Bitter sweet week

It is the day after Christmas and the end of
another week. As the title states it was a
bitter sweet week all in all.

First the sweet part ...

There is steady progress on the HIV/AIDS
informational DVD in the San language (Khwedam).
It took since the end of April to even get it started
but weekly we are adding another few segments.
The goal is to get it ready by at least the middle of
January.

Also, on Christmas eve there was a beauty contest
in the center of the village/town. I wasn't there but
the word is that it went well and it was a good time
for all. I don't know who won other than the
description I got was ... she's short. But for this
village, any activity that isn't revolved around
drinking is a plus.

Christmas day in a place that is over 100 degrees
Fahrenheit in the sun, takes a little imagination.
So, what happened was that we went to the game
park to look at the animals (never get tired of that ).
By we I mean, me and the four Romanian people
that are living in the village at the moment. For me
it wasn't the typical New England Christmas.
It was driving along in a van that had 'Get Ready.
Jesus is coming soon' written on the sides. Also it
was speaking in the Romanian language and for
a minute it was like I had never left Romania.
There were the normal zebras and impalas but
the treat of the day was the giraffes (in photo).
In all there were eight giraffes on the side of the
road. They are some real pretty animals when
seen in the wild.

There doesn't seem to be a very big festive activity
attached to Christmas here. It is mainly Christian
but the presents and things like that ... didn't see
them. Also, no one knows who Santa Claus is.
So, I spent some time trying to describe this
concept. No one heard much about the North Pole,
a man with a sleigh or someone who comes down
the chimney at night. They did understand that
Santa only brings toys for good girls and boys.
I tried to explain, I did my best but I don't think
it was good enough and I am sure that they have
no idea who Santa is and are probably more
confused.

Now the bitter part of the week. It is a sad thing.
It is about the three legged dog. The hero of the
prior blog article. I went by the Romanians place
this afternoon and was immediately told that the
three legged dog was killed last night. He was
hit by a police vehicle. There are only about
four vehicles total in the whole village, so.
The three legged dog, the hero, is gone,
just ain't right.

So that's it for this week.

The Legend of the Green Mamba and the Three Legged Dog ...

Every culture has it's legends'. Africa is filled with
many stories mythical, mystical or full of wisdom.

So here is the story of the green mamba and the
three legged dog as it was told to me ...

A long time ago ( yesterday - 22 December 2009 ) ...
there were these two Romanian guys living out in a
rural village in the middle of the Bwabwata National
Park. They were two great guys just trying to help the
people of the village out. They were so decent that two
dogs actually adopted them and decided to stay on as
their sidekicks.One dog (male) has only three legs
( in picture ) as the other dog (female) has all four.
The Romanians were kind of new, only having established
themselves in the village for a little over four months.
Yesterday afternoon they were in the front of their
building/house/church/activity center working on outfitting
a van that will be used by one of their colleagues to
support his missionary ways.
The dogs were of course nearby lying under the vehicle
so as to stay out of the hot Namibian afternoon sun.
Everything was quiet and the Romanians proceeded with
their work in peace.
All of a sudden, the three legged dog darts out from under
the van and starts barking hysterically at a bush/tree,
which was about 5 meters or 5 yards away from where
they were working.
As they looked up to see what all the ruckus was
about, the dog jumped up into the tree and came out
with a green mamba in it's teeth. The dog actually had
the tail of the snake in it's mouth. The dog wasn't
dumb and looks like it knew that the head of the snake
was the dangerous part. So, the three legged dog threw
the snake down and ran a bit away.
The Romanians acting quickly dispatched the lethal snake
and now the snake and Ichabod Crane have something
in common ... no head.

Due to the brave action by the three legged dog all
are safe. Two trees have been cut down as they were
a favorite haven for mambas and too close to the house.

And that is the story of the green mamba and the three
legged dog.

So, I guess legendary stories can originate from ancient
times or sometimes they are told to an American by two
Romanians only this morning.

Looking back at the week ...

It is another Saturday and the time to look
back on the past week.
As far as it went, it was ok. Nothing excitingly
crazy happened. At this time of the year, it is the
nature of the activity level.
We did make some progress in the age old (since
I arrived at the end of April) effort to make a health
oriented DVD in the San language (for this San
group - it is Khwedam).
The first disk will consist of HIV/AIDS information.
The basic idea is to have an introduction, then information
about what HIV is and does. The next step should be
about prevention and ARV's and adhering to the regimen.
Also, an explanation of the testing process and a talk
on misconceptions.
To conclude, it will be addressing behavioral change.
It is the original plan but we are open to changes and
after we get the basic DVD in place and watch it, then
we will add or adjust as needed. So far, we have the
male and female condom and adhering to ARV's
finished. For me, I am ecstatic that we have accomplished
this. Eight months to get this done ... I think I can spell
the word patience, even if it drives me nuts sometimes.
Also, what happened this week, learning to make
the Elephant Chili Bomb (exactly the prior article). Will
I need to use it, here maybe as we are in the middle of
a game reserve, outside of here, course not. But it is
kind of cool that I may be able to impress the people
back home with this knowledge. Or maybe it will be
a Trivial Pursuit question ... or just a trivial pursuit.
Now to refer to the picture above. Last Tuesday I went
back to the game park which is about 80 km or 50
miles away from here. I went with the two Romanian
guys whom are living in the village. They never have
been there and I was happy for the chance to go back.
This time we saw a giraffe and it was different from the
last time due to the rains that have just started to fall.
It is amazing what kind of transition the bush has
made with just very little rain. For that the animals
were able to hide some.
What we did see was the flow of life through the
little baby Impalas who were with their mothers. I
guess the timing of their birth fits the rhythm of the
when the rains return. It was a sight to see.
Other than that, it was just one of those weeks.
But there was some progress, and so it goes.

If you ever ...

Had a problem with elephants attacking your
crops ... Then here is an something one can do
that doesn't require a lot of technology.

In the picture you can see that the top line of
text ably describes what it is.
So how does one make an Elephant Chili Bomb?

Step 1.
Collect elephant dung as it is the best material for
making chili bombs.

Step 2.
Dry and crush chili into a powder.

Step 3.
Mix in two handfuls of chili powder for every two
handfuls of dry dung.

Step 4.
Add a little water to the dry mixture.

Step 5.
Form the wet mixture into a ball that looks just like
an elephant dung ball but with a dent on top.

Step 6.
After it is completely dry the chili bomb is ready
to burn by placing a hot coal into the dent.

So there you have it ... the alternative answer to those
pesty elephants that have been keeping you up all
night.

Does anyone reading this blog entry really need this
info ... I totally doubt it.

I wonder if it will work with other animals, of course
probably have to use their respective dungs.

Small Activities

In the course of a volunteer's time in their respective
sites there is always that point where things just slow
down. I have mentioned this several times in other
postings within this blog. That's just the normal reality
that makes it the roller coaster experience, it is.

That is my location at this time, not only 70 km from
anywhere, but that, and, in a slow period. Through my
experience, this time of the year is the same almost
everywhere. It is holiday time throughout the Christian
world. Schools go on break, officials go on break, and
here, it is also a time for the rains and working in the
fields.

So, where does that leave a volunteer? Kind of in the
lurch for meaningful things to do. This is where I've
found that imagination is a must. There is always something
to do, may not be so incredibly valuable or meaningful, but
it is all part of the puzzle of a plan for development/change.

In the picture you see just one of those little projects that
can fill in and occupy one's time. It is common knowledge
that in sub-Saharan Africa there is a high rate of HIV/AIDS.
In Namibia they were in the vicinity of 19 and a half percent
but with the last census have reduced it to somewhere in the
mid 17 percent range.

So, despite the fact that the trend is going in a positive direction,
the work isn't finished by any means, as there are still people
becoming infected.

So the little project in the photo is to make plaques that can be
hung on the wall as the reminder to stay vigilant. It is just
a part of that puzzle that we hope comes together and has all the
pieces in the end.

The main issue that we are addressing here concerning HIV/AIDS
is that of behavioral change. The people have received the
information in regards to prevention and so on. But, in the end,
all the information means nothing if not coupled with some
action. In this case, action in the form of behavioral change.
It is a challenge and we've tried sports, theater and anything
in between but the biggest obstacle in this town/village to
behavioral change is again, alcohol. It is difficult to make
alcoholics see the 'light'. But somehow it has to be accomplished.

The situation is also magnified by the fact that the San people are
in a major flux of culture change. It is interesting that intellectually
we can somewhat understand the ramifications of such a drastic
change, but, being in the middle of it and seeing all the problems
that arise from it, is something else.

The idea of behavioral change thrown in with a search for a
new culture, makes it again, a challenge.

Once a certain new culture or way of life is defined then, a
behavior will emerge and then action towards making it a
responsible one, can be chosen. But in the case here, there
is no set behavior. The old ways don't hold in the younger
generation and vice a versa. So there isn't an apparent
cultural argument that one can use to convince someone to
adhere to a proper behavior. It is having to create one that
fits in between the old ways and new ways. Which requires
trial and error.

Where does this all lead, in unchartered waters of development
work. It leads to any little project or idea that may be placed
in the puzzle. If a puzzle is missing that one little piece, then the
accomplishment of putting it together, loses it's luster. So, every
little piece in the end, is important.

I am hoping that the little plaque is just one of those all important
pieces of the puzzle.

So, I guess in the end, there really isn't anything, no matter how
small or seemingly insignificant which doesn't have a value. It
really is a matter of some action, big or small. It is either one
big piece or a lot of little pieces, which make a finished puzzle.

week - another review

Well, another week went by and it had it's ups
and downs like usual. One statement I can make
about the time that I've spent in Africa villages
is that, it's never boring. There's always something
going on, good or bad.

This week I finally was able to start on a project that
I've been trying to get going since the first day I
arrived in the village. That is of making a video of
health issues such as HIV/AIDS, malaria and TB
to name a few, in the local language which here is
Khwedam, one of the San languages. It just makes
sense to have all this info in a format that can be
repeated easily. Many of the older San people
can't speak or understand very well the languages
that they are given instruction in. So, finally we
are beginning to put a DVD together. So far
we've covered about 2 of the 7 topics we plan to.
But it is progress and progress is good.

Also speaking of DVDs, we are just about finished
with the one we made with the church's choir. It is
really an amateur (technology wise) production but
even with that, it couldn't take away the fact that the
kids are actually pretty good. It was a fun thing to
do, it animated the choir and they will have a disk
that they can keep. We still need to rearrange the
songs so that the songs flow from one to another,
but this is also a great learning situation as they are
getting the eye and ear for it.

There was a memorial day for a former chief that I
didn't get the chance to see. But I heard that there
were game meat involved in the festivities. I believe
there were 1 elephant, 1 hippo, 1 or 2 buffalo and
2 or 3 kudu killed for the festival. This was done in
a controlled way and all was legal.

The San's history is that of hunter/gatherers and the
game meat is part of their heritage. Since the establishment
of the game reserve, they've been not allowed to hunt and
in essence have lost most of their culture. They are now
being lead to an agricultural way that their forefathers
didn't have any knowledge of. Someone brought kudu
meat to this village and man, you should have seen the
people literally going crazy for it. They were actually
giddy. I guess for the brief moment they were in touch
with the thousands of years of prior existence.

One of the strategies for transitioning the San has been
hunting concessions. Trophy hunters pay a fairly healthy
fee, to hunt a certain amount of each animal (decided by
the government) during a hunting season. What then
happens is that some of the money is returned to the
San in forms of services and outright cash payments.
Also, the meat from the slain animals are given to
the San villages.

I must say that by living with the San and seeing the
results of such goings through the transition, well,
best way said, it ain't easy.

The school is going on a break until mid-January so that
kinds of takes away a source of activity for me but
we've replaced it with a kids cultural group. Oh yeah,
speaking of cultural group, the older cultural group that
was supposed to go (key word here ... supposed) to
the national dance competition got the word that they
weren't going due to some problem. I feel bad for these
youth, they had been practicing and well, we can
all imagine the disappointment that they must have felt
when they first heard the bad news.

OK, back to the kids cultural group. Since school is
out,one of the guys who are working the cultural angle
organized this new group. They are about ages ranging
from 10 to 16 years old and they are ... fantastic. I am
thinking that if this group could just be developed and
stay together they will be formidable. This group
went to the commemoration day and I was told that
they were the high point of the whole affair. I have
watched them and they are full of energy and they are
having fun. Hopefully nothing or anyone comes by and
ruins it for them.

So basically, that's the week. Nothing spectacular but
it was alright and of course in is my opinion, not boring.