and guess what? Hinda got to dance too, she didn’t bare her breasts but did dance with the women and you can see the photos when we get home.
One of the really interesting things was a young woman who was a member of this tribe but lived in town. She no longer dressed in skins but wore western clothing and we spent a long time talking to her. She was having a difficult time leaving the village but wanted to live in town. Town is a very small place where there is high unemployment, high alcoholism and some of the poorest people we have seen so far. She was struggling with having gone to the modern world and now wanting to stay there but how to leave her. family? It was truly a dilemma but how do you go back to primitive ways when you have seen the lights of the city?
The was truly a once in a lifetime experience that we are so lucky to have had.
We see and hear from all over about what we would call the non official, but never the less real vestiges of apartheid. Very little relationship between the Afrikaners, whites, colored, and blacks. It does not feel comfortable to us, and we can sense that many of the Afrikaners and whites would not be unhappy to see apartheid return. It won’t of course. Also, we are concerned about the land reform going on which we hope won’t happen like it is in Zimbabwe, but we don’t feel comfortable about it..
A week or so ago we spent a few days south of here doing some training and got to see many orphans and vulnerable children. Many are living in some very poor areas where the housing is more hovels than houses, and in many cases just squatters camps. Never the less, there are many poor people who hardly have 2 quarters to rub together but who in any case, take these kids in and who have started some small programs with what little resources they have. The most they have is love and caring, of which there seems to be plenty and that is the most important thing.
Peter as usual is learning a new language – this time it is Afrikans which seems to be the lingua franca of Namibia. You only need to say a few words and faces light up. People like it when you learn their culture and language. Already Peter is getting many requests to take photos for this organization or that one. He was the official photographer at the recent Orphans and Vulnerable Children’s conference where he took the official photo of Namibian President Sam Nujoma and the kids. Get ready George!
Here are some funny expressions:
Panel Beater = Collision Repair
Slap Chips = French Fries
Robot = Traffic Light (“go 3 robots and take a left”) No one knows the street names because they change so often, but the number of robots stay the same.
At work, we are doing a bunch of infrastructure and systems things including developing job descriptions, policies, fundraising plans, proposal evaluation procedures, reviewing proposals, development of a board training session and formation of a board nominating and executive committee. Working hard and having fun. The boss says he hasn’t ever worked this hard, and from now on only wants older volunteers!
So, that’s it for now. Our computer is broken for the time being so hopefully we can send this tomorrow.
Love, hugs, and peace!
Peter and Hinda
posted by Peter and Hinda Schnurman at 6:59 AM
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