They were rocking part II ... but ...

It isn't a nice sequel to the prior blog article
concerning the young San Cultural Group and a
follow up to their tremendous practice performance
they had the other day. The ones they were having
to prepare themselves for the Kuru Cultural Festival
in Botswana.
In fact, from what was supposed to be a great positive
situation came tumbling to a really disappointing ending.
What happened was that the transportation that was
supposed to arrive to bring them to the office where
they could get travel documents or passports, didn't
show. It is a distance of about 540 km or about 340 miles
round trip. Transportation out here in the bush is a
challenge on a good day. So the planning of trans-
portation was supposed to be the solution.
It is how things seem to go out here in the bush. I just
feel so bad for these kids. I am just supporting the man
who is the leader of the group and he did his best to
arrange the transportation. He called, he confirmed and
he stressed when it didn't appear. What else can you
ask from the guy?
Again, I feel bad for the kids but I also wonder how
much motivation and enthusiasm have been taken from
them. I am scared that it may never return and hopefully
these kids are resilient and can somehow have the will
to try again if the opportunity arises. These kids would
have wowed the crowd, that I am totally sure of.

But the rocking part II part (as you can see in the picture
above) is that today they was a triple wedding at the
New Gospel Church here in the village.
In the picture the people are going over to the hut to
get the three prospective brides and bring them to the
area they used for the ceremony.
This place was rocking and the signing and dancing was
fantastic. It was a fun place to be and I participated and
not as the wedding singer but as the wedding photographer.
I just used my little compact Canon camera and out of a
whole bunch of pics, I'd say about 30% came out great.
It was in a building that was like a dungeon and there were
three small light bulbs. It was a challenge to get the lighting
right.
But for the brides and grooms the most important moments
came out well. Like putting on the rings, the kiss and the
feeding of cake and here they add feeding of a drink
(cola in this case, it is against their religion to drink alcohol).
What I considered to be kind of interesting was that
neither the husbands nor the brides smiled even once
throughout the whole deal, from beginning to end. In fact,
2 out of the three new husbands actually had a shocked
or scared look on their faces. I wonder why that was like
that ... maybe us men are kind of the same no matter where
we're from.
So, as I write this article I look back on a day that is just
like a Peace Corps volunteer's tour (most of us anyway),
the proverbial ups and downs. Probably can add round and
round too as it always seems to come in cycles.

They were rocking ...

The young San cultural group are practicing for their
trip next week to Botswana and the Kuru Cultural
Festival.
I have been attending many of their repetitions and
have to say that today's was the best yet. They were
super-charged and did a tremendous job. If they can
maintain the intensity over the weekend's practices then
they will be in great shape at the festival.
It was a really great experience as they started a little
late and as you can see in the picture is was at dusk
when I snapped the shot. Dusk just seems like the right
time for these things.
When I am there to see these events it just always reminds
of how great it is to be in villages and places that are so
different from where I came from. Nothing spectacular
or expensive, just really down to earth, all in another
world.

Visitors

This year a group from the World Challenge program
arrived to help out at the village's school. They are
from the United Kingdom and spent a week
(group in photo above).
They basically continued with the project of painting
the school buildings that was started last year but also
repaired school desks and cafeteria tables that were
in dire need of fixing.
This group was fantastic, capable and willing to do
whatever they could to improve the school. They did
quality work and as a result of their efforts the school
is beginning to shape up.
The group consisted of 16 young men of high school age
and they also had a few matches of soccer/fotball with
some of the learners from the school.
It was a two game/match affair with the first game
tied at 5-5 and the second a close defeat at 3-2. Of course
the learners here had home field advantage and in this case
it meant something. The main reason is that the soil here is
best described as sandy.
They played on our new field which is about 60% grass at
the moment and hopefully will improve when the rains come.
The grass here is a runner type plant so if it establishes it holds
together even in the dry season.
So, the guys from England were doing something similar to
playing beach soccer. Needless to say the learners here were
accustomed to playing on the sandy surface.
But in the end it isn't about the actual score which decides who
wins or loses. It was a winning situation no matter what because
for the kids here in the village to be able to socialize with outsiders
gives them a great life experience.
Other news in the village ... well ... we are experiencing something
that could be called a miracle ... the village generator hasn't
broken down in almost a month. Don't know how that is
happening but the good part it gives us a chance to show our
behavior change type videos. The people actually love them
so hopefully they will get the message.
The dormant support group garden is becoming de-dormented
as they are showing up. Only problem it is about 2 months later
than they should have but ... the old better late than never applies.
We did double the space from last year and now it is really
about totally full. So, success is never absolute here, not trying
to sound doom and gloomy but the truth is what it is.
The young San group is still rocking along and too bad the
internet connection here is too weak to upload anything
substantial. If I do get a decent connection one day I will upload
a clip of the group.
They are practicing for next week's trip Botswana to perform
at a huge regional cultural festival. For these kids it ought to
be something to remember. Almost all of them haven't even
been to a big city yet so, this should be a real life experience
for them. It is a great thing and I am sure they will show the
people what they can do.
The older San cultural group is going up to the capital (Windhoek)
to perform in front the presidents of this region of Africa. I am
not sure how many presidents are going to be there but a bunch
is my best guess. It is a tremendous opportunity to show the
San (Khwe) culture. Hopefully they do their people proud.
Well, that's it for this week. Gotta go as I can hear the young
San group warming up. They practice about 100 meters from
where I live so it is just a hop, skip and a jump to see some
great cultural dances.

Retro Digs

That's what you are looking at in the above picture. It
is a traditional San (Bushmen) hut/house.

This is the first one I've seen since arriving in the area
over 14 months ago. The hut is located in a village up the
road (30 kilometers) and it is part of a project that this San
(Khwe tribe) man who is a paraplegic is working on. He
is trying to build a little traditional Bushman village. It is for
a few purposes ... 1. to keep the traditional ways alive as
many of the young kids have never seen a traditional styled
hut from their culture before. And 2, maybe there could be
some tourist interest sometime in the future. He is struggling
to get it done but there is something to say about his character
and for what he is trying to accomplish.

Today the huts/houses of the San people that I've seen are more
of a permanently built type design. Usually with either dry grasses
or maybe some mud for the walls. Doesn't sound too permanent
does it? If the person is a little prosperous, then zinc metal
sheeting for the roof, if not, then again, dry grasses.

Looking at the traditional San hut, it sure looks a lot like a tent
in it's shape. A hut like that takes some work but not a
tremendous amount of time to construct. Usually the San
were people on the move. Going from one water and
food source area to another.

The knowledge I have is that they would on average stay in one
place for a month or so ... then move on. So, these style huts
were just the ticket for their needs. It was also told to me that
if they did return to the same area that they inhabited before and
the huts were still standing, then, they would just ignore those and
make new ones.

Looking at the hut in person genuinely brought the reality home
that the life for the San in general, has totally changed and in a
certainty, will never return again. All in a matter of a generation
or so. No wonder the challenge of change is such a big one for
these people and the problems they are facing as a result are
difficult to solve.

One of things on my wish list is to try and get a mini-workshop
for some of the kids here that would include them building one
themselves. Not to be experts but just to know part of the
traditions of where they came from. But the time it takes to
organize anything here, even as simple as that, makes me think
that even with the time I have left, it may not happen. I will
just try as usual and hope for the best.

It must be difficult for the older people to relate to the younger
ones and just by looking at the hut brings that thought to mind.
Their elders lived a lifestyle where that hut was a big part of their
lives. Now the younger people are watching music videos on
a TV. Big change in a short period of time.

We can all get along ...

That is the theme of this blog entry. In the picture
above you see two people. One is my counterpart
(Susanna) and the other is a man from Cuba who
came to hold a meeting in the village last week.

Also, a group of high school kids from England arrived
as part of the World Challenge program and will be here
for a week. They will help out at the school working
on a project to spruce up and refurbish a few of the old
classrooms.

The volunteer from the Netherlands just left for a few
months and the priest from Germany and the two
Romanians from the Adventist Church are in Europe
and will be back within this month.

Of course I am from the United States and in my opinion,
that's a lot of different people in a village of 700 people
out 70 kilometers in the middle of the bush.

In my experience it is just a great thing to be able to be
a part of. With all the problems people have with
conceptions and discrimination of and against other
people it is a refreshing experience to just interact with
these people of other cultures and build friendships.
Oh yeah, I almost forgot to add in the people of Namibia
and there are something like 6 or 7 different tribes with
their little agendas within themselves and ... well ... one
learns to be open minded, tolerant, accepting and in the
end it is a great chance to develop one's personal
perceptions first hand. No secret and no revelations will
be found in this statement ... it takes meeting the people
first hand to actually know what is going on. Listening
to other peoples opinions and taking them as our own
and not seeing first hand if they are correct leads to a
lot of this discrimination through ignorance.

I really enjoyed talking to the man from Cuba seeing
as the situation between his country and mine could
present a little resentment but ... actually it was the
opposite. We got along great and both mentioned that
the political stuff is not of interest to either one.

I don't know how many times this is repeated but in
general people are people no matter where we are from.

To change the subject and give a little info on what is
happening in the village ... well ... it is a slow period other
than the visitors.

The main accomplishment that seems to have any value
to me has been that I've been taking video clips of the
young San Cultural group's practices (ages between
8 to 15 or 16 years). The reason being that they could
look them over and see if there are any mistakes or things
that they may improve on.

So far there are four separate sessions that have been recorded.
Last night I went over the the group's leader's house as he
had all the kids over to sit and watch and critique their work.
Let me tell you it was fun to see. They were laughing at some
of the gaffs and making comments on what they may be able
to change. Also, there was no room to move as not only the kids
were there but so was the whole neighborhood, young and old.

Doesn't seem like much but here it is a first and the value I
find in it is that they are hopefully acquiring the character
trait of self-improvement. The idea is that a character trait
learned will be used in all activities as it will be a part of who
they are. Things like this is just ... who knows if it will work
... but ... it may and that's worth the effort.

This month may be even a little slower as it is kind of a vacation
month. That's ok, I'll find something to do somewhere. These
are the dog days of my volunteer tour.