Back To Africa

Keeping up with the Super Bowl ...

2012-02-05T20:10:00.000+02:00

Seeing as the Patriots (my team) is in the
Super Bowl, there is a need to be informed.
I am from Massachusetts and during my time
in the Peace Corps the Patriots have been
to four Super Bowls and today they are heading
into their fifth.
The first time I was in Leon, Nicaragua and
that was a great atmosphere. The second
and third I was at Kounkane and Kolda,
Senegal respectively.
Number four was at Nadlac, Romania and
the fifth (today) will be 70 km out in the bush
in north eastern Namibia.
The first three I was able to watch it on TV. The
fourth was through an internet live update feed.
To stay updated on this Pats Super Bowl quest,
I am going to be using what you see in the
picture above ... my cellphone with and internet
connection.
I have downloaded an ESPN app that will post
the plays.
I will refresh every minute or so and though it isn't
like watching it on the tube, it will still be exciting
... especially if they win.
It will require waking up at about 4 a.m. here. It's
ok, it's worth it.

I am really lucky that I can keep up with the game
out here. It can always be worse.

One of the aspects of life that living in the Peace
Corps reminds one of, almost daily.

It's back to the village ...

2012-01-18T18:29:00.001+02:00

Tomorrow morning bright and early it's out the
door and time to head back to the village.
It has been about 10 days out of site and
it's been a quick ten days but it was a good
little break. I actually had a chance to watch TV,
go for breakfast a few times and catch up on
the soapies (soap operas / telenovelas) that
they show here in Namibia.

I've stayed in contact with some of the people
I work with in the village and there are a few things
lined up so it will be some things to do upon return.

I was able to do a little more playing around with
my netbook computer since here there is 24/7
electricity. So, I converted another one of the
Young San Cultural Group's songs.

This one I really like and the name of the song is
... people from the oil tree.

It isn't exactly a traditional song but it is one that the
kids put together themselves.

To listen to it and if you want or download just

click here

when you arrive at the page you will see the player
and to the right an option to download.

Send me a comment if you like the song.

Time to go start packing my things for the 11 hour
journey back.

What I like about ...

2012-01-10T21:37:00.000+02:00

Africa is that at any time, any where, you may see something that you've never seen before. Despite having almost 6 years of living on the continent, there is still a good chance that something unique will appear out of the blue. This morning I walked into town ( I am spending a few days in Okahandja. A city. ) as you can see there is water jetting out of somewhere due to some work mishap. You can also see a car under the water flow. The great thing is the guy drove through then stopped, backed up and basically washed his car in the middle of the street. Can't say I've seen that before and maybe others have but this was a first for me. I just love things like this. Freedom to just do these things without worrying about what people think. Things like this I'll miss when my time is up in 6 months. But it ain't over yet.

A new view ...

2012-01-07T13:51:00.000+02:00

I am out of the village at this moment and
took a few days to visit the host family that
I stayed with in Okahandja.

I had been in the village almost full time
since returning from my 1 month vacation
at the end of June. I didn't have to stay there
all the time but I did because there always
seemed something going on that I didn't
want to miss being a part of.

But I feel that I was due to just relax a bit. Here
I can catch up on some of the things that I
wanted to work on. In the village the electricity
was basically limited to 1 hour a day and when
they fixed the big generator and it was on for
about 9 hours per, I ran out of airtime for going
on the internet to look up information.
With the 3G connection we have it costs about
1 USD for 7 megabytes of download/upload.
So by being in the city I can get access to buying
airtime by just going to the center of town. In
the village it is hit or miss with airtime so there
are limitations.

In the title it says 'A new view' which basically means
that I am in another place. In the picture is a
part of the new view. On the left is Helvy and on
the right is Helena. They are a part of the host
family that I stayed with during my first three months in
Namibia. It is part of the Peace Corps' program
to have trainees live with host families at the
beginning. It is actually a very good thing as it
gives one a chance to get immersed while making
the transition.

This family in particular has been very good to me
during training and ever since. I visit them every
so often when I get a chance to pass by this side
of the country.

Back to Helvy and Helena ... Helvy is in her last year
at the University of Namibia and she is finishing
her studies in economy. Also she is from the Ovambo
people, one of the many different peoples/tribes in
Namibia. In her language to say hello to
anyone who visits this blog one would say
... ongeipi ... which means 'how are you'.
the reply if things are going well is ... nawa.
Helena is still in high school and will be entering
the 11th grade.
They are both good girls and I am sure that they
will do well with their lives.

Now it is time to end this blog entry and take
advantage of the electricity. Maybe we'll watch a
movie or listen to the radio and even crazier, watch
TV.

Going without those things isn't a real problem and
when I get the chance to use these every so often, it
really is a treat. I really like how this experience helps
keep life into a perspective. I am hoping and am
almost sure that from here on in, I will never take
any of these things for granted.

What a way to enjoy all the things life has to offer ...
but it starts by learning to never take them for granted.

New Year's Eve '12' - reflections

2011-12-31T10:42:00.000+02:00

At this time of the year I have made it a
habit to take a few moments to reflect.
I like to reflect back but also forward.
The picture is the view from my back
window. I like just looking out it and
thinking about things every so often. So
I did before I wrote this blog post.

It has been a good year all and all. There
are always things and situations that could
have panned out better but ... as it goes it
goes and that's how it's meant to be.

To say that the world was changed here in
the village in front of our eyes wouldn't be
accurate. But, there has been progress and
that's all one can ask.

The last year's activities were really targeted
towards behavior change and that's really a
tall task if one wants to see 'instant gratification'.
We slogged along and every opportunity that
arose, we took. If it was with sports or culture
groups or just sitting in the middle of the village
and talking one on one, we did it.
The probable biggest success was with the
cultural group. What started out slow and difficult
ended in a bang with the activities of the last
few months.
It was really heartening to hear the mother of
two of the group thank David (group organizer/
leader) by saying that if she had money to give
him she would. She said that her two older kids
give her trouble but the two that are with the
group are good kids that don't give any problems.
She can't thank him enough for what he's done
for her kids.
It was the goal of the group work to help produce
good kids. Hopefully we helped to change their
future, time will tell.
The sports went well but in spurts. If they have a
tournament where there is money, they practice
like heck. If not, no action at all. We tried to
motivate them for the love of the games ... it
improved some but it needs more effort.
The movies we made at the health in 2010
continued to get mileage. They went to a hospital
in the region and the actors from the village got
a lot of text messages from their friends who
saw their work. They are low level celebrities.
Problem, is that we need to make more or at
least one with a good message about alcohol
abuse. It is the leading source of our community's
problems.
One of the smallest yet ' more bang for the buck '
activity we did was with the Youth Office. The
youth (18 to 35) were in a huge need of CV's
or resumes. We worked out a good solid one
that the secretary at the Youth Office put in his
computer. With his support to complete the CVs
at least 15 youth were able to join either the
Namibia Defense Force (NDF), police or
vocational workshops and courses. It was the
largest amount of youth being able to participate
in the above mentioned at any one calendar year.
That was a definitely good surprise to see.

There were also a lot of the small things like helping
out anyone that needed it. I always felt that no
matter how big or small, it adds up. Of course
it does, no revelation there.

Then there is the upcoming year. I have until June
here so the time is getting short and then there
is the sense of urgency setting in. The work here
with the San is really a slow process, the slowest
than in the other countries I've been in. It is the
nature of the beast. So there is a realization that
it is most certain that all things desired will not be
able to be completed.
One real last activity we'd like to accomplish is
to take the Cultural Group to Etosha National Park.
For me it would be a fantastic climax to the work
we did with that group. Of course there are the
normal struggles of resources (funds) and logistics.
But we will try, all we can do.
As mentioned above, one more movie about alcohol
abuse. If we make it, people will watch it over and
over. They've done it with the other movies so
maybe by repetition (on their own choice) something
will sink in. Even if I'm not here.
Electricity is coming so I hope that it is in place long
enough to be able to help a few kids learn a bit
about computing. It is a matter of timing, we hope
it will be in our favor.

I guess that's all for the year end reflections. It was
a good year and hopefully the next half year will
be equally as good.

We'll see if that will be possible ... starting tomorrow.

Xmas Eve

2011-12-24T20:38:00.000+02:00

It is another Christmas time and being in a
warm weather climate (it is summer in the
southern hemisphere) gives it a different
feeling.

In the picture you can see my Christmas present.
I've been basically just staying in the village all
the time. Except for going out with the cultural
group on their excursions, being here is about it.
So this is a real treat.

A girl from the village named Mildred came back
for Christmas to visit her family. She brought what
you see in the picture above. Happy Lion is kind
of a Kentucky Fried Chicken place that's in the
big towns.

Mildred had some problems at the beginning of
the year while she was living in the capital. I met
her when I was there and I gave her a little help
and some advice.

With that help she got a job in Katima Mulilo and
is doing very well at the moment.

The other day she SMS / texted me to tell me that
she was bringing the Hungry Lion. She said that
when she had nothing I was there to help her so
she wanted to do this.

Christmas presents are in many shapes and forms.
It is about being happy which is really the best
present of all.The Hungry Lion worked well
... I can tell you that but the present that makes me
happiest of all (this may sound corny) is to see
that she is doing well.

I am also happy that she took the help and made
something with it.

Just helping one person may not save the world
but it will make it a better place, for sure. In the
life of a Peace Corps volunteer it may be 1 or 2
or hundreds that are affected, a lot of times we
never see any results. It happens after we're gone.

But I can say this, seeing Mildred doing well gave
me the best Christmas present ... happiness.

This is the view ...

2011-12-21T20:25:00.001+02:00

The village is experiencing a let down after
the last weekend's tournament. It was really
hopping and people are saying that it was
the best one ever held here. In a place like
this that has no working radio or TV reception,
events like this are the main source of en-
tertainment.

But after the curtains have closed what is there
to do? Especially in this holiday season. A lot
of people have left, a few others are coming
back this upcoming weekend.

So, in between there isn't much to do (here
is where the picture comes in) but sit in the
middle of the village and 'look stupid'.
There is actually a story that goes with this. One
of the goals of a Peace Corps volunteer is to
share our culture with the people we are living
with.
When there is nothing to do I usually go to the
center of the village where there are normally
a few people hanging around. During one of
these times I explained the sitting there looking
stupid statement.

When I was younger I played softball for a local
team called the Seagulls that was sponsored
by the owner of a bar. His name was George
(God rest his soul) and he looked almost like
a brother to Burl Ives and he had that Santa
Claus look going on. George was a great and
funny guy and he liked to drink a bit too.
One day me and my friend Ray were going to
go fishing and we happened to poke our head
in George's bar on the way to the pond. George
asked us what we were doing and he had had
a little to drink at the time. We said that we were
going fishing for a few hours and George looks
and us and says " fishing ... every time you go
by a lake or pond all you can see is these people
sitting there with fishing poles in their hands
and looking stupid".
The funny part was that on the way back we
stopped in for a drink (it has to have been over
21 years ago or more because I haven't drank
a drop in that amount of time) and there was
George, sitting in the same place on the end
of the bar.
So we said to him ... who's looking stupid now.
You're still here and also looking as stupid as a
drunken guy with a fishing pole at a pond.

Not a big deal story but while just sitting there in
the center of town exchanging I told them that
one. So now, whenever we ask one another
what we are doing that day, if it is going to hang
in the center of town, we all say we are just going
to look stupid.

Cultural exchange comes in all shapes and forms.
But one thing I do like about this life is the time
that can be taken to just sit and talk and share.
Many time it is an American, Mbukushu, Khwe,
Xong, Mayee, Silozi, Rukangwali, Subia and
Ovambos just sitting there looking stupid together
sharing stories and ideas.
This is what makes this volunteer gig really
something.

Oh yeah, the picture is the view from the place
where we sit and look stupid.

Old George's opinion stills lives on in our little
village in Africa.

The finals

2011-12-19T20:39:00.001+02:00

So they played the finals and it was kind
of funny how they changed the strategy for
determining the winner. First it was by a
point system but in mid stream they went
to an elimination scheme.

Here's how it finally turned out. The Youngsters
beat Mutjiku 4 to 2. Then in the Finals it was
the 'Vultures' from Chetto against the home
village's Heroes.

It was the best game of the whole tourney and
the Heroes maintained and won 2 to 1.

In the picture you can see the teams making an
opening jaunt across the field and back. They
also had to dodge the puddle of water that
accumulated after the big rain.

Final results:

1. Heroes
2. Vulture
3. Youngsters
4. Mutjiku

The field that they played on was actually the first
real project that we did here. There was a prior
soccer field but it was outside the village and full
of thorns. Plus it wasn't very amendable to
spectators.

So after talking for months and getting the backing
of two of the schools better teachers (who have
left) ... we finally found a location adjacent to the
main housing area in the village.

The next problem was convincing people to come
out and work. That took another two months
and it took two more months to take out four trees.
Should have taken three days but the four other
guys kept saying that it wasn't fair that they were
the only ones working. Which was true but I told them
that one day they will see the fruits of the labor.

It took two years as this tournament was the first
one held at this field. It was really just great and
I met three of the guys that were with me doing the
work. They all agreed that it was worth it and
seemed a bit proud and happy that they did
the field.

The goal was to put the field where people would
come and watch. It worked, as at any time there
were at least 300 villagers sitting and enjoying the
action. I was really surprised to see the people I
saw watching the game.

It was about trying to build a nice little community
setting where people could hang out, relax and
enjoy without having to go to a bar and drink
until drunk and become a nuisance.

Also, the best part about this project was that the
total cost of making the field was ... absolutely
zero. Not one red cent.

I am happy because as I watched the people
just having fun, it felt good to see that one of these
projects went as designed.

Now we have to fix that hole where the puddle is.
Should be easy to get those guys out there with
me ... this time.

Through the rain

2011-12-19T16:30:00.000+02:00

An update is that they played through the rain with the Heroes winning 3 to zero. Now (in picture) it is the semi final with Mutjiku and the Youngsters. The finals to come.

Rain delay

2011-12-19T14:26:00.000+02:00

An hour or so after blogging about the beautiful Monday morning I am looking out my back window (in picture) at a small deluge. That's how it goes out here in the South Africa region during the rainy reason. At the time the rain came the local Heroes team was 1 up over the Youngsters of either Chetto or Omega 3. Will find out which later. We ran home like the bulls were chasing us in Pamplona so what the plan is to finally finish the tourney, is something I have zero knowledge of. Looks like the rain is here for a bit. Again, more to come as it breaking.

Thrill of ... Thrill off

2011-12-19T13:30:00.000+02:00

Blogging from the soccer field with an update on this beautiful Monday morning. In the picture you can see the thrill of victory and the agony. The team in the center (on left) of the field are the Vultures from Mashambo and the team on the right in blue, the Mutjiku, don't know their other mascot name is. The Vultures won 4 to 2 and it was a good match with evenly skilled teams. The Vultures are in the finals and they will play the winner of the next game. So forget what I wrote yesterday about points determining the winner. It will be mano a mano. Next game is starting. More to come.

Tourney Day 2 Update

2011-12-18T20:12:00.000+02:00

After the rains cancelled two games
yesterday it delayed the finish. Tomorrow
the final games will be played.
The manner of deciding the winner will
be through the point system.With that it
is pretty safe to say that the village Heroes
team, should win. They've won all their games
and have outscored their opponents by
about 21 to 3. So, it seems that they got it.

The Heroes girls netball team did win it all
and they were crazy with joy. Like I've men-
tioned in other blog articles, it's hard to
remember a better victory display than what
I've seen in Africa.

In the picture is nothing much other than a
moment in the game that saw our other village
team (the Hunters) lose to the 'Vultures' from
Mashambo village. The score was 3-1 and it
was a good game but with the loss, they where
mathematically eliminated from winning

In these tournaments there has been a pattern
of some of the teams getting into beefs and
arguments but so far, it's been great in the
fact that it's been really anger free. The only
real anger we saw so far was between an
off duty policeman from another town (who
was best said ... totally drunk) and his wife.
It was a real show but our local police were
there and after a bit of bezerko behavior,
got it under control.

So, tomorrow, the final results to come.

Tourney 1st Day Update

2011-12-17T20:34:00.001+02:00

The tournament began at 8 a.m. and they
actually started on time, which was pretty
good.

There were 3 and a half games before the
rain came down in ... seeing as we are in
Namibia, it wouldn't come down 'like cats
and dogs' but more like 'hyenas and cheetahs'.

The first game featured the Chetto A-team
against the Omega 3 A-team with the outcome
... a draw 2-2.

Next up was our village A-team the Heroes
going against Mashambo and the local team
put a bit of a hurting on the visiting team to the
tune of 4-1.

The third game also featured another of our
village teams called the Hunters. They lost
2-1 to the Chetto B-team. In the picture you
can see the goal that the Hunters scored
with about 10 minutes left.

The fourth and last half game before the rains
came was Divundu facing off with the
Omega 3 B-team. It was 5-0 in favor of the
Divundu team before the half and before the
deluge came.

On the netball side the two village teams were
triumphant and I think that they may actually
face off each other tomorrow but I'm not sure
due to the fact that we were running from the
rain before I had the chance to get the info.

But it has been good till now and the village
is really enjoying the event. It is fun to be here
and it is even more fun because people from
the other villages haven't seen me and are
kind of shocked and surprised that I can speak
a bit of their San-Khwedam language ... even
with a few click words thrown in.

So I am going to predict that the finals for the
football will feature our village's Heroes team
playing against the Divundu team. It should
be a great final as the Divundu is really im-
pressive.

I hope to be able to post the info tomorrow after
the finals but if not, then Monday.

Gas and tournaments

2011-12-16T20:28:00.002+02:00

I guess that is the best way to describe what is
going on in the picture above ... gas and tournament.

The village is sponsoring a netball and football
(soccer) tournament which begins tomorrow
morning at 8 a.m.
In the background are a few of the girl netball
players cleaning and grooming their court.
The young men went out to the football field and
cut new boundaries and lines. Here the ground
is nothing but sand so it is necessary to refresh
the lines on a normal basis.

There will be 8 football and 6 netball teams
competing so it should be a big weekend here.
It also seems like a time for a reunion amongst
the people from the other villages.

Now the gas part. in the foreground of the pic
are people beginning to queue up to get some
drought relief sacks of dried beans. Each person
that registered got two bags at 5 kilos each or
11 lbs.
So with what looked like at least 500 kilos of
beans passed out, there should be a lot of gas
around this joint for the next few weeks.

In the past they gave out maize meal and that had
it's problems as some would use it to make a
local alcoholic brew called 'tombo'. So getting
the beans is a better option as far as I can see.

Other than that, it is a slow time of the year with
school out. The upcoming project to electrify the
government buildings seem to be on hold until
after new year. But I hope that the electricity is
in place by March so it will give me at least a month
or two to work with people on computer skills.

The cultural group kids performed for a few visiting
people yesterday and it went ok. Wasn't their
best but it seems, and what I've observed, is that
they are as good as the amount of people that
are watching.

With the holidays some people are coming back
to their village. It is my last Christmas here so
I am staying around and hanging out with the
peeps. Nothing spectacular other than spending
quality time with friends I've made over the years,
in another country and culture. Never ceases to
amaze me to be in places like this.

Hopefully I'll have some good reports concerning
the tourney by Monday.

The Chameleon

2011-12-06T20:48:00.001+02:00

Last Sunday the 4th was Chief's Day as
I mentioned in the prior blog article. It was
a pretty ok day despite the fact that it had
a constant but not too strong rain all afternoon.

In the picture you can see the kids from the
cultural group performing the animal song.
The young boy you see is the Chameleon
and he is doing his interpretation of one.
He is actually the brother of one of the older
girls in the group and he also just finished
kindergarten last month.

The crowd just went wild when they saw him
and he was definitely one of the favorites.

The group was the high point of the festival.
When the dignitaries talked there were a few
people. When the drum began the people came
running. There was at least 400 people watching.
The kids were 'troupahs' (as we say back in
Massachusetts) as they danced through the rain.

I have mentioned a lot about the group and their
activities but I don't think that I've mentioned the
real goal behind having this bunch of kids
together and occupied.

None of the kids families are rich or well off by any
means but there is one girl that epitomizes why
we are doing our best to develop the group.
She is actually the newest girl dancer to have
joined. She is also one of the youngest (about 8
or 9 years old) and I think (and maybe I am a bit
delusional with this) that, she may benefit the most
out of it.

Her family consists of her, a small brother of about
6 months, a mother of 27 and a grandfather that
I have never seen standing up. He appears pretty
feeble.

Her mother has HIV, is an alcoholic and really isn't
a bad person, she is just having a lot to deal with.
Last Saturday when we were organizing the kids
for one last practice before going to the Chief's
Day Festival we had to send a girl to go find the
young dancer. She was at one of the shebeens
(bar) watching her 6 month old brother while her
mother was drinking. And this was a 10 in the
morning.

So, the mother to her credit, let the girl go to
practice and we got her away from that environ-
ment for at least one day.

I am hoping that by her participating in the group
that it will give her a chance to see another side
of life. Also, the rest of the kids are good kids and
she has friends that are of good quality and to her,
good influences.

So, working with the group does have a serious
side and there are a lot of the benefits that come
from it, I'll never see the final results as in 6 months
my time is up.

But I know in my heart of hearts that there is a
good possibility that at least one young girl out
here in the bush, might have gotten a chance.

Next Generation

2011-12-03T20:30:00.001+02:00

In the picture you can see the probable
next generation of dancers for the Young
San Cultural Group.
Yesterday at the practice I had a chance
to take the picture of these kids dancing
along with one of the songs. It is a song
about going in the veld and picking the
traditional fruits and food in the bush. The
dancers have a portion of their routine where
they spin and bend down to pick something
from the ground. The picture got a few of the
kids doing that part of the dance.
It is one of the goals of the cultural group to
be consistent and continuous in it's
existence. So far there has been two gen-
erations and by the looks of it, the third one
is in the wings.
There has been some success with this as the
young kids look up to the older ones and as
so far, the older ones haven't been in any
trouble (pregnant or going to the bars ... yet)
they are what the kids out here need, role models.

The group was practicing because tomorrow the
4th is Chief's Day (for the San - Khwe) and they
have been invited to perform. They are the only
dance group invited and they have been to two
other Chief's Day and the crowd liked them. I am
going to state that if the crowd liked them then,
they'll love them now. As a result of the month
long training the kids did before going to the
Lodge, they've become even 10 times better.

It has been a good run with working with the kids.
We've struggled for a year and a half to get
things moving and now ... we've been to the Lodge,
the nature park, the fisheries institute and in
a 'what is in the works' category ... a possible
tourist boat trip on the Okavango river.
None of the kids have ever been on a boat so
it looks like it may be that there could be some
impact in the form of a new experience.

In the village the school is out and it got a bit
quiet. But there seems to be some change in the
air. I've lived here for two and a half years and
one gets the flow of life after a while. It seems
like there has been less drinking and almost
no fighting ... is it possible that there is a spiritual
revolution going on?

Strange things can happen ... I've been told.

Good Day

2011-11-26T20:36:00.003+02:00

Today was a pretty good day in the
effort of working with the cultural group.
We are trying to do varied activities
with them. It is part of the strategy to
show them options and give them ex-
periences that kids with resources have
access to.
We are limited with what we have to work
with and to get things done is a struggle
and a lot of finagling but sometimes a
little luck helps.
The planned activity was to take the kids
to the Mahango section of the Bwabwata
National Park. That section is dedicated
strictly for game drives. There was only
a single member of the group who had been
on one before, so it was a first time experience
for 15 of the kids.
We were fortunate to get the assistant principal
to supply transport (as he is the most reliable
option around).
We left the village about 7:30 a.m. and it might
have been a little late to get to the park to see
the animals.
There is a road that is about 4 or 5 km long
and is specifically for two wheel drive vehicles.
The assistant principal's pickup truck (called
bakkie here) is a two wheel drive so we took
that route.
The first pass was pretty uneventful as there
weren't many animals and the main animals
out were the Impalas. They were a lot of them,
more than I've ever seen at this park.
The park borders Botswana so we headed to
look at the border post. The kids never saw
one. It is a simple thing but they now know
a little about what it is about.
On the way back the kids wanted to go back
through the same road in the park and they
made the right decision.
There were a lot more animals but no giraffes,
elephants or buffaloes but there were a few
others types instead.
There were a lot of kudus, baboons/monkeys,
iguana and there was even a hippo with a
small baby out of the water. It made up for
the first pass.
Near the entrance of the Mahango section is
a fisheries institute that works with fish farming
throughout the region.
It is really an incredible place and even though
it was a Saturday afternoon and the place was
officially closed, they opened it up and gave the
kids a tremendous tour.
In the picture you can see a few of the kids with
the assistant principle inside one of the
institute's building. In those tanks are the fish
species that the institute works with.
These are the only kids in the whole school of
310 students that have ever seen anything like
this before.
They were really great and even the guide said
that they were one of the best mannered and
interested groups that he's guided.
That is one of the things about development,
the thought is to work with the difficult but also
I think it is ok to keep the good ones occupied
so that they don't go to the other side (as in
alcohol abuse at a young age).
We also got them plenty of food and those 16
kids can eat so it was a little pricey but it the
end ... worth every cent.
So now we have to come up with another activity
for them to do. The idea is to have them do kind
of a cultural concert / performance specifically
for the elders. After watching the kids dance at
the school building's inaugural event the elders
are asking to see more of the group perform.
So, as it goes, it was a great Saturday in the
life of this Peace Corps volunteer.

Super Sunday

2011-11-21T13:09:00.000+02:00

It is not the Super Sunday of American football we're talking about here. But it is our own little version, only bush style. In the picture is action from one of the four netball games played here yesterday. Two teams from a village called Mashambo dropped in to slap our village teams around. They won three out of four games. But that really wasn't a big deal. The big deal was the place was rocking. There had to be at least two hundred and fifty people out on a Sunday going nuts. With the main work here for me being that of behavior change, anything that is good clean fun, helps. As mentioned in prior blog articles, there is a lot of alcohol abuse and it leads into bad decisions and unprotected sex. Of course which may lead to contracting HIV. So activities that eat up time during the day is needed. Good activities that is. But it was really fun and one of the great things to see is the winning team doing their victory dances. Our village team won the last game so maybe the Mashambo team really got tired from dancing all the time and ran out of gas. For me, I never get tired of seeing the small village events. They are grass root without a lot of resources, but excitement filled nonetheless. I guess it is like 'the beauty is in the eyes of the beholder' only that the Super Sunday is also in the eyes of the beholders. Yesterday was super for sure.

Audio mania

2011-11-18T20:17:00.001+02:00

I guess putting audio clips on this blog
is like just getting a new toy. So here is
another one.
I've talked about the San (Khwe) throughout
this blog. I am not sure if anybody has heard
any of the San languages spoken. If you've
seen "The Gods must be Crazy" 1 and 2 then
you have heard the clicks that are used in
their speech.
The San in the "Gods must be Crazy" are not
of the same tribe as the Khwe. I really don't
know which tribe of San the people in the
movies are from.
This morning I asked David (leader of the San
Cultural Group) to say a few words in Khwedam.

In this clip (click here) David is greeting you,
telling his name, where he was born and also
lives (Bwabwata National Park). He also mentions
that some of the animals here are elephants and
a few others. Also he welcomes you to the Park.

Big upcoming happenings are that the village is
going to get electric lines coming in. They are
starting to put up some poles next week. We
had a village generator but that has only worked
for about 2 months in the last year.
The electricity coming is good but at first it is
only going to the government buildings. The
school, the health clinic, police station and
the Youth Office. They said it would take at
least another year to hook up the rest of the
village.
For me, I am finished here in about 7 months
and no 24/7 electric for this kid in this village.
That's life and it's ok. We will keep trucking
on with our little camping generator.

Despite the not going to benefit from the
upcoming electric bonanza, I am happy that
the joint is going to develop. And that's tcaka
tceha (good really).

Getting into hot water

2011-11-15T17:42:00.000+02:00

In the picture is what they call here a jerry
can. This one is made of plastic and I can
say that to me ... it is a hot water heater.
It is a simple concept if one doesn't have an
apparatus to produce hot water and doesn't
want to struggle with the fire wood gig.
One of the best things is there are no moving
parts, except the twist cap. So it makes it a
maintenance free system.
Here in Namibia there is about 300 days a year
(average) with sunshine. Since I've arrived back to
Namibia after a month back home I've only used
anything other than sun to both cook and heat
water, twice.
Doing some seat of the pants not so accurate
math I figure that out of about 148 days I used
the sun 98.65% of the time.
It goes like this ... 8 in the morning put the food
in the solar oven and jerry can with water in the
sun, finished. When I come back by noon every-
thing is ready.
Oh, and I got to say, that hot water can get scalding
hot. It can turn someone's cheeks another color
without a problem.

Some Young San Cultural Group info. Today at the
village school the dignitaries came to inaugurate
a new building. The group was on the schedule to
perform and again, they brought the house down.
(Probably not a good thing to do after they just
built it, eh).
When they started everyone came running from
wherever to see. I've seen them do their dances
maybe a few hundred times but the kids never
seize to amaze me as to how well they've not
only improved their dancing but also their capacity
to entertain.
In two blog entries back (the one about the trip to
the lodge) I mentioned how Mavandje (the girl that
impersonates the monkey in the animal dance)
went up to an old man with white hair and acted
out grooming and taking out insects from his hair.
Well, this time when she danced the animal dance,
the old man with the not white hair but balding
nonetheless, was the victim. Yup, it was me.
Man, I knew she was going to do it, it happened
per chance that I was sitting in the front row and
I am like, oh oh. She's dancing next and I am
in a perfect position. Of course it happened, the
people had a great laugh, I probably blushed. It
was just great.
So as the sun is beginning to set over this village
out in the bush in Southern Africa, I will say ...
tcaka kara ee, maka tca ... stay in peace where-
ever you are.

Sound (music) from the bush

2011-11-12T20:42:00.002+02:00

Many times I've blogged about the Young
San Cultural Group. It is probably time that
you actually hear them.
I uploaded their harvest song which is one
of my favorites. The language is Khwedam
from one of the several San Tribes.
Here is the link ...

Mara Ku Se

I hope the link works and I hope that you
enjoy the song.

It happened

2011-11-06T20:29:00.000+02:00

In the last blog article I mentioned that
on Saturday the 5th, we would be going
out to a lodge with the San Culture Group
to perform.
Well, it happened and it all went better
than expected.
Let me tell you how it all went down.
I went by David's (Cultural group leader)
house in the morning about 8 o'clock, just
before I went to the old airstrip to do some
jogging.
He was stepping out and I said I'd come by
after the run. This took about 40 minutes
and he was there with about half the kids.
They were stringing a few more necklaces
of beads and David and his brother Paulus
were going over the clothes to make sure
there were all the ties ... etc.
The kids were already antsy and saying that
the time was going by too slow.
So after a few hours I went back to my room
and just waited till the arranged pre-departure
get together time of two in the afternoon.
We were planned to leave at three thirty and
maybe two was too early and the kids were
just lounging around. We bought some fat cakes
and the kids ate and had some sweeto which
is equivalent to cool-aid.
At three thirty we met the transport (the school's
assistant principal) and after loading up fourteen
kids and four adults in a small pickup truck, we
were off.
This was actually kind of a big event for these kids
so I was hoping that during the 75 kilometer ride
to the lodge that we would be lucky enough to see
some animals. I felt that this would just make the
experience even better.
We were lucky and within 30 kilometers we saw
a large male elephant right on the side of the
road. To make it even better, in another 20 km
we saw a group of at least 80 elephants
crossing the road. There had to be at least 20
babies within the group. The babies were sur-
rounded by the adults.
We arrived in the small town (gas station, store,
maybe two other small shops ... that's it) and
went to the store to buy the kids some bread
and peanut butter for some sandwiches. We
killed about an hour getting that sorted and then
headed out to the lodge.
The lodge that we went to is situated along the
Okavango River. There are about 6 lodges along
a strip of about 15 kilometers.
We arrived, met the owners and were given
the first basic once over and shown where the
kids could get ready.
It was about 45 minutes before they were to per-
form. The owners wanted the group to arrive
a few minutes earlier to be able to get acquainted
with the layout. Seeing as it was our first time there.
Finally at 6:45 p.m. the kids began.
There were approximately 30 people from Germany,
England and the Netherlands there to watch.
I have seen the kids do their songs many, many times
and I have to say that this time the kids were on.
It kind of amazed me as it was their first time ever
at any lodge or in front of a group that wasn't San.
These kids are ages from 9 to 16 so to me it was
even more amazing how well they just went about
dancing.
But I must say that they took about 4 songs before
they started to interact with the crowd.
It started in the animal dance when the girl that was
impersonating the monkey went up to an older man
and emulated picking bugs out of his hair.
Man, that was funny and he turned red and his wife
had a good laugh.
The picture above shows the group during their
second song.
All in all it was a great night and a great memory.
On the way back home we saw a bunch of animals
such as elans, buffalo, kudu and elephants. So
even till the end it was eventful.
Also, the kids were excited and sang in the back
of the truck all the way home. Usually they sing
for about 5 minutes after leaving and 5 minutes
before arriving. So they were animated.
Another big point was that the group was the first
San group to ever perform at any one of those
lodges.
So maybe we have opened the door for other San
groups.
The owner told David that he thinks that we'll be
back again and as for me, after a year of trying
to get this to go ... I am content.
Yeah, sometimes this volunteer gig has it's good
moments.

On track

2011-10-31T19:57:00.000+02:00

The upcoming big event (for us) is still
on track. As anyone who has ever worked
as a volunteer can tell you ... nothing is sure
until you've arrived back after the plan went
off.
But, I am especially concerned about the trip
to the lodge coming out somewhat successful.
Basically, if we go, that's success. It is the
simple criteria we are striving for.
The main reason being is that last year the kids
were promised that would have the chance to go
to Botswana. They were to attend the 'Kuru Festival'.
A big cultural event that attracts many groups.
They had money to go to the event donated by
an NGO that works with indigenous minorities. The
kids were pumped and another organization that
promised to supply the transport, didn't even show.
The kids were just plain ... well ... best said ... their
little hearts were ripped out.
As a result, they lost confidence, interest and
... so ... if one wants a group together for reasons
as to develop or help or support, things like
disappointment is not going to bring any kind of
good results.
So, what we've done is confirmed, confirmed,
confirmed, confirmed and re-confirmed. But still
doesn't mean that we're going to be in business.
But, this time, it seems that it could actually happen.
The guy providing transport is the best we can find.
The lodge is really top notch. The owners are quality
and have an interest in supporting the San within the
National Park.
So, with a week to go all the stars are lined up and
hopefully they stay that way.
On the kids side, as you can see in the picture they
were lining up to do their routine a second time.
The kids are working hard.
It surprised me as I have been involved with that
group for over a year an a half and I have never seen
them this way. I am impressed with their effort.
Back to the picture ... on the left in the red shirt is
David the group's leader. He's been involved with
the cultural group project since 2005.
These kids are what you could call of the second
generation.
This is a good project and it keeps young kids
occupied (especially out here in the bush) and it
has had a positive affect as all the kids in the group
are attending school.
They are really just a great group of kids.
Yesterday, they put on a show during their practice
sessions. David told them that with a week left
it was time to buckle down, get serious and try
their best.
They also motivated a few elders to come and
participate.
The elders have the knowledge that's not getting
passed out due to the different way of life.
One of the goals with this group is to do just that.
Try and keep the 'Old Ways' alive by handing down
the knowledge, just as it used to be.
Again, the elders just talked about participating
and if the old saying goes ... if I had a dollar for
every time ... then we'd be pretty much set.
But this volunteer thing is a lot of time hoping and
praying that things will work out.
Stars, stars ... don't move at least until 7:00 p.m. next
Saturday night.
This way their little hearts won't be broken again..

We're almost there ... finally

2011-10-19T19:49:00.000+02:00

It has been oh ... let me think ... something like
a year since I've talked to the lodge owner about
our Young San Cultural Group going to his lodge
to perform. I mentioned a bit about this being a
possibility in the prior blog post. In fact, if they
go they will be the first San group to have performed
at any of those lodges along the Namibia side
of the Okavango River.

Since posting that article we've been working on
making it come to fruition. The main problem we
had was transportation as the lodge is about 75 km
or 50 miles away.

We've received a promise of being transported by
the village school's assistant principal. He's about the
most reliable person in the joint, so, if it don't go with
him ... then ... it's about impossible to get that sorted.

So that is good, then we have an agreement with the
lodge owner who is noted as a reputable man so the
two biggest issues are ... on paper, solved.

It ought to be pretty interesting and the kids are going
to basically get thrown out of the boat and have to
tread water. Sounds bad, huh? What I mean by that
is it will be the first time for the kids to perform at any
lodge. Plus, the owner wanted them to show up on the
5th of November because he's having a full house and
supposedly they are going to be important guests.

Man, got to admit, I really don't know how the kids are
as far as anxiety about it goes but, I got a little. Well anxiety
seems to be kind of a negative thing, I guess. I really have
concern or more like, I am really hoping that it goes so
well.

Right now the kids are going nuts practicing which is the
goal of it all is to keep them engaged in activity. As it has
been said: " Idle mind is the devil's playground". Really
holds true out here in the bush.

We have to nail down a 45 minute program and the group
has a mixture of traditional songs and some new ones of
their own.

As for my work goal in all this ... it's to really get the group
to get their first plunge into a new world.

The other day I thought back to my time in El Salvador and
how we did the 'plunge' only with girls soccer. In the campo
(word for bush, rural area) it was unheard of. It took 14
months of cajoling, pleading, begging and finally just plain
demanding. But we had one game and we were ... out there ...
pushing the envelope so to speak. But two years later I
received an email from the volunteer that replaced me and
in it was a picture of a girls soccer team with full uniforms.
I felt pretty ok when I saw it.

So, I guess it is getting easier because this time it was only
12 months to get the activity happening. But I do hope that
at least, if they never go again to another lodge to perform,
that they will have had one good experience that they'll
never forget. Or, I'll get an email with a picture of them
tearing it up with the crowd going crazy, can lightning
strike same place twice?

Oops, almost forgot, in my enthusiasm I am leaning towards,
this is all going to work out and we will go. But, through
experience it is better to think of the glass as half empty.
This way if there is a let down, there's not too far to fall.

But, we will get there ... this time ... for sure ... again.

New season

2011-10-08T12:32:00.000+02:00

The other day we received our first rain of
the upcoming rainy season.
It is really remarkable how the plants spring
to life with little humidity. They are what survives
and thrives in these conditions.
In the picture is one of those plants that flower
after receiving it's first watering/rain. The picture
is kind of bleached out and my first thought
was to shade it a bit to make it look a little prettier,
but I decided to leave it the way it is. The reason
being is I feel that it gives a good example of the
light and ambiance at this time of year out in the bush.

This volunteer work is something at times and it
really is simply, working with people and not much
more complicated than that. The simple and logical
way to put it is ... if the people want to, then it will go
and the chance of it being actually anywhere close
to sustainable, may happen.
This is the intro to an update concerning the work with
the San Young Cultural Group. I've mentioned it prior
blog entries that one of the underlying goals is to get
the kids out of the village and give them the opportunity
to see and experience some new things. The purpose
is to combat the tendencies of the youth to drink alcohol
out of what they call 'boredom'.
So, to get them out and about will hopefully open their
minds and give alternative visions as to which direction
they may want their lives to head to.
A year ago I met one of two owners of a lodge 80 km
or 50 miles from here.
At that time I mentioned to him that we had this San
Culture Group and is there was any way that they may
have the chance to go to his lodge and perform. He said
that he was trying to encourage San groups to come to
his lodge but hadn't had much success.
I returned to the village and told our group's leader what
I was told. Well, nothing happened and despite probably
bugging the leader once every two weeks, it took the
leader's per chance meeting of the lodge's owner to
look like ... the show may actually hit the road. As men-
tioned above ... if they want to, it will probably work out.
We have to begin to work out the details this week and
trying to keep the 'glass half full' mantra ... am hoping
that it finally will be
.
I added on one more year here and one of my main
goals before I finish is to at least ... once ... see the
kids have (as of now) probably the biggest experience
of their lives.
It could open the door to a fantastic opportunity to have
an ongoing working relationship with the lodge. If not,
it will be a life skill experience and it is a no lose
situation.

It is kind of funny but after one lives in a place for a while
we seem to get the feeling as how things are flowing.
In this village there have been some problems like
anywhere else, I guess.
Mainly alcohol, a confusion in leadership and throw in
a few tricky people ... and ... it all just adds up to a
situation that holds everything and everybody back.
This has been the circumstance almost ever since I've
arrived here but the crazy thing is ... that over the last few
weeks some of the people are beginning to stand up
and take back some control.
The place actually feels different. Maybe there is more
than one change of season going on.
As the Dalai Lama said; "the true development is the
development of the character".
I found this to be so true, as if the people have good
intentions then things work out fine. Maybe they will
even make better life choices.

This is good for me as people are coming up to me to
help them write reports, proposals and even add two
cents of my opinion to it all.

It only took two and a half years for this energy to come
to life.

I have 8 months left and I know that the rainy season is
sure to come. I just hope that the motivational season
has also just started and lasts till I am finished.

making clothes

2011-09-09T20:10:00.001+02:00

Our Young San Cultural Group uses as
their clothing, skins, just like in the old way.
The San cannot hunt anymore as was their
cultural/ancestral way. So to get skins it's not
like the way it used to be where the hunters
would go out and of course bring them back.
Now, how one gets a hold of skins is to
request it from the local game farms or
from the game hunters.
There is game hunting allowed and it is done
in a controlled manner so as to not deplete
the animal population.
Our cultural group has grown a little and we
were in need of a few articles of clothes for
the boys.
In the picture you can see one of the managers
of the group sewing a skin into a piece of
clothing.

There were a few things that happened this
week. One actually happened and the other is
a promise for something to happen.
First, the promise of what may happen. That is,
that we may get the opportunity to take the
cultural group kids to a game park. This will
be accomplished with the help of one of the
Lodges which are along the Okavango river.
The owners are from South Africa and they
are interested in working and supporting the
San people.
They have promised to provide two game
watching vehicles and the kids ought to be
looking pretty important riding in those. None
of the kids have seen many of the game animals
and this should be a huge treat. Here it is a
bit different as there isn't much transport
available for these types of activities.
To say the least, this will be big.
As a way of saying thank you to the Lodge
owners we are hoping to go to the place
itself and perform an appreciation program.
This will also get the kids to see this Lodge
which is a really nice one.
So, as it goes time and time again. This is a
promise and nothing has happened and
seeing is believing but this one seems a
little more sure than usual.

The thing that did happen was on the 7th it
was National HIV testing day. Man, there was
at least 150 people that showed up. The other
years there were like 15 tops. Don't know
what happened but it was crazy.
Knowing one's status really is the only way to
plan.
If one is negative they can continue to protect
themselves, or, if they were just plain lucky, then,
they can think seriously about protecting
themselves.
For those who have contracted HIV, then, they
can be monitored until or if, they may need to
start taking ARVs.
But to have that many people come out is
close to a miracle.
It was a good week and really pretty satisfying.

Rollin

2011-09-03T13:57:00.001+01:00

In the picture is what is for dessert
today.
The weather in the southern hemisphere
is starting to change and the sun is
beginning to get a bit stronger day by
day.
This gives us the opportunity to get more
creative with our solar oven menu as we
have more heat to work with.
What me and my site mate made were
these rolls. There are two types thanks
to a care package. We have blueberry
and raisin.
With the limited supplies we have out
in the bush it takes a little creativeness
to put anything other than rice and sardines
in our plates.
It is a simple recipe and if anyone is interested
here it is ...

-1 and half cups of flour
-1 package of cinnamon oatmeal
half teaspoon of salt
-1 to 1 and a half tablespoon(s) of yeast
- over room temperature of water or warm to touch

knead that together and let sit in warm place for
about half an hour.

Then the key to this is to roll it out using an old
ketchup bottle into a semi thin sheet. (The
bottle is the only thing we had to roll the
dough out). Just joking and anything to roll
out is obviously ok.

Next ingredients are ...
- cinnamon
- sugar
- blueberries
- raisins

Sprinkle a generous amount of cinnamon and
sugar on the top. Then add the raisins and
blueberries. Roll them up them cut them into
pieces like in the photo.

We put them in the solar oven for a few hours
but now the sun is overhead and the oven
is really hot. So don't know how that would
translate into a regular oven temperature.

But it came out great, it is a little treat and
despite being out here in the middle of nowhere,
with a bunch of sun, it can be done.

Visitors

2011-08-22T20:00:00.001+01:00

In the picture on the left are two bicyclists.
They are from France and have been cycling
down the west coast of Africa.

They've been on the road exactly one year
when they dropped in to stay overnight here
in the village. At the end of one year they have
accumulated 11,000 kilometers.

For me it was interesting and I can speak the
French language. They were surprised and
of course they observed and mentioned that
I speak the Quebec / Canadian French. But
actually I really speak the Le Senegal village
French. I can speak well enough to not be
able to go hungry in any Francophone country.
But it was good nonetheless to be able to use
the language again.

Also in the picture on the right is the guy from
Romania and his wife and child.

We are located in the middle of a national
park and there isn't much for miles or
kilometers at a time. So, for cyclists our
location is actually advantageous.

So far we've had a couple from New Zealand
and the United States stay here about a month
back.

This is actually a pretty fun thing to be able to
have people drop by and if they are cycling
through Africa they are apt to be interesting.

As far as activities in the village ... it has been
a little slow. The work with the cultural group
has been sidetracked due to a church taking
the group and using them as a choir. It is ok
except for the fact that the church has practice
on Friday and then has services later on
Saturday. So, they cut into the time that was
used as cultural group time.

I really don't know how this will pan out but I am
hoping that the cultural group will be able to
get back together. But this one I am not too
sure of.

This seems to be a typical scenario. It goes
like this ... whenever it is too good to be true,
it is.

So, it is placing a little more emphasis now
on the small business sector or ... working
with the guy who is working to develop his
beekeeping.

So, seeing as plan A is sidetracked, it's time
to go to plan B.

Now it is out tomorrow to look for a plan C.
I found that a volunteer always needs to have
one plan in the bank, just in case.

semi traditional

2011-08-04T19:16:00.000+01:00

In the picture is a traditional piece used
by the village's San cultural group.

The skirt is tied around the waist and
the beaded area is worn over the behind.
When the girls are dancing the beads
move and it adds kind of maracas sound
to the songs.

The one in the picture is actually a mixture.
The yellow pieces are reeds and are
actually traditional for the Mbukushu people.
They are a Bantu language speaking tribe.
The other pieces are porcupine quills.

The San (Khwe) people are Khoesan
speaking and their traditional pieces
are the porcupine quills.

For the Young San Traditional Dance
Group we have about 6 of those at this
time. We are in the process of trying to
change the reeds to the quills.

To get the quills is not easy and it is more
about people happening to find them. So,
it is going to be a process to outfit the 6
skirts with the quills.

It will take time. Things move slow out here
in the bush.

Blank Slate - Sign

2011-07-29T11:51:00.002+01:00

I have been back in the village for over
a month and it is always a little struggle
to get momentum going again.
But ... things are starting to move. Right
now the majority of the people in the
village are out in the bush collecting what
they call ... devil's claw. .
They dig it up, sell it and it is then exported
to somewhere in Europe where I've been
told they process it for some natural remedy
or drink. I really don't know for sure.
We have been continuing with the Young San
(Khwe) Cultural Group project. In the picture
is an old metal shelf from a locker that we'll
try and make a nice sign out of. The kids
have gotten a little entrepreneurial and have
gone out to the road and are trying to attract
tourist to watch them dance and hopefully
leave an offering.
What happens is that we are the first village
that anyone comes too after driving 60 km
or about 42 miles. So by the time they come
up upon the village they are going pretty fast.
The kids have found that they need a decent
sign that is at least 500 meters or yards
ahead of where they are so the people have
time to stop or not jam on the brakes and
create an accident.
So, me and the Romanian guy have volunteered
to try and make a good sign that will be easy
to read for people who are traveling at 130 kph
or 80 miles per hour.
We also made a music CD of the songs that
the group performs. I took the audio off the
video clips that we took of their practices. The
group played it last night. I wasn't there but
I guess they had a little speaker system and
the neighbors all came over thinking that they were
performing. The kids danced to the CD and also
decided that they wanted to do a few of the songs
over and also add to the 12 songs on the disc.
We are trying to also take the kids out to the
game park to see some of the animals. This
is always an exercise in patience and the ability
to face rejection and being let down. We have
talked with an organization about transportation
but we would be going in a few weeks during
their school break. A few weeks is a long time
when it comes to planning things out here. So,
that's on the drawing board and we'll just try our
level best to make it work for the kids.
I've had a discussion with David the head of the
cultural group and a person who works with
cultural issues and so forth.
The point is that with the change in the traditional
ways of the San that the knowledge of the those
ways have a chance of vanishing with the passing
of the elders. I brought back a small Flip Video
camera and the thought is to try and film interviews
with the elders and hopefully get them to demonstrate
the traditional skills and tell us of the old ways.
The thought is that if we can document some or all
of it that it would be available for future generations
if need be. I am not sure if this has been done before
for this San (Khwe) people but no one seems to
remember anything like it.
The plan is to create a small digital library . But like
all the ideas and plans, it seems great and we are
ambitious about it. The real thing is ... can we do it.
This will take participation and if the elders agree
then we are in business.
We have one man who lived the old ways until he
was in his early 20's, so he would have gone
through all the traditional ways such as hunting a
springbok on foot. This would have proven that
he was capable of being a provider. We will
start with him and he is a good man with an
open mind and he understands what we are
trying to do.
I am excited about this as I should have a
tremendous chance to learn of the old ways. Of
course they will talk in the San language of
Khwedam so I will understand not too much.
David will fill me in afterwards.
Right now the majority of the work is cultural related
and in my mind it is more important than what it
seems to be. A people have lost their traditional
ways and are struggling to find another identity
or way. Sometimes it is better to take what you've
learned and then go back to the beginning or
basics. In this case the basics are the old societal
ways.
Now, the societal ways are somewhat confused and
many of the ways such as only elders could drink
alcohol, respect for adults and expectation of young
men providing for their families are on the way to
being lost. These are just a few examples.
By keeping in touch with the old way's expectations
from the society and adapting it to today's life, I
think that the San could work they way out of the
marginalized life that many are experiencing now.
All this sounds good on paper but it is a challenge
at the least. That's why I came back for a third year.

Mood lighting

2011-07-02T09:45:00.001+01:00

It has been a while since I've posted to
this blog. In the meantime I've been back
home to the States for a month's leave.

I arrived back in the village last weekend
and have begun my third year here.

It takes a few days to get back in the swing
of things for the obvious reason that the life
in the States as compared to here is very
different. It takes energy to grasp a hold of
the 'now' and the wheels in the brain were
spinning continuously marking the differences
from here and there.

But it is back and it is time to get back to
business.

I went to the cultural group's practice yesterday
and they were highly motivated and it was
really fun and the energy was proverbially off
the charts. We've gotten a new skin to replace
the one on the second new drum. That was
the one that the kids destroyed within the first
week. It is a duiker skin and should be a few
times stronger than a goat skin. They said that
the duiker skin should last at least three years.
All we have to do is get the man who made the
drums to do the process of treating the skin and
make it fit.

We did a little home improvement as you can
see in the picture. With electricity at what is best
described as 'sometimes' we have to always
have the candle back ups.

We made four of these wall mounted candle holders
out of some wood that was laying around. One person
mentioned that we are getting the old castle lighting
scheme going.

They may call it that but I call it mood lighting. In fact,
it's really kind of nice at night and has a peaceful and
tranquil effect which is a good way to end anyone's
day.

So, it is back in the saddle again and as things get
moving, I will be posting more entries.

One more year and more ahead.

Instruments

2011-04-21T19:58:00.001+01:00

In the picture you can see four of the
kids who are part of the Young San
Cultural Group.

In their hands are from left to right ...
can on a stick with some beans in it.
The girl on the left has the 'kaworoworo'.
I had a past blog article about it and
if you put kaworoworo in the search
field in the above right it should search
it out, if your interested.
The only thing I can add to my knowledge
of the kaworoworo is that by trying to
play it, I've found that as simple as it looks,
it takes some practice. So far, it appears
that I need a bit.

The next one is one of the new drums. In
fact, it is the big bass drum and you
can see in the middle of the drum's head
a black substance. That's from bees wax
and they put that on there to increase the
bass sound.

To the right the young girl has the '|'guru'
and again, there is a prior blog article
concerning it. Again, what I can add to my
knowledge of the |'guru is through my playing
it. This one is easier and you can see in the
girl's right hand what looks like a melon
skin. That has a little hole on the side of it
and there is a little piece of some type of
membrane over it. It plays best on the bare
stomach and it seems that it is something
that's played while someone is singing.

There are about two to three other instruments
that we need to get, plus also need to learn
how to play.

The second new drum's skin is already
destroyed. It only took a week so we have to
look for a new goat skin again. This time the
kids are going to pay for it. They have a little
fund they acquired from dancing for a few
tourists.

So the group's leader told them, you broke it,
you fix it.

The leader of the group is doing a good job
and is not only concerned with dancing and
performing but also the development of the
members character. Out here in the bush and
in this village, it is just so important.

But one thing I can say about the kids screwing
up the new drum ... well ... kids are kids no
matter where they are in the world.

Dancing in the moon light ...

2011-04-17T17:26:00.001+01:00

As mentioned in the prior blog entry,
Saturday was supposed to be a special
night of dancing by the Young San Cultural
Group.

Well ... it happened ... it was something.

Around 6 p.m. everybody was in place at the
tree/cultural house area, ready to go. The two
new drums were in front of the fire heating up
the goat skins to tighten them up for the night
of song and dance.

At 6:30 when everything was organized the first
beat of the big drum (bass) started it all. The
sound of the drum was the call to the village and
about 30 minutes later the people began to
arrive.

I was really interested in watching the elders and
how they seemed to either enjoy or not enjoy the
spectacle. To get to the point, they enjoyed it.

The kids danced even more energized that during
the usual practices and the crowd really went wild.
The spectators jumped in and danced with the kids
whenever they had the whim to.

We had two bonfires spread apart by about 5 to 6
meters and the dancers danced between them.
In the night of the full moon and with the bonfires
blazing, added up to ... well ... wow. It was surreal
with the drum beating and the people dancing.

The kids danced for a total of 8 and a half hours and
it ended with almost all the kids sleeping in front
of the fires at 4 o'clock in the morning.

At around 2 in the morning people passing to another
village stopped and it resulted in a dance off. It was
the kids on one side and older (20 to 35) on the
other side. It was about even as to who won and it
was people giving it their all, so as the saying
goes, everybody won.

In the end the maize meal porridge was served and
everyone ate till full and that's about the time the
kids started dropping off by the fire.

In my opinion it was even more successful than I thought
it would be. The idea was to re-enact how it was in
the 'old days' when being around the campfire at night
was a way of life.

I haven't met any of the elders to ask their opinion of
how it was but I am feeling that they enjoyed themselves.

A goal of this was to make an activity that would attract
people away from the bars. It is only a one night thing
but even one night with less time in a bar is going in
the right direction.

As for me, I never get tired of being there seeing these
type of events. Even after many years I am still thankful
that I have the opportunity to experience these
incredible moments.

Tuning ...

2011-04-15T18:24:00.001+01:00

In the picture you can see one of the drummers
from the Young San Cultural Group tuning our
second and newest drum.

Now the group is fully equipped with their own
drums and there is more to come to outfit the
group to be as traditional as possible.

Even though we are striving to have all the traditional
items, it doesn't mean that the songs and dances
will be totally traditional.

These are young kids and they are creative. They
have made new songs and new dances themselves.
It is fun to see the old traditional songs to keep
the 'old ways' going but it is encouraging to see the
young people creating and making for the future
generations, their version of their now culture.

The drum head is made from a goat skin. Depending
on some factors, the skin gets stretched out a bit,
at times. So, to tighten it up it just requires making
a fire and placing the drum near the fire, as seen
in the picture.

The girl is actually beating the drum and will remove
it from near the fire when she gets the skin tightened
to where it makes the sound she's looking for.

Tomorrow night's plan for having a night time performance
by the group is still on. We bought some maize meal
to make some porridge and will make a sauce to
go with it.

The program is simple. We cook some food while the
dancers dance. We formally break out the two new
drums, hopefully some of the villagers will come out
and it will keep them away for drinking for a little
while.

It will be the first time for this activity in the village since
'the old days'. Well, that's what I've been told.

Big drum

2011-04-08T18:19:00.000+01:00

I just returned to the village after a few
days in the capital.
As mentioned in the prior blog post, the
cultural group received their first drum
out of two that was requisitioned.
The man standing behind the drum is about
5 ft 8 inches or 1.727 meters tall. That should
give a rough idea as to how tall the drum is.
This evening the Cultural Group broke it out
for the first time.
It was a energized moment. The dancers
danced spiritedly in honor of their new drum.
This drum has a real heavy big drum sound
to it and there is no doubt from anyone hearing
it, that it is substantial.
The drum head is made of goat skin and being
that it is new, is still a little damp and will
tighten up more in time. Despite that it has a
good sound.
The man who made the drum at first was skeptical
that we would pay for it. He mentioned that he'd
made drums before for people whom didn't pay.
He was one happy man when he received his
money immediately upon completion. He then
went back to finish the second one and said that
by Monday it should be completed.
The man worked hard and had to travel out deep
in the bush to find the tree suitable for the drum.
He went into a somewhat dangerous area where
there are buffalo, elephants, hyenas. If there are
buffalo, then probably a few big cats and of course
snakes, just to make this drum. He did a great
job and again, it sounds strong.
An idea for next Saturday night is to bring both
new drums out to the cultural area, light a fire
and have the group perform for the village. Just
like it was in the 'old days'.
I hope we can organize it and make it happen, it
would be great to be able to step back in time
for one night.

Footing in Rundu

2011-04-05T18:17:00.001+01:00

Even though English is spoken in many countries
there are differences.
The header is an example of that. In the States the
header would be ... Walking in Rundu. But here, if
I said the word walking, not too many people would
understand what I was trying to say. Time and time
again I keep forgetting and use the word walking and
have to consciously make a note to remember to
use 'footing' the next time.
I took the picture while footing to the food store
and the land on the other side of the river is
the neighboring Angola.
At the moment I am in the Capital and hopefully
by Friday it is back in the village. I've received
a message that the drum we had a man make
who lives two villages over, is finished.
It will be the property of the Young San Cultural
Group and it should be the first of two. We are
having a little trouble finding a goat skin for the
second drum and when I get back I hope that
we can get on that.
So for now, it is goodbye from Windhoek.

West side influence

2011-03-30T16:15:00.000+02:00

The name of this blog 'Back to Africa' is
based on my returning to another country
on the continent. First I spent almost 3 years
in Senegal West Africa, then arrived here
in Namibia two years ago.
This blog entry will be mostly describing the
kola nut that we had available in West Africa.
The reason is that a few months ago, another
volunteer I met took a trip to Mali to visit a
friend. I asked him if he could bring back a few
kola nuts and as you can see in the picture
above, he did.
It sure brought a trip down memory lane and
I added some stats on the kola nut ...

Kola nuts, are native to West Africa. In the 1800s,
a pharmacist in Georgia took extracts of kola, sugar
and coca and mixed them with carbonated water.
His accountant tasted it and called it "Coca Cola."
Today, Coca-Cola still uses kola in its original recipe.
The original Coca-Cola contained coca leaf extracts
(a source of cocaine prohibited in soft drinks in the
U.S. after 1904.)

Kola nuts form an integrated part of the social life; the
nuts are valued for its stimulating, aphrodisiac and
healing qualities.

The nut's aroma is sweet and rose-like. The first taste
is bitter, but sweetens upon chewing. The nut can be
boiled to extract the cola. Cola nut is a breath sweetener
and contains three times (kola has 2–3.5% caffeine)
the caffeine of coffee.

The use of the kola nut, appears to have ancient origins.
It is chewed in many West African cultures, individually
or in a social setting, to restore vitality and ease hunger
pangs. Kola nuts are an important part of the traditional
spiritual practice of culture and religion in West Africa.
Kola nuts are used as a religious object and sacred
offering during prayers, ancestor veneration, and
significant life events, such as naming ceremonies,
weddings, and funerals.

In Senegal the kola nut was definitely used in social
events like meeting a village chief, a gift for someone's
future in-laws at holiday times, baptisms and just
about everything else.

One other custom was for someone who traveled or
spent time away from the village, they had to bring
some presents back to the family. Of course the village
tried to take advantage of it and everyone asked for a
gift.

So, what I used to do was buy a kilo of kola nuts and
a bag of candy for the kids and for about $7 USD
I was able to take care of the whole village of 300
people with as far as gifts were concerned. Also,
they were pretty happy with the kolas as the ones
that were daily users of the kola, didn't have to
deal with a caffeine withdrawal that usually resulted
with them having splitting headaches.

So having these kola nuts here in Namibia was a
fun thing. Didn't need to drink any coffee and like
mentioned above, a small trip down memory lane
went along with the goods.

No one here has ever seen any so I was able to
do a bit of cultural exchange as well.

But got to say after getting a little caffeine buzz
that it'd be nice to have some of these kolas around.

Always something new ...

2011-03-26T09:01:00.001+02:00

to learn. After being in the village
for almost two years it would seem
that there wouldn't be a lot of things
that I haven't seen.

But as I learned last weekend that just
is not be the case.

In this San (Khwe) culture there has been a huge
transition from the hunter/gatherer lifestyle
to the 'newer' way of life. What has happened
is that a lot of the bush knowledge is being
left aside. The younger generation haven't
the skills that their parents and forefathers
have.

It is the way it is now and for that reason I enjoy
collaborating and supporting the Cultural Groups
as they try to keep in touch with the Old Ways.

An example can seen in the picture above. What
you see are two of the young girls in the Cultural
Group learning the process of making rope.
The girl in the foreground is the assistant leader of
the group.

In this case they harvested what looks like a normal
cactus/succulent plant that is just everywhere out
here in the bush.

The process of rope making begins by placing a
stick on the ground then with another slightly
modified stick, strip off the pulpy/skin of the plant.
This is a little bit of work and what is done is
a foot is also used to add pressure during what
can be best described as the scraping process.
The result after scraping off the pulpy part are
fibers that are then divided up to be rolled
by hand into rope.

What was done was two groups of fibers of
approximately 20 each were placed on the thigh.
With one hand holding an end of each group,
the other was used to roll the groups.

One group of fibers were as result rolled in and
incorporated into the other in an easy and efficient
manner.

The finished product was one strong rope and it
had many uses and what was especially interesting
was how it was used to make a trap. I hope to
be able to get a picture of that in the future so I
can add to the blog.

It is one of the hunting methods that the San people
have used over the millennium.

For me, it was something new and reminded me that
I really have a lot more to learn about the 'Old Ways'
of the San people.

Early morning excitement

2011-03-19T15:47:00.002+02:00

Saturday mornings are usually kind of slow.
There isn't any school so there aren't learners
moving about. At this time of the year the
people are still out in the fields so the
central part of the village resembles a
ghost town on the weekends.
This morning I happened to step out and
go the one of the village's little shops
called (kuka shop). Just needed to get a
few things and it was a glorious morning,
sun out, no clouds and just the right
temperature.
As I was walking back home all of a sudden
came this drone of what I thought was an
airplane. Lo and behold coming in from the
east was what you see in the picture above.
Our village is an old military base converted
to a settlement/village. So we have this really
official sized landing strip that still survives
in good condition approximately 35 to 40
years after it was put down.
I was told that several years ago that the Klitscho
brothers (boxing champions) actually landed
here as part of a promotion they made for
some organization.
But today it wasn't any boxing champions, just
two German guys that are working doing some
aerial research. They needed to refuel and
was on their way back from the DRC (Democratic
Republic of Congo). Eventually they will go back
to where they originated their journey somewhere
in South Africa.
They were very personable guys and they gave
balloons to the kids that you see in the picture.
It was an unexpected moment of excitement
for the village on a Saturday morning and it
killed and hour of time.
So if you have a landing strip in your backyard
you have to expect people to drop in once
in a while, isn't that safe to say?

Mid March update

2011-03-13T08:22:00.000+02:00

I've been out of the village for about 2 weeks. Been up in the capitol and Okahandja. In the picture is some of the people who participated in a culinary cultural day. It was held at the training center and it is an activity to acclimate the new group of volunteers to the diverse cultural foods of Namibia. And speaking of diversity, the girl on the left is a Ghanain-American and on the right is an Iranian-American. Kind of interesting to be around the peoples of different cultures. Even if they are from one's own country. But now it is riding in a pickup truck back to the north and hopefully with luck, the village.

Another view

2011-03-01T19:38:00.000+02:00

Right now I am in the Capital (Windhoek) for
a few days then it is off to spend a week in
Okahandja with the new group of trainees.
They arrived a few weeks ago and during
their training cycle there are experienced
volunteers spending time with them to talk
and pass on what they've learned.
The picture is just a view from the room
that we are staying in.
Windhoek isn't a bad place as far as Capitals
go.
It is actually fairly easy to move around and it isn't
anywhere near as congested as other capitals. This
is due to the fact that Namibia is the second least
populated country in earth. Only Mongolia is less
densely populated.
After living in the bush for most of the two years
that I've been here, coming to the big city and having
access to the amenities is a treat. But, what
comes to mind is that the simplicity of the village
isn't such a bad thing.
But once in a while a little splurging isn't a bad
thing to do.
So for the next two weeks it is food, hot water and
real stores that have more than 10 things in them.
It is a time of plenty.

On the Okavango River

2011-02-16T22:35:00.000+02:00

In the picture you can see the members of the older
San (Khwe) cultural group from the village. Today
we had what is best described as an outing. For
all but one of the group, it was their first time ever
in a boat.
The village we come from is about 70 kilometers
from here and directly in the bush, no rivers around.
It was a real good experiential day for the group as
we also visited 3 lodges along the river as a fact
finding, motivational and life experience exercise.
The boat was generously provided to us by Nunda
Lodge.
We went out for about an hour an a half and the main
animal attraction for the day was the hippos.We saw
a family of about 7 with what looked like at least 5
babies. Also there were plenty of birds to see too.
We then ended the day at the local fisheries center.
It is an impressive place and is a research, resource
and informational hub for fish farming in our region.
It is well done.
The importance of all this is that the village has barely
radio service, no television and newspapers rarely
surface. There is just no real consistent source of
information for these kids.
So, activities like these are eye openers and hopefully
motivators. The least, the group is a little bit more
intelligent for the information they've received.
Out here without sources of information it is like
building a house one brick at a time. Every bit of
information is a building block for development.

Update 13 February

2011-02-13T20:20:00.001+02:00

Life 70 kilometers out in the bush is moving
along at it's usual pace. The work with the
cultural group continues (picture - group
working on list of songs) and the kids are
not only getting better but also becoming
extremely creative. They've made about 5
more new songs. It brings up a point about
culture. Culture is really an ongoing process.
As the kids have learned old songs they are
also making new ones.
The main part of my work has been in the
direction of behavior change. Working with,
for example, the cultural group, the goal is
to keep the kids engaged and hopefully down
a good path.
It has been almost two years since arriving in
Namibia and in the 3rd week of April it will
be the second year anniversary in the village.
I have asked for and received one more year
in Namibia. So, this time next year I should be
writing about a third year anniversary.
There are quite a few things that can still be
done here in the village. So I decided that I'd
stick around and continue to hopefully help out.
So, there is another year of blogging ahead.

Into the new year

2011-01-24T09:57:00.001+02:00

At this posting it is almost exactly one-twelfth
into a new year.
Things are moving along very rapidly and
the holidays went well. With Christmas in the
village and New Year in a town called Rundu,
it was a good mix of styles.
In the village it was with the new site mate
(named Gretchen) and we just cooked, talked
and mingled with the villagers. It is always a
little bit awkward feeling to be in a warm country
at Christmas time. I am from the northeast in
the States so it is usually cold. After the years
we must get a little programmed into how it should
feel at certain times.
In the new year we are continuing forward in
evolving the little projects and activities that we've
begun since I've arrived here. One thing about projects
that I've learned, that is that if sustainability is the goal,
then it takes a length of time to get it solid. It is all
about the management and that's the biggest challenge.
Despite the all the time I've spent in the Peace Corps
and living with different levels of accommodations, there
always seems like there is something new to discover.
In the picture you can see a candle under a pot. With
the village generator broke again and it raining fairly
well (making fire wood wet) and not having a gas stove,
it requires a little imagination to cook.
With that setup we made coffee, cookies and soup.
It is just using the simple principle of putting heat into
a pot. Candle gives off heat, so it seemed possible
and it worked. It is fun to try and figure these things out.
At this time I am in a city called Okahandja getting ready
to head out to our group's COS or close of service
conference. It is almost 2 years already since we arrived
in Namibia. It is always an interesting time. Reflecting back
on the journey is always special. There are always the
good and bads but at this point they are the tools that
have helped us change over our tours.
It will be the last time that we will be together as a group.
People will be leaving at different times over the next
three months, so these next few days are the last
chance to hang around together.
In the end, we were like a team. We came, we did what
we could and we always have the memories. It makes
coming here all worth it.

Chief's Day

2010-12-04T18:40:00.000+02:00

Today the 4th is a day of celebration for the
San (Khwe) people. It is Chief's Day and
this year it was held in our village. It is on
a rotating basis and next year it should be
going up to the next village.

On this day the government allows a few
animals to be hunted and the meat is then
given to the Khwe and is distributed to every
village and person.

This year they hunted one elephant, a buffalo,
kudu, maybe a hippo and some other smaller
animals like a springbok or two.

Also part of the day's activities was our Young
San cultural group. Even though the picture is
of poor quality it does show the group on the
left and the people standing around the dancing
area. There was also a place a little to the left
where I took the picture and where the headmen
and special guests sat.

The kids danced their hearts out and the crowd
really just went wild. The older people also
jumped in and danced with the kids. They
didn't want the them to stop.

It was a good day.

Kwara

2010-12-03T18:04:00.000+02:00

We have just begun a cultural project with
the members of the Young San Cultural
Performance group.
Above you can see a picture of a tree with
some poles around it and people underneath it.
That is the beginning of our project to build what
is called a 'Kwara'.
What a Kwara is is a traditional San homestead.
The idea of the Kwara was to build a place that
was safe from animals, such as lions.
What the San would do when the resources
started to get low, they would leave food and water
for the elders while the young people went
out and found another bountiful area.Then
they would build a new Kwara and come back
and get the elders who had stayed safe in the
old one.
Though we haven't near completed this Kwara and
I think that it may take a little time due to the fact
that we will need some dry grass to build some
traditional huts. There will be some available in a
few months after the rainy season.
Still, we need to put more poles around the tree
in the vertical position and also require more
to put around horizontally. Enough to make at
least three rows.
The great part about this Kwara is that since I
arrived, David (the leader of the cultural group) was
talking about making a cultural center. I think that
he was waiting for a proposal or project to come
along.
One day a few months back he mentioned that
we should make a traditional structure that could
serve as a cultural center.
So, here we are in the process of making this
Kwara.
Thinking about it, this seems to be the best solution
for a cultural center, as it should. Also, it costs
virtually nothing to make and the members of
the group are participating and in the process
learning about the old way.
We are thinking of the possible usages of this Kwara.
As mentioned above, a cultural center and with this
as a base things like ... a place for the group to practice,
a traditional area to greet and have meetings with
government officials and also as a fantastic traditional
space if any tourists or visitors come. I can just
envision the Young Cultural performing in the Kwara
and how fantastic it is going to be to see.
David is about 30 years old and told me that he was
lucky that when he was a child he had the chance
to see one of these. In the last 25 years or so he's
never heard or seen of one. So, it is really
important that we make this Kwara as original as
we can.
We are hoping that the elders will come out and
tell us exactly how the Kwara was, in it's design
and in it's usage. Such things as where the headman
had his hut and where the cooking fire was and
so on.
So, even though we aren't finished and there are
still many things to do, I am grateful to be a part
of this and to have the opportunity to learn first
hand about the old ways of the San.
It is important that this project goes well, seeing
as there is virtually no one under 30 to 25 years
of age that's ever seen a Kwara.
In one generation, all the past traditions have been
left behind and are only a part of the elders.
Building this Kwara is not going to change the
direction that the San people are heading in.
They will eventually all have the cars and
the luxuries but we are hoping that through
efforts like these, that the young will know and see
what was their incredible way of life that ended
only a short while ago.
I am thinking that I would like to be able to continue
posting articles concerning the progress of this
Kwara and one day have a finished Kwara to
present instead of a 25% completed one. I think
that I prefer that there are a few entries before it
is done. The slower and surer it goes it seems the
more details about the how and why come out.
This project I am really excited to be a part of.

Our World AIDS activity ...

2010-12-01T20:04:00.001+02:00

Today, 1 December as you probably know is
World AIDS Day.

In the village we had a few activities to bring
awareness of World AIDS Day to the community
and especially to the youth. It has been told to me
that many of the people here haven't even heard of
this day.

We organized a mini netball and soccer tournament
as a way to bring attention to the topic of the day.

In the picture, the community counselor from the health
clinic (second man from left in black shirt) and the youth
officer (man on the left) are giving out the first and second
place prizes to the netball squads.

There was a small sum of prize money for the teams.
It was about 7 dollars USD for first and 3.50 for
second. It was only an amount to go out and buy some
fatcakes and some type of drink that they make out of
corn meal. Or anything else that they wanted to get.

With limited resources there wasn't much else we
could do but despite that, it came out ok.

I really doubted that it was going to work and thought
that for that small amount that there wasn't going
to be much interest but, surprisingly, there was. There
had to be at least 50 to 75 people at the netball game
and easily double that at the soccer match. Plus, the
vast majority was youth.

In the end I was pretty happy with the way that it worked
out. It was a community based and funded activity
that hit it's target group (youth) with the information
about what was World AIDS Day and it's meaning.

I always feel that we are on the right track when we
can do things like this with our own initiative.

Tomorrow I will do an informal verbal questionnaire
in the village and see if was something that we may
be able to replicate on other special days. If it can be,
then we can have quite a few days like this.

We probably didn't make a huge impact today, but
that's ok. Just like the tortoise and the hare, slow,
humble and steady can win a race too.

Kaworoworo

2010-11-30T18:40:00.000+02:00

In the picture there is Anton playing a musical
instrument called the kaworoworo.

It is obvious to see that it is a piece of wood
which is bent and with a string. The bent wood
tightens up the string till it gives the desired sound.

On the side that you can't see, are small cuts
into the wood or notches. These are situated
at the bottom of the arc.

Above you can see Anton holding the kaworoworo
and at the same time he is moving a stick across
the notches, with the thumb of his other hand he is
moving the string in and out and also ... adjusting
the sound with his mouth, which acts something
like a speaker.

It has a twangy but earthy sound to it.

Interesting thing is that no one in the village I am in
knows how to play it. (Anton is not from our village).

From what I was told, it has only been a generation
or two since the kaworoworo was used almost nightly.

At night the men used to sit around the fire and play
the kaworoworo while telling stories and giving out
wisdom. Stories of how greed was the downfall of a
person, for example. These stories were told to teach
the younger ones the ways and wisdom of the elders.

The problems we have is that we need to go
several villages over to find some elders who still can
play these instruments. Then we need to find some of
the younger ones who want to learn.

Hopefully through our efforts we can save some of these
traditions within the village before it is too late.

Thanksgiving 2010

2010-11-25T21:31:00.000+02:00

Being from the USA and here out in the bush
of Namibia on a Thanksgiving Day makes one
go out and try to do something a little special.

In the picture is our Thanksgiving Day meal. No
turkey, gravy or stuffing. There's none of that out
here 70 km (46 miles) from anywhere.

We just have to make do. We put this little quick
and simple feast together. We, as in me and my new
site mate Gretchen.

The bread is actually a Romanian recipe called gogos.
The s at the end of the word should have a little 's'
underneath it to give it a 'shuh' sound. They are
really good and actually make a little pocket to allow
a filling if desired.

In the bowl is an 'out in the bush what you got' recipe.
It is cooked dried split peas with sardines in chili sauce
added in are some salt, pepper and ketchup.

It came out ok and was a good meal. Bob the Romanian
guy came over and we had a nice little Thanksgiving day.

In this case it wasn't the food that was the center of this
Thanksgiving for us out here in the bush, it was the
people we were with.

For me, I will always remember Thanksgiving Day 2010.
It was me, Gretchen, Bob the Romanian guy and a
pile of gogos.

Not forgetting the hand ...

2010-11-18T21:04:00.000+02:00

That feeds you, is the best way to describe the
topic of this blog article. In the picture is a
dog that hangs around Bob 'the Romanian
guy's' building/house. When Bob went back to
visit Romania for 4 months, the dog was basically
left to fend for herself. That's life out here in the
bush and it may not be exactly survival of the fittest,
but being fit helps, a lot.

So, I would go by there daily and give the dog what
is called fat cakes. Fat cakes are made by making
balls of dough and putting them in boiling oil. They
aren't bad at all but because there isn't any stores here
that sell dog food (seeing as we are 70 kilometers out
in the bush, may be the reason), fat cakes was about the
only option.

The dog really went down to skin and bones, she had
5 puppies at the time and she would eat one fat cake,
then take the other with her and bury it for later.

So fast forward a few months and the dog is being fed
and is healthy and doing well.

Every time I am walking towards Bob's place the dog
just comes running at me and is almost crying.

I don't give her much food now as she is ok but every time
as she approaches I just think of the old saying ... the one
about not forgetting the hand that feeds you.

You can call me Ray ...

2010-10-19T10:14:00.000+02:00

Or you can calk me Jay. It is an old skit from, I believe, the 70's. In the picture is 'the Romanian guy' who lives in the village. I have referred to him as 'the Romanian guy' throughout this blog. In a blog comment a friend from Romania made a good point. Was the Romanian guy's name too difficult to pronounce? Is that why I always called him 'the Romanian guy'? If that was so, I could just call him Bob. I think that is a great idea, so from now on I will call him 'Bob the Romanian guy'. Bob is a great person and we have done a lot of work together for the village. By the way, his real name is Luca and he is from the Moldova region of Romania. But when it comes to names my father said it best. Call me anything, just don't call me late for supper.

Reinforcements ... aka ... new site mate

2010-10-17T19:58:00.001+02:00

In the picture is Gretchen my new site mate.
She is here to work at the village school and
from what I've seen, she'll do just fine and I
got this feeling that she will help out the learners
immensely.

She is a brand new Peace Corps volunteer and
when the picture was taken she had been in the
village about a total of 12 hours.

As for me, it is the first time that I've had a site mate
but I guess having the Romanian guy living in the
village kind of makes it like there are two site mates.

For this village having as many good people whom
are willing to try their best to help out ... is really
going to make a difference albeit ... maybe not
earth shattering.

This last week, me and the Romanian guy got together
to help out in fixing up Gretchen's lodgings.

I know that I've mentioned this in another prior blog
but it is real incredible feeling to be working with these
people, it is like the camaraderie of a team as the best
way to describe it.

It was a busy week which is ok by me. I helped someone
with their university homework, helped fix the room up and
we are working slowly but surely with the Young San
Cultural Group to get them organized and ready to try and
get them to the tourist lodges along the Okavango River.

We are still trying to get all the original things together. There
is a chance that we may get some cracked ostrich shells for
making the traditional San jewelry. That should be interesting
to see being made, if we get them that is.

I am having about 6 months left without any changes in the
plan, yet. So, there was this slight urgency that was arriving
in getting the cultural group ready. Things happen slow out
here and I would just like to see their first performance at
a lodge (if they have one).

But I've talked with Gretchen and mentioned that if she
wanted to continue the work that was started with the
group after I am gone, that it would be a good thing. She's
a volunteer at heart and said that she would.

A lot of times us volunteers never get the chance to see any
results of our efforts. This may be another one of those
situations and ... if it is ... well that's how it goes.

!'guru

2010-10-12T16:18:00.000+02:00

That's the name of the instrument seen in the picture. We had it made for the Young San Cultural Group as part of the project of outfitting it with traditional materials. The group's repretoire of dances tend to be in a more modern tone. With things like the !'guru it creates the need to search out the elders so as to have them teach the young the real old traditional songs. The goal is to have the group capable of performing nicely both old and new, which in essence is bridging the past to the present. The !'guru (!' is the way to write one of the four click sounds in the Khwedam language) is made of a special wood with the single string's material being that of the hide of a springbok. There is also a small calabash that serves as sort of a speaker. It has a small membrane covering a hole in it's side. It is a beautiful sounding instrument. Next instrument on the list is the kaworoworo. Haven't seen one yet but hopefully soon we can get one made. Then it is searching out the elders. For a guy from Massachusetts USA, this is some pretty cool stuff.

Coming or going?

2010-10-04T18:56:00.000+02:00

In the picture is a trail that a snake
made not more than 1 meter away
from the front of my door.
I've been lucky and have had really
just a few sightings during the 20 months
that I've been here in Namibia. Some of
my fellow volunteers have stories of
snakes making their residence under their
beds.
When I was in Senegal I can remember at
least three young men from surrounding
villages dieing as a result of a snake bites.
I believe that in each case they actually
stepped on the snake while walking through
the bush.
Here, I haven't heard of anyone even getting
a bite, yet.
What I've seen is that in general the snakes
kind of go their own way.
But sometimes at night I can hear a snake
chasing down a mouse on the top of my
roof. The roof is made out of zinc sheeting
so it can get a little loud but, no problem.

As far as the village is concerned everything
is going along and without much drama.
The school is going into their examination
schedule so they are involved mainly with that.
Something new concerning the school is in the
works. Another volunteer should be coming out
here to the village within the next few weeks.
She will be teaching at the village school. She
came out for a site visit about a week ago and
I think that she'll do great here. She has the
perfect personality to thrive in this village.

The clinic work has been slow and I have just
re-arranged the clinic's pharmacy and that was
a fun little project. It looks great and the question
is ... how long will it be in the pristine shape ...
no problem, I'll just keep an eye on it and after
I'm finished here, it's up to them.

The young San cultural group is still at it but at
a slower pace. All but one is in school so they
will be occupied with the exams this month. But
we have this idea to make a sample DVD that
we can pass out to a few of the lodges in the
area (70 km or more away). Hopefully they will
get some calls to perform and I know that the
tourists would just love these guys.

Most of the time now has been occupied with
writing little proposals for things like supplies
for the support group vegetable garden and
most of the actual work is following up on them.

I've found that in many cases that the proposals
are actually detrimental to the development of a
project. Reason being is that people are just waiting
to see if the stuff is going to come instead of just
plain getting to it.

In Senegal I was lucky that the village wasn't spoiled
with proposals or handouts and I spent hours trying
to explain that the only way to do it ... was by ourselves.
In the end they got it and they were making things
happen, somewhat. It was really satisfying to see it
in action, people helping themselves. It wasn't totally
perfect but it was the concept that I really wanted to
leave. People can really do about anything, it is just
the wanting to do. It also isn't just about education
or resources (though they help) but it is about the
concept of helping yourself that changes things.

It has been fairly slow but I have been lucky to find
something to do daily. It is just walking around the
village and usually someone has something that they
need help with. It not only gives me a chance to feel
that I am somewhat productive but I do get to spend
a lot of time with the different people in the village.

One of the craziest thing that's been happening over
the last few weeks is that people are starting to
address me by my name and not just by 'the makua'
(the white person). I don't know where they got
to know my name because I never told those specific
people what it was.

It is the way that it goes, just when it is getting time to
leave is when people start getting to know you. But
better to end on a high note, I am sure that one can
over stay their welcome if given enough time, n'est pas?

Ndingo

2010-09-21T12:14:00.000+02:00

In the picture is an above named musical
instrument used by the San people. It is
from the olden days and who's usage has
diminished since 'the change'.

Many of the elders still have the skill and
desire to make music with it but few of the
younger ones do.

It is played with the thumbs and though it
may appear simple, it takes a bit of practice
to produce the right sound.

We acquired this ndingo for the Young San
Cultural Group and it should enhance their
already excellent performances.

We are in the process of trying to outfit the
group with all the traditional materials and
I am hoping to have future blog entries
describing each new item as we acquire
them.

This ndingo was made by a man from one
of the other San tribes ( total of 5 altogether )
who is living in the village. He is from the !xun
tribe while the main population of the village
are that of the Khwe.

The ndingo was used mainly during engagement
and wedding ceremonies, plus for the celebration
of a successful hunt.

We are going to see if any of the Cultural Group's
members are interested in learning how to play
the ndingo and if so, we'll search for an elder who
is willing to teach.

A cultural group is about keeping these types of
cultural practices alive and well, n'est pas?

Sticky business ...

2010-09-17T11:42:00.000+02:00

In the picture you can see a bottle half-filled
with honey with a label on it.
This is one of the mini-projects of the past
week. This article ties in a bit to the |an tcaka
one of a little while ago.
This week David and his brother harvested
the honey from one of their 4 beehives. We
talked about putting a label on their bottles so as
to start preparing for marketing at a later date.
We put our ideas together and came up with what
you can see. Of course being out in the bush we
struggled to make and to make do. A little yellow
paper and a glue stick and ... voila!

They do have a ways to go and 4 beehives will
not bring them to the Forbes 500 list for sure but
it is a bigger deal than one would think.

It lies in the problems that the San people are having
in their need to adapt to a new way of life. As
mentioned many times before in prior blog
articles, the San are in the midst of quite a change
of life style. The older generations, grandparents and
some older parents, came from the hunter/gatherer
ways. The younger two generations are from more
of a static (city type) life style.
The basic concepts of marketing just weren't the
San's way. They didn't have shops or stores, they
lived out in the bush.
So, the idea of making labels and producing and
developing a business idea is kind of a foreign one.
It is difficult to grasp concepts that aren't part of
the standard passing down from parents to children.
The younger generation kind of has to learn on their
own. It has to become a part of who they are.

The brothers that have been working with bees over
the last 4 years or so have learned a lot about the
actual skills of beekeeping. Now that they are more
than well qualified they are ready to take it further.
It is a slow process but the motivation is there so it
is a matter of time and perseverance.

Being in different places and working with different
people in various stages really leaves food for thought.
Working with the brothers brings me back to the days
of my youth where the phrase was ... in this country
of opportunity anyone with an idea or a hard working
person can make it.
Though it has been a while since I've been in the States
I have kept up a bit with the situation of the economic
crisis.
It just makes me think of how fragile a developed
economy can be when due to problem in the housing
sector, that the system is seriously challenged,
resulting in a lot of pain and suffering.
So working here with the people where life isn't so
complicated and where a person with an idea or
dream, can have the opportunity, is really refreshing.
Nothing is perfect and there is the resources problem,
but there is hope and a chance.

And that is |an tcaka (very good), I would say.

One picture per ...

2010-09-12T18:50:00.000+02:00

It seems that through the years and experiences
that there has been one picture that just seems to
bring me back and sparks memories. They don't
just bring out moments but they rekindle the thoughts,
emotions and relationships with different cultures and
peoples.
From El Salvador, it is a picture of a campesino
family that really speaks of how my consciousness
saw it at the time.
From Senegal it is a picture of two children of about
8 years. They were brother and sister and were
a couple of the neighbor's children. The girl was just
the funniest kid I have ever met. She had the sense of
humor of an adult and her all I want for Christmas is
my two front teeth smile ... added to it. I don't even
remember their names but it just brings back to how
even though times were a little difficult, that there were
a lot of laughs too.
In Romania it is the picture of the man trumpeting the time
from the tower of the Slovakian Lutheran Church. Almost
everyday while walking through town the man would
go out on the walkway and in four directions, blow the
horn that actually resembled the vuvuzela of the South
Africa World Cup 2010 fame.
Above is the picture that will forever bring me back to this
space and time. Even though there is still time left and more
pictures to be taken, I don't know what it is, but this photo
just has just jumped out and will be the trigger to always
bring me back to the life in the bush with the San people.
This picture we used as the background opener for this
San Cultural Group's little DVD.
It even has the kid (second from the right, in the back)
doing his interpretation of 'crazy eyes'.
As I've said many times to some of my fellow volunteers.
When we look back at our time in the Peace Corps we will
be forever young (or in my case, younger).
The only problem will be choosing where to be younger at.

|an tcaka

2010-09-05T18:46:00.005+02:00

It has been somewhat of a slow week but
next week the kids are going return to school
after their week vacation. So it should pick
up a bit.

In the picture is David and his brother Paulus
( left to right ). It is obvious that they are working
some beehives. They harvested and processed
a few liters of honey last week. They have been
working the hives for about 4 years and the progress
is kind of slow. I believe that now they have 6
beehives producing. That is 2 more than they had
last year so it is going in the right direction.

Looking at the honey in those plain jars made
us to decide that it would be better if it had
a label. So we got together and as you can
see below …

put our effort to produce the '|an tcaka dini' label.
The '|' is one of the San (Khwe) language clicks
and I guess the best way I can describe to
replicate the sound is to put one's tongue to the
roof and front of the mouth and pronounce 'ta'
and with an 's' slur to it. Don't know if I described
it to the point that it makes any sense.

As can be seen on the label it means 'very good
honey'. |an = very … tcaka = good and dini is
honey in their San language. I am not sure if they
are totally happy with the name but that is
something that can be changed in minutes. We
are also going to make the label with a yellow
background and black print. The idea is to flow
with the orangy colored cap.

Of yeah, David and Paulus are also the leaders of the
Young San Cultural Group. We also put together a
little DVD of songs to give to David's boss who will
be leaving his organization soon. The boss really
supported the group over the years and the best going
away gift we could think of was the DVD.

Also received a visit from the volunteer who left
as I arrived last year. She was stationed about 80 km
from the village but she did do some work here. She
also rcommended a volunteer be here in the village.
She did say she thought the village had improved
some since she was last here. She said that she
didn't see drunken ladies laying around the side
of the road like before.

She came at a good time as for a few days prior and
with things slow, I was resigning myself to the fact
that despite trying that nothing changed and that it
was better to just accept it. Just keep trying but
don't get any hopes up.

So, her words gave me some rejuvenation to continue
on and let the chips fall where they may so to speak.

Hopefully this week we are back in business and can
work on getting the drunken men off the side of the road.
I think that could be considered working on gender
equality, don't you think?

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

2010-08-21T16:31:00.001+01:00

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 ...

2010-08-19T19:23:00.001+01:00

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

2010-08-14T15:51:00.000+01:00

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

2010-08-07T13:28:00.000+01:00

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 ...

2010-08-01T08:30:00.000+01:00

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.

Presenting ...

2010-07-18T18:45:00.000+01:00

The drama group ( in the picture above )that I have
been working with over the last nine months. They
are a great bunch of people and I am really lucky
that they are here.

They are the group that basically writes ( verbally ),
produces, directs and all the other things needed to
make our little videos.

The way it works out here in the bush would drive
a few people crazy ( especially 'A' types ). Of course
it all starts with an idea or story line. Then, it is whomever
is present to begin defining. Then the getting together of
everyone to hammer it out and get ready to go ... well ...
that may take 2 to 3 weeks. It is like ... Andreas went to
Katima Mulilo ( city ). Then Reginah is out in the field.
Or ... Vicky's baby is sick and on and on. But here is
one of the best lessons that I've learned and will take it
with me till the end and that is ... it all gets done.
It is amazing how in the end, it always does and with
the go with the flow way ... there is a lot less stress.

This is one of the main reasons why I pushed for making
videos of the drama group's performances. To get them
together and then go and perform out in a village somewhere
or even in this village is ... again ... more luck than anything
else. So, with the DVD-video, once it's made then it is a
matter of putting it in the player and then the performance
is happening and it doesn't take a logistics specialist to
get everyone together.

We have a new story line that I am looking forward to see
develop in their Namibian cultural way. It is a role reversal
or 'shoe on the other foot' story of how the lady has several
husbands ( they kind of call steady partners of boyfriends/
girlfriends, husbands and wives ). There may even be more
of the old traditional polygamists tone to it. We are working
that angle out. But, it is really about addressing the multiple
partner ( it is a central point in HIV transmission ) issue, be
they legally married or just being boyfriends/girlfriends ( that
really adds up to the same thing as polygamy ) in a way
that promotes some form of dialogue or reflection of the
situation. The only way I know about making behavior
change happen is to start some discussions and open the
subject up to thought and hopefully ... change.

So, all the things that the men do to the women, the woman is
going to do to the man. It should be kind of humorous and
I can't wait to see the look on the village ladies faces' when
they see it for the first time, they should be laughing a bit.

We are hoping that the 'many a truth is said in gest' method of
getting a point across works on this one.

Friday ramblings ...

2010-07-09T18:56:00.000+01:00

It is another Friday and today I am taking time
to look back on the past week.

The picture is that of a Sable antelope. I took it when
I went back to Mahangu Game Park with my two
colleagues that visited on their way back from the World
Cup games in South Africa. The same guys that gave me
the infamous vuvuzela. The picture came out kind of
black and white because it was taken in the direction
of the sun but it kind of gives it a nice effect.

This week we had the second part of this year's Polio
campaign. It went well and in the first day (Tuesday)
our clinic was number 1 in the area for the amount of
people who brought their children for the vaccine. So
that was a good start for the past week.

Another good thing was that the people whom came by
and checked on the clinics to see if they were doing the
Polio campaign correctly saw our little film drama we
made to encourage people to bring their children to be
vaccinated for polio. The crazy thing I heard is that they
want us to translate it into English so that they can use it
throughout Namibia. I am kind of in disbelief about that
and I have to see it used somewhere else in the country to
believe it.

It has also been a week of a lot of little things going in a
positive direction. We helped a San person to maybe get
a decent job. It doesn't sound like much but out here in the
bush, it is almost impossible to find a job. It was the
connection that we made with some other people that
allowed this San person to even be considered. Here, every
job that the villagers can get it progress for the community.

At the school a teacher finally started a girls club. We have
talked about from the first day I arrived in the village. I am
a firm believer in participation from the people as it concerns
projects and programs. I attended the first meeting today and
I walked away wondering why it took so long for the teacher
to begin. She did a tremendous job, I am totally impressed
with what she is capable of.

After leaving the meeting I heard the young San cultural group
practicing and went to watch. It was crazy to see how they
were dancing today. They were even better than the last time
I saw them about 2 months ago. I mean the aspect that they
were better in wasn't just technical but it was the spirit that
they put into it. It was so joyous, fun, active and it was only
a practice. It was a great way to finish the week.

Sometimes when things go ok ... we just feel like this is the
greatest thing to be doing. But then, the roller coaster factor
is a part of it and next week ... ma an (San language for ...
who knows) te muo gwe (we will see) what it will be like.
That's why it never gets boring out here.

Somber Saturday

2010-07-03T17:31:00.000+01:00

During the time I've spent in other countries
and cultures over the almost last ten years, I
have seen different customs concerning death
and burial.

Today was the funeral for the young girl that
died tragically two weeks ago. I am sure that
there is curiosity as to what the tragic event was
and I can only say that her and her friend felt
safer jumping out of the cab of a trailer truck
while it was traveling about 90 kmph or 60 or
so mph, than staying in it.

This morning the church was totally full for the
funeral of this 16 year old girl named Appolonia.
Throughout the ceremony there were six of her
classmates holding candles (3 on each side of
her coffin) ... standing vigil over her. Every so often
the ones holding the candles were replaced by
others.

Funerals are very emotional anywhere in the world.
I've seen funeral practices from different religions,
cultures, tribes and regions but this one seemed to
be the one with the most emotion and expression.

What affected me the most was a moment at the
grave. The people were singing this song and I
don't what it was but it must have just hit a nerve
and I had a tear or two.

The song went like this ...

Blessing, blessing Appolonia, this is Omega (name of
the village), we are your friends. Blessing and glory
onto you.

I don't know what it was about it that touched me so
but all I could think of was, here is the village and
her friends wishing her well as we say our last goodbye.

The aspects that I've liked about Africa throughout my
experiences has been the life with emotion.Be it happy
or sad. So this day didn't disappoint.

In the end all I could think of was the needless tragic
event that took another all too young person.

I guess I can close this blog article by saying ....

Appolonia, this is the village, we are your friends ...
may you rest in peace.

It's sounding like the World Cup heya ...

2010-06-29T19:15:00.002+01:00

That's because of what you see in the picture above.
By now I am sure that everyone who has been
following the World Cup knows what it is. It is
that old vuvuzela thing that makes that background
noise endlessly.

I am now the proud owner of the above mentioned
vuvuzela and truth be told ... I am kind of ecstatic
about it.

The story on my vuvuzela and how I came about it
is as follows ... Yesterday a few of my fellow volunteer
group mates came to visit the village on their way
back from South Africa and of course ... the World
Cup. They went to see three USA games and I believe
that the vuvuzela participated along with my colleagues
in each of the matches they attended.

So, after receiving the thing, I tried giving it a go and the
sound that came out was that of a wounded duck. Let
me say that a wounded duck has more volume that
I could muster. Of course everyone yukked it up at
my expense. But after a bit of practice I think I got it
and it is actually a pretty cool thing.

Tonight I think I will give it a toot every time a goal
is scored in the Portugal vs Spain match.

I think that the vuvuzela is unique to South Africa (but
I am not sure). I also received some information that they
are selling them at a food store in one of the bigger
towns. Next week I think that I may be heading that
way and will pick up a few so that we can use at our
soccer and netball games here in the village. I think
that they were selling for a dollar and a half US and
I think that it will add to the fun at the fields.

Oh yeah, how to make the sound ... people have said
it is like playing a trumpet. I just kept fooling with it
till I hit it right, now, it is just consistency.

The crazy thing is ... is that this is the first instrument
that I've ever learned to play in my life. I guess you
can teach an old dog some new tricks after all.

So, I am out of here ... time to go vuvuzeling.

Two out of three ...

2010-06-27T17:45:00.001+01:00

That may be deemed the name of the picture if
I had to give it a name.

In the village I live at a Catholic Mission and at the
moment there is a German priest (in the foreground)
and in back of him is a guy who is doing some volunteer
work and he is from the Netherlands. At the time of
the picture being taken we were watching Germany
beat England 4-1. So the priest from Germany was
happy. The guy from Netherlands still has something
to look forward to and me, from the USA, well we
probably all know by now that is where the two out
of three comes from.

Last night we watched the good game between Ghana
and the USA. I had a little side bet with the guy from
the Netherlands just to keep it interesting. So, when he
won I told him that I will put the money in the basket
in church the next day and if he wanted it, he could get
it from there. But, that was just joking and in the end
the money ended up in the church's basket anyway.

World Cup is a big thing here and with it being held in
our neighbor's country it seems pretty close to home.
It is fun watching with people from other countries and
in different places. Out in the bush of Namibia is pretty
different and exciting to be around the people watching
the game.

I guess rooting for Germany seems like a fairly good bet
but my emotions are for Ghana. Yeah they beat the
States but being a good loser leads to a lot less stress.

As far as the village goes the main point this week was
that we tried to get the TV affiliate to come here and
install an antenna so that we can watch the basic
national TV channel. We wrote a solicitation in January
with no answer (so that kind of lead us to believe that
it wasn't an all too popular request) and received no
answer. Last Friday a young man whom delivered
the request went to town to follow up. I text messaged
him for some info as I was really curious about the
outcome. The text I sent went like this ... Tsaka venu
tsaka ve. In San (Khwedam, one of at least five San
languages) it means ... good or bad ... the answer I
got was ... tsaka ve. By the way to pronounce
tsaka ve is like this ... chaka vay. Not good, but I
will see him maybe tomorrow and find out what the
reason for the failure to install was. Maybe (enu ...
in Khwedam) we can try another strategy. The
channel would just make this place develop faster
than anything else anyone could do. But ...

The work this week was slow as we had a tragedy.
A young girl died and it was a needless tragic event
and the whole village basically slows down when
someone passes. There was a lot of sadness, that's
for sure.

Well, that is it for now, maybe next week will be better.

It was a year ago ...

2010-06-20T20:58:00.000+01:00

That I went to a youth center called Frans Dimbare with
the village's San Youth Cultural Group to participate in
a cultural dance competition. It is a obviously a year later
and it is that the time is going by so quickly. Hard to
believe that it's been a year.

Just as last year the majority of the contestants were
from the Mbukushu tribe. In fact, every other group
was Mbukushu and our group was the only San group
that performed at this event.

In the picture you are looking at a Mbukushu group.
I think that there are from a high school in the area.
I choose this picture because the girl that you see
dancing was also in our choir music DVD we made
last February. She was visiting her sister in our village
at the time we came up with the idea to make the
music DVD.

It was actually considerably better this year than last.
Not only was the area that they held the competition a
better choice our San group actually bested their last
year's effort.

The Mbukushu have a distinctive dance style which
utilizes a lot of shoulder movement. It is really nice to see
and for a person like me, exciting.

The San on the other hand have a style of dancing drastically
different than the Mbukushu and instead of a lot of shoulder
movement they have a lot of leg and hip movement. Our
group received a lot of attention and applause and not only
did they perform well but their dance style attracted
a bit of attention.

I went along as the picture taker/video clip guy and this
year's video will also have improved from last year's.
We did this year in a different way. Instead of just filming
the dance section like we did last year we kind of made
a mini documentary of the day. We took random
interview clips. Things like, what are you doing today? ...
answer ... we're going to a dance competition. Also,
what are you doing now? ... answer ... we are waiting
for the driver to put air in the tire but we don't know
if the pump will work ... and so on. It was kind of good.
It was all done except for the closing remarks in
this San's Tribal language ... Khwedam. There are 5
San languages if I remember right.

Also, for me it was a better as I now know all the
people as opposed to last year when at the time I
was new and unknown. I have to say that it was just
so much fun and a lot of laughs with the group.

The result was that the group placed third and qualified
for the regional competition in September or October.

To change the subject ... we made another video the
other day. This one addressed teenage pregnancy and
in the village it is about impossible to find a girl that is
16 or 17 years old who doesn't have a child, really.

The idea of the video was not to say, never have a
child. Just wait till your around 23 instead of 13 years
old.

I just burned the movie on a blank DVD this evening
but I had a lady look at it first and she said that the
video told the story as it is. We tried to put a counter
logic to the existing one that results in all these young
girls having babies a bit too soon. Hopefully it will
make sense to these youngsters and maybe affect
one or two.The thing I like is that it the logic is told
by Namibians to Namibians. In my experience it is
the best way. It's more than just language, it is the
language of the culture that people understand the
most. But I do put my two cents in and together
we make it happen.

Also, the drama group themselves are just improving
immensely. They are becoming good little actors and
the group works on the story as a co-operative effort.
It is a true team effort and I am feeling good about
how this has evolved.

Well, that is about it for now.

June Update

2010-06-10T20:01:00.000+01:00

Life out in the bush has been going along quite well.
It is really all relevant, isn't it? It just depends on what
criteria we are using as the gauge for success.

After almost 14 months in the village I can see a few
things changing here and there. There seems to be a
bit more activity out of the younger people. They are
playing more sports and participating in cultural groups.

The main goal I have taken on has been that of behavior
change within the community. That really means the
younger generations as the older people are just plain
set in their ways and that's OK. So, the more positive
activities the better chance of keeping them out of the
bars and as a result, cut down the risky behavior.

Another fact that makes me see a little success is that
they are using the fields that we've built when I first
arrived. They had intermittent usage but lately it is
becoming more of the norm to see kids and young
people out there playing some sport.

In the picture you see the updated version of the San (Khwe)
Cultural Dance Group. They stopped in the middle of their
practice today to pose for a photo. They are going to be
going out this weekend to a festival and will be a part
of the entertainment. Usually there are many Mbukushu
(another tribe of people living in the area) dance groups that
perform but a San group at a festival is kind of rare. The
group from the village is about the only one that goes out
to events and it is a good experience and opportunity.

We've also cut a new movie this last week and I have to
say that it is the best one we've made so far. The learning
curve is kicking in and we are becoming a decent group
that works together well. This latest movie is a short 10
minute drama of a true story that happened in the
community. It is about a mother who refused to bring her
child to get polio vaccinations when it was a baby. Later
on, the baby contracted polio and has to live with it the
rest of his life.

So, the drama goes that the child who contracted polio
finds out that the reason is because the mother refused.
He then asks the mother's friend if it was true and she
confirmed it. He then has a part where he is sitting alone
thinking out loud that it just wasn't fair.He then goes to
confront his mother about it.

The good part is that the movie is in a local language
(Thimbukushu) and it is a language that almost everyone
in the village understands. Even the older people who
haven't learned any English can understand and hopefully
they will take action to make sure that their family is
protected by taking the vaccinations.

I like the direction that we are taking the dramas. We are
addressing real situations that have happened in the
village and everyone knows the story. But to see it
again and have the son confront the mother brings the
topic out in the open and reminds people what can
happen to them.

For me, life is actually really good. I have begun to get
serious with the learning of the San (Khwe) language and
it is progressing OK. The only problem is that it is a
language with 4 clicks (but it sounds like a hundred
different ones) and it is nothing like any of the
languages I know. Of course I have killed the click
sounds so far but they are coming. I have one and
half clicks down and they sound pretty good.

The best part I like about learning the language is that
I can start having fun. I can start joking around and
that is one of the biggest reasons why I can say that
life is getting really good. Yes, there are still stresses
from different culture and so on but there is less and
less daily. I guess I am pretty lucky.

So that's about it so far this month.

Dry season is here ...

2010-05-23T12:44:00.000+01:00

I placed a picture of the Bougainvillea because it
reminded me of my first experience with the dry
season way back when I was in El Salvador. There
they called the plant 'veranara' ( I think that is the
correct spelling ) which the word verano means
summer. It was called that because it flowered in
the summer/dry season there.
It is the beginning of our dry season here in Southern
Africa and seeing the flowers brought me down
memory lane for a few minutes.
I've been in the Capital for the last two weeks and
it is just a totally different world. On a personal note
it was great to have a little time away from the village
life. It was fun to watch a few episodes of a Brazilian
soap opera (here they call them soapies) called
'Shades of Sin'. It has one great plot of about 3 or 4
total. It is an older soapie but if you've never seen it
then it is new.
Now it is back to the village and to get in the swing of
things again.
Tomorrow it is back in action and hopefully we can get
some movement in the direction of drama/film making. It
is just that old law of physics ... the one that states that
it takes more energy to get objects in motion from a
standing/resting state.
Well that's tomorrow, today it is sitting and admiring the
veranara flowers.

Bush style lefty soup

2010-05-03T11:00:00.002+01:00

It's been a while (about a month or so) since I've
last blogged. Sounds like the beginning of a
confession. But it is true and the main reason for
the absence has been that it has been a quiet month.
There was a milestone on the 22nd of April and that
was the one year anniversary of my arrival in the village.
Time has gone by so fast that it is mind boggling.

Here are my reasons/excuses for the lack of posting.
It was examination time and then vacation time for the
learners at the school. When the exams come it is just plain
impossible to attempt any other activity.

Another reason being that the village generator has stopped
functioning (again) and that takes out any computer work
or showing of the films that we've made. It hasn't stopped
us from planning upcoming film projects though. In fact it
made us work on the topics of the movie over a longer
time frame and the result being that the stories have improved.
One movie (which I can't wait to make) is a plain comedy
without any HIV/AIDS or TB messages. The name we have
come up with is 'Omega must be Crazy'. Omega being the
name of the village. It will feature San actors and in fact it
is the idea of the San community counselor who works at
our clinic. The story seems great and I think that it is going
to be fun to make.

We have made some progress and that is with the logistics
of condom distribution. To make is simple ... where the box
of condoms were situated it took a brave soul to walk in front
of all the people in the waiting room of the clinic to get to
them. So we just relocated them about 5 meters of 15ft
from the original location and just outside the entrance. Now
they are flying out of there and no wonder there is so much
teenage pregnancy because if the way they are being taken
is any indication ... these people are pretty busy on a regular
basis.

Almost forgot to describe what the picture is about. My father
was noted for his soup making and the family would just
plain call it 'lefty soup'. There was no set recipe and it would
change with whatever ingredients were available. We all do this
I would imagine but his was really just about the best.

Today is a holiday in Namibia (workers' day or May day) which
is the same as our Labor Day in the States. So, sitting around
with some time on my hands and with the garden beginning
to produce, I decided to make my version of lefty soup. This
time it is just bush style (seeing as I live out in the bush of
Southern Africa) using the solar oven. The ingredients are as
dad would have used (what ya got on hand) ... a green pepper,
swiss chard and a tomato. All of that swimming in water
with thick white onion soup mix as the flavoring base.

I am not sure that I can do lefty soup justice because the only
spice I have is salt. So, in about 3 or four hours I should be
either thinking ... man this is good or ... man this is lacking.
But with being out here in the bush with limited resources ...
well ... we just do the best we can.

By the way, also inside the solar oven (in the blue pot) is
rice. It is so easy to cook rice in a solar oven. I put in
one cup of rice and add two cups of water, then place it
in the oven at about 8 a.m. Then when I return at about
noon or so, voila, perfectly cooked rice with no burning.
The bonus is that the pot is so easy to clean.

So that's about it since the last time I posted a blog entry.
Hopefully this month the generator will get fixed and we
can get moving on the movie making and the learners should
be coming back from vacation at the end of the month.

Got to go and stir the lefty soup.

Easter greetings from the 1st grade

2010-04-01T21:58:00.000+02:00

I took the picture this morning at the village
school. Thought it was a decent one to attach
an Easter greeting to.
I know that Easter is three days away but it's
been a while since I've written for this blog so
just couldn't wait till Sunday.
It has been a few weeks. I was with my colleagues
in the Capital for our mid-service conference.
It is half way already.
In the village there has been a lull. Being away for
over a week means having to start the momentum
going again.
Did hear some pretty good results from the TB
drama/movie we made. Today it was me, the lady
working on TB prevention and care and the community
counselor (whom works on HIV/AIDS issues) where
having a discussion. It came to, did we see any results
from the film we made. She started working at the clinic
on 7th September 2010. In September she had 0 people
come in for testing. In October she had 0 people
whom came in for testing. Guess what November,
December and 3 weeks in January amounted to, as far as
TB testing went ... 0 again. But since showing the film
on the 24th of January she's had 11 people come in
on their own. Yeah, it isn't the biggest thing in the
world, but it is something that makes us feel pretty
good about what we did.
Today was an incredible day. I went to the young
person San cultural group practice. It was underneath
a tree in the middle of a field. That's where they usually
practice. I've been to quite a few of them before. Today
was different because there were 5 elders teaching the
kids the old ways of dancing and some old songs. It
was really something to see. Everyone was so animated
and there was so much energy and happiness.
As I was observing I thought of the suffering and sadness
that the elders must have. Today the San aren't the
hunter/gatherers they used to be. These songs and dances
were part of their youth, when they used to hunt. I was
just thinking that they were living bygone days right in
front of my eyes. Then I felt a sadness for them, the
thought of people losing their way of life and not by
choice, has to leave a void in one's spirit.
They were talking about teaching the young generation so
as not to lose the ways that have been handed down
over the generations.
This is the first time that I've seen the elders participate
and I don't know if it is a one time thing. I am hoping
that it is a beginning of only more handing down of the
old ways by the elders.
So, I am also hoping that everyone's Easter is a good one.

2 week review

2010-03-14T19:23:00.000+02:00

It's been over two weeks since the last entry and
it has been a very busy and positive period.
Where do I start ... let me start with the animal
sightings. I've gone to Katima twice and at this
time of year, that means a tremendous chance of
seeing animals.
It is quite a sight to come over an horizon and see
ostriches or elephants just standing in the middle
of the road. There were 2 pairs of ostriches, two a
dark color and the other 2, a light gray.
But for me, there is a never ending awe of seeing
wild elephants only 20 meters/yards away from the
vehicle. It is like they are in one's backyard and they
are beautiful animals.
The last movie that we made about multiple partners
and HIV is still a hit. To me it is amazing that they
watch the half-hour film 3 or 4 times in a row. But
the best part is that they always seem to discuss
something about it.
The youth leadership group who planned the Valentine's
Day activity are planning an activity for the upcoming
Independence Day which is the 21st of this month.
That group is doing great things, it should be a fun
time with a Mr. & Miss Independence Day competition.
Also a group dance, eating, drinking and other types
of competitions. They will also have a 3 day soccer
tournament and a guy coming to give a Kwaito dance
exhibition. Kwaito is a type of dance music that's
popular here and in South Africa.
The kids at the school have finally started computer
classes and of course it's not without a struggle as
the classes lasted about 10 days till the generator broke,
again. So hopefully it will be fixed but the computer
room is finally open for business and it would be
better with electricity.
Another great thing is that the girls are playing netball
almost daily and the boys are playing volleyball about
3 times a week. I am happy about this seeing as the
goal is to get the kids out of the bars some and get
them in a healthy lifestyle.
The older San cultural group is writing a proposal to
get outfitted with about everything traditional like
bows and arrows and all those things so that they
can go to the local tourists lodges and do some shows.
It will be an income generating activity and also it
fits into the transitioning from the old ways to the new
ways.
It is funny because as we were writing the list of traditional
objects, I was mentioning things that the actual San kids
didn't know about. Like how they used ostrich shells as
canteens. They were amazed that I knew that stuff ... I
told them, all I did was read it in a book. But it proves
the importance of such groups so as not to lose the
knowledge from what is really a short time ago, something
like a generation or so removed from the hunter/gatherer
ways.
Another great thing is the younger San kids cultural group.
We filmed about 6 dances yesterday and they were
fantastic. So much energy and enthusiasm. We will do
like we did for the choir group. Put a compilation
together and then make a DVD for each dancer and
drummer.
It has just been a real good time these last few weeks.
Still haven't solved all the problems and in fact, it's not
even close to that, but, there are a lot of positive signs
and it seems that there is a change in energy and it
fits right into the goal of behavior change.
Oh yeah, I have to go to the capital and I won't be
here for the Independence Day festivities. I'll just try
and get the scoop from the people here.
So, as they say in western Romania ... ceau/ciao

Bread baking sequel

2010-02-28T17:49:00.000+02:00

On Tuesday we held another bread baking workshop
(people mixing dough in picture). It was better than
the first one. It rained very hard at one point and we
were all huddled under a leaking zinc roof, it was fun.

It has been a pretty good week, we received a shipment
of diesel for the generator. We were about 2 weeks
struggling without electricity. It cramps any computer
literacy at the school and it just plain makes everything
difficult. When they brought the fuel there was a
little problem with the hookup and we had to wait
another day for someone to come. What it was is
that the diesel has a feed and a return. They crossed
them and it was a mess as tubes flew off and
spewed diesel all over the engine. But I think we
learned something and I did something crazy, I
put a tag on each one. One says feed the other
return, hopefully that will be the last time for that
problem.

We cleaned off the netball court and the girls started
playing again. It gives life to the center of town. They
had stopped playing for over 3 months. This group
is a younger one, mostly teenagers, so hopefully it
will keep a few out of the bars a little more.

We fixed a computer at one of the offices so that it
could burn DVDs. Not a big deal other than the
secretary said that he would burn some DVDs and
charge a little, then use the profits to buy new ink
cartridges for their printer. That's the first time I
every heard of anyone here speaking of anything
remotely related to sustainability. So, got to see
it to believe it.

Last Monday we went to the big city Katima. Our
village is almost exactly in the middle of a game
reserve. So anytime one drives down the road one
never knows what one will see. Last Monday was
an exciting day. About 30 kilometers outside the
village we see a big hyena dead in the road. Even
dead they look a little dangerous.

Better yet was the male elephant on the side of the
road. I guess we kind of came up behind him
(he was on the side of the road) and scared him.
He turned towards us with his ears all out and
chased us for a little ways. It is also cool to hear
the elephant make the trumpeting sound. Just
like in the movies or the animal planet show.

So that's it for this week.

Probably wondering ...

2010-02-21T20:37:00.001+02:00

What you are looking at in the picture above.
The look on the faces of the villagers that were
present at today's bread baking workshop said
... what is it.

It is every volunteer's story fodder that we
take with us and always comes back to mind when
someone burns something in the oven.

I am sure by now that everyone can tell that it is a
bread that was exposed to some pretty high
temperature ...

Everything went well for the workshop until we
arrived at the payday, the highly anticipated
moment ... the moment of truth.

So, it was really kind of funny watching the villagers
reaction to the first great appearance of one of the 27
breads that were placed inside the traditional oven.

Should we make excuses first or wait till later
... maybe later.

We used this huge traditional oven which was left from
the time of the occupation by South African troops.
It is about 7ft tall, 6 ft wide and another 7 or so feet
deep. It's impressive and seeing as the South African
military left in something like 1989, it is still in decent
condition.

There were something like 40 people total with about
15 adults and the rest, kids. It was really ok. It was
actually fun. Almost everyone got their hands into making
the dough. They had some ownership in it all.

It could best described as somewhat of a carnival
atmosphere. Adults talking amongst each other, kids playing
games and running around, really just plain, nice.

So it was kind of funny when the first bread came out in
the condition seen in the picture. It is just the plain old typical
project that when things are going too good, it can't be true.

Ok, excuse as to why. It was the first time baking with this
oven. We put in a decent amount of wood seeing as the
oven was fairly big. Sound logic, wouldn't you say?

It was really a surprise that when they opened the oven door
after 10 minutes and saw the bread in that state. It should
have taken something like 30 to 45 minutes so as to cook
well and through. I am not sure but I think we somehow
figured out how to cook faster than a microwave.

It must be said that not all the bread came out in that manner.
After we saw the situation we opened the door and let
it cool some as it baked. Something like half turned out
with what would be 1st degree burns instead of the above
bread's 3rd degree status.

I have been at this a while and for me it is just plain normal to
have something not go well enough to allow the project to
come out without a hitch. Call me pessimistic but I say ...
it just ain't never going to be 'the perfect project'. In
reality, it would be boring if it went just as drawn up.

Oh yeah, despite it's appearance, the bread tasted really
good and the best way to judge the workshop's success
was by the speed with which the bread was consumed.
All 27 were gone in less than 30 minutes and that with 15
big people and 25 small people to make it go away.

We are doing an encore bread making workshop
Tuesday, this time well go light on the wood and it should
come out better. This time we may actually look like we
know what we are doing, where's the story in that?

Update from the bush ...

2010-02-20T20:08:00.000+02:00

It is amazing to think that Monday will be the
one year anniversary of our arrival in Namibia,
time is flying by.

In the picture you are looking at what was, the
biggest elephant I've ever seen. In my little book
on the wildlife of the Okavango region it states that
a male can grow to 4 meters tall or a little over 12ft.
and weigh up to 6,000 kg or 13,000 lbs. This one
had to be pretty close to those numbers. It looked
like an old male and must have been a tough life for
this guy, if the tusks are any indication.

I took this picture as part of an excursion we had
with the winners of the Miss Valentine's day contest
that the youth leadership group facilitated. It was the
group's first attempt at any form of activity. I am
giving them an -A. They had some difficulties but we
sat together and worked them out. It wasn't perfect
but it was the proverbial 'great learning experience'.
It is about empowering the youth and prepare them
to lead when their time comes.

Part of the prize for winning was a trip to the game park.
There were four winners and five from the youth group
leadership board, me and one of the Romanian guys.
We took the Romanian's microbus and off we went.
We were incredibly lucky because as soon as we entered
we came across the huge male elephant, zebras, impala,
vultures and what I think is a Tawny Eagle.

And that was it, not another animal in sight. Of course we
went at about the worst time of the day due to having to
wait for the girls to arrive. But all was not lost because I
brought my little camera and we took a total of 119 pictures.
With about 10 of them with animals in them and the rest ...
well ... best described ... they loved hamming it up for
the camera. But it was a good, reason being, they had
fun.

I am thinking that for all of them, it was the first time at
the game park, so. It was a new experience for them.

On the movie scene, we are in the process of hashing out
a new story line about teenage pregnancy. It is going
a little slow but I am actually happy with the process.
It is going slow because we are still discussing the
way the message, in it's best form, can be delivered through
the drama. I am feeling that with the daily discussions
and the 'think tank' ten minutes, that they are
learning to not just rush anything out there but to think
about what is the goal of actually making these movies.
And that is to deliver a convincing message that will
in the end, alter behavior for the good.

Tomorrow we are going to have a little bread making
workshop. When the military was here they had this
huge traditional oven and it has been just sitting there
for quite a while. The oven was used by a bread
making group but went the typical way that the groups
seem to always arrive to ... out of business. Standard
cookie cutter reason, too much credit, too much
eating the goods and last but not least, too many
hands in the profit jar.

So, the Romanian girl is a fantastic cook and she decided
to try the workshop. Truth be told on this one, if a few
come, then, it will be a success. Also, the goal of this
one isn't for income generating. It is for the attainment
of knowledge and hopefully, baking of bread for their
families. It seems that all the time a workshop or
something similar is talked of, it is always, how much
money can be made. I think that this one is better
if it is ... how much bread can you eat.

Later, if they are interested in going into a business, then
they will have the skill to venture out on their own and
it is in their hands. The old teach a man how to fish thing.
But only this time ... teach a person how to make bread.
We are not even concerned about if it will be a success
through a tremendous turnout. Worst thing that happens,
we eat nice hot bread for lunch. To me if that happens,
heck, I'll give it the big thumbs up seal of approval.

The young San cultural group is really improving. They
need some props like, a traditional bow and arrow,
some type of mask and skin to emulate a lion or an
animal for their hunting song. A few little axes and
things like that. So we are working on acquiring
some of those items. I am donating on this one, those
kids are really into it, they enjoy it and again, are
pretty good. I feel they deserve a little support.

The guys were actually playing soccer and it is a good
thing for them and the village. The work is to try and
waken up the place, get a better energetic life style
going and in the end, it fits in the goal of changing
the behavior from one of alcohol as a first option
in the fight against boredom.

It has been a steady week or so since the last blog
entry. Despite the fact that I may be a little delusional
about the next statement ... we are making some
progress ... there is a long way to go.

All we can do is keep at it.

Chaka

2010-02-11T19:40:00.000+02:00

That's how it feels after struggling with an idea
or project and then see it come to fruition.
Especially when it is a sort of pilot project,
never been tried (in the village).By the way,
chaka means good in the San (Khwedam)
language.

I am referring to the health videos we've been
working on. After the mired in super glue state
we were in, it's been a total one eighty.

This morning upon arriving at the clinic, I was
met by three excited health workers. What
happened yesterday was that the TB counselor's
boss arrived for a visit. The TB counselor
(Regina) showed the DVD we made concerning
TB. Her boss was excited and impressed and
told her that she was doing a great job. She
also said that it was tremendous that it was in
a local language and that everyone could
understand the message.

So, Regina is really animated about participating
in other movies.

But the best part is that she had 7 people in the
last two weeks just come in for TB tests. She's
been counseling in this village for about 9
months and she told me that it was the first
time that people came in voluntarily to be tested.
Usually people are referred to her for testing.

It isn't the end of the world and it isn't the cure for
cancer but, it is a small victory that keeps us
motivated and wanting to do more.

From my side of it, I am happy as heck. It was
one of those days that nothing could affect
the good feeling.

It was funny that Regina's boss said: "How did
you guys do it. What equipment did you use, it
came out pretty clear"?

The best part ... it was with my tiny Canon A570IS
camera, Windows Movie Maker and someone
else's disk burner. The total cost was ... about .66 cents
USD. Just the price of the blank DVD.

It is good that they can see that we can do meaningful
work/projects with the limited resources we have.

Hard to explain that good old feeling of success that
comes from some idea or project going pretty much
right. Especially if it is behavior change based.

So, the 'sometimes it's good' can't last and tomorrow
is another day. But we live in the now ... and now is
pretty darn good.

Be Careful ... Think

2010-02-06T18:05:00.000+02:00

That's what the words in the picture mean.
It is from the Thimbukushu language and it
is the name of the movie we made this week.
We went from almost nine months to actually
make the first movie, to being on a schedule of
making bi-weekly productions. It's just how it
goes, to use 'famine to feast', would describe the
direction this is going. But if it follows the basic
pattern ... it will be ... famine ... feast ... disappear.
But until it disappears I am going to enjoy being
a part of it.
The name of the movie really has not much to do
with the story ... it just kind of does ... because it is
almost in everything that we could ... be careful,
think.
The story goes like this ... there is a guy who likes
the women. He has HIV and a little TB thrown in.
They are all in the shebeen (bar) and the wife
sees the girlfriend. There is some drama. They
did a really good job on that scene. Maybe they've
seen something like that before, yup.
Well, both women get TB, one gets HIV (the wife).
The wife does the right thing, gets tested and then
follows the ARV and TB medication schedule. She
goes along fine. The girlfriend has TB only but
doesn't follow the medication schedule. That is
a problem here as some people no matter how
many times they tell them, just don't come regularly.
Of course, the results are that the medication won't
work and she is in trouble.
But the guy who likes the girls, well, he doesn't want
to believe anything about TB or HIV. Doesn't want
to go for testing. Easy to see where he's headed.
He decides (when he is really sick) to go to the
traditional healer.
This was another great scene with a lot of wild action
and chaos. Again, those guys did a great job.
So, the guy gets kind of jived up and stands up and
dances like he got the spirit in him, then drops dead.
The women cry / wail and the wife (who brought him
to the traditional healer) then chases the healer around
with a hoe as the people try and break it up.
I was running the camera and I could see that it was
going to be an interesting scene.
In the end the lessons are ... don't be stupid, get tested,
don't have multiple partners and if you are taking
ARVs or TB medication, do it right.
Another huge part is the the group is growing and it
is a fun way to kill a Friday afternoon.
The next one I am thinking should be about teenage
pregnancy. It is really a problem here and with the
threat of HIV high, I guess that the youth just
aren't getting the message in a way that makes sense
to them.
To change the subject ... the Romanians and the guys
from the village played their soccer game last Thursday.
It was 10 to 8 with the Romanians winning. It was
a great activity for both sides. It helped create a little
connection and familiarity through sports. It also
gave the village youth something to think about. In
this area they are kind of the best. They never practice
and I guess they had the big fish in a small pond
frame of mind.
With the thumping they got, hopefully they will be at the
field a little more. The Romanians had a different style
of play than the village youth. The youth talked about
what they learned, a good thing.
A lot of benefits came out of that game.
Began to teach a young San girl (who is going to teach
some computer classes) some new things. Sustainable
in every way. Like I mentioned before, the only sustainable
thing I know is, knowledge.
Also a few young women are going to organize a valentine's
day event. In my opinion it is a good thing. We are
so far out in the bush and to have some (city type)
activity is well worth the effort.
Here we have some young kids who've gone to school
in cities. When they come back, they are dying of boredom.
So if this will help to keep them active, it is good.
Also, it is the initiate of a few youth, good to see in the
world of development.
Time to end this blog article so best way to end it is ...
with the words ... Tukoneke no Kughayara.

It happened

2010-02-03T21:37:00.000+02:00

In the last blog entry I spoke about how
things kind of happened. Also, that one of
the things that maybe/kind of was going to
happen was what could be best described as
a cultural even. The San (Khwe) cultural
group performed for the visiting Romanians.
The picture I posted for this entry is not of
the San dancers but of the Sifwe people members
of the Adventist Church Choir. Sifwe is what
they call a tribe just as the San (Khwe) would
be called a tribe. That's the word they use to
describe their origins, tribe.
It is really an experience to be able to see these
little events.
Overall it went well. It was the first time that the
San group actually performed for strangers while
being in the village. It appeared to be a new
thing for them too. So it actually was more than
a visitor welcome event, it had all the makings of
a great cross cultural activity.
My feeling is that there was a lot more accomplished
than what would have met the eye.
From a development point of view, any action that
can open a mind or bring about tolerance and
acceptance, is a success.
Tomorrow there is a soccer match planned between
the Romanians and some of the village youth.
Like the 'kind of happen' train of thought, it just
ain't sure till it's actually in process. But so far,
we're on a roll with the dance part of the visitor
welcome activities, a done deal.
Another piece of the development puzzle was
put in place today.

Musafir

2010-01-30T20:45:00.000+02:00

I thought that the word 'musafir' (actually not
sure of the spelling) would be the best title
for this blog entry.
Musafir is the Romanian word for visitor.
That's what you are looking at in the picture.
Really it is visitors and I am not sure that means
that it is musafiri, or like that, for the plural.
They are a group from the Adventist church who
arrived a few weeks ago to work constructing
some buildings (for a church) in a town about
160 km or 100 miles away.
They came to visit the other Romanian people
whom are living in the village.
In the picture they are talking to a German priest.
They also sang a few songs and for me, it was
kind of nostalgic as I have lived in Romania for
about two and a half years. It was like I was
there and I had to put an effort to try and
remember that we were in Namibia.
The group was surprised that I could speak
their language, seeing as I am from the USA.
It was just a good time.
The rumor is that some of the group will
maybe/kind of come here in the village next
Monday and spend at least a week helping
out to repair the Adventist church here.
What we have done is kind of planned (that is
because they are kind of coming) a San cultural
dance event. Hopefully there will be a few cooking
lessons thrown in. It will be good for the Romanians
and to me, even better for the San. Any exchange
for people that are living out in the bush like we are,
is a valuable experience. I am kind of looking
forward to it.
So we kind of planned for the group that is kind
of coming and we are kind of looking forward to
be there participating.
Welcome to life in the bush where everything seems
to kind of happen.
One would also think that it would be kind of
stressful to kind of go through a kind of day.
But the crazy part is that ... once you get used to it ...
that way kind of grows on you.

Just rolling along ...

2010-01-28T19:42:00.001+02:00

Like the dung beetle in the picture who is rolling
the dung ball along, so has the last couple of
weeks been moving, at a rolling along pace.
This doesn't seem to sound too pretty but, it really
has been a few good weeks with no complaints.
It has been just busy enough for my liking.
A high point is that we made another instructional DVD.
The topic was that of TB and this was made in
the local language of Thimbukushu. It, like the Khwedam
HIV DVD as it came out fairly OK.
This time we made a little drama with all the needed
information about TB in it and also had a section with
all the info, as a repetition.
We are learning how to make these catered to the people.
I observed their reaction to the DVD as they watched it
and we are the wiser and better prepared for the next one.
The mistake we made was a too long information part.
Next time we will break it down to something like 90%
drama and 10% talking to informational presenting.
From my perspective, I am very pleased with the
enthusiasm of the clinic workers and their participation
into filming. One of goals as volunteers is to get the
people to do it themselves, the Tom Sawyer method
of getting a fence painted. We also have other ideas
and in fact they are adding up. The next one should
be a good one as it is based on a true situation where
a man spread the HIV to several women.
Let's see what else happened.
The school started their athletics program and will
have some competitions. The best part is that they
are using the football field that we built about six months
ago that no one really has used. So as a personal
point, we are happy to see that the work wasn't in total
vain. Also, the young men are using the field to
practice football and that just began this week. So,
sports activity is a good thing.
We have sent out a solicitation for the TV channel to
be transmitted in the village. In another blog I mentioned
that we have the TV signal in the radio equipment trailer
just sitting there. All it needs is some form of transmitting
antenna. It will really help if it works out.
The Romanians are working on their building and will
bring in a group of their friends to help them sometime
next week. We setup a performance of the San Youth
Cultural Dance troupe while they are here. The San
girls will also teach the few Romanian girls how to make
the local porridge which is the staple food here. So
that should be a good activity and hopefully doesn't
have that too awkward moment when totally different
cultures meet for the first time.
Speaking of culture, the local culture guy is planning
on organizing a traditional skill workshop for the
San (Khwe) kids. It is because the old ways are
dying with the elders. Again, due to the forced lifestyle
change. This workshop looks pretty intensive with
just about everything. From traditional tool making to
how to start a fire with sticks, to traditional medicines
and everything in between. I am fortunate to be able to
participate in it. What better way for an outsider to
see the San culture as it used to be.
Incredible sight of the week came last Monday. On the
way back from town we saw at least 40 to 50
elephants cross the road. They were standing on the
side of the road just like someone waiting to cross.
We drove by and stopped. After a few minutes they
started crossing. They were all bunched up with the
younger ones (to include what appeared to be pretty
close to a new born) in the middle. They young ones
were actually being pushed along by the bigger ones.
It was really a sight to see the huge animals move.
On moving along, it is good time to end this blog entry.

Finally ...

2010-01-16T18:54:00.000+02:00

As you can see in the photo the DVD in the
Khwedam (one of the San languages) is finally
finished.
It has been just about the first project that came
about way back upon arriving here in April '09'.
To call it a struggle is really being kind.
The difficulty was in finding the right people to
work with. After receiving about 20 ... sure
we''ll do it, no problems ... it took the arrival
of a young man from another village whom is
working in this village's health clinic, to get it
done.
Again, it really came out well and the people
did a great job. We are not professional film
makers so there is the occasional baby wailing
and a cell phone or two going off, but, the
message is there in a very clear and concise way.
It is the first of it's kind in that language and on
Monday we'll put it in the DVD player at the
clinic and see what, if any, impact of value it
has on giving all the information needed
concerning HIV/AIDS.
It is also the end of the week and it can be
called the week of hope and optimism.
There are some good signs that the village may
be progressing a bit. The progress will come
from a person whom is working to open up a
decent sized store/market here. Right now we
have little shops that charge too much and this
is due to the isolation of the village. Normally
it takes a day of trying to find a ride and some
traveling cost to go to the nearest town to get
supplies.
So, if this store is decent it will make life so
much easier.
Also, the health clinic was in need of some
pretty extensive repairs and before Christmas
we wrote a solicitation for repairs. They came
down the other day and made a work order
so ... it is a matter of when, always the factor.
The Romanians that are in the village have had
their group arrive to fix up their building and when
they get setup they will do some community work
in the area of day care, art and some vocational
training.
The school is back in session and it seems that
they may be getting a group of students from
some European school for a week or so. The
last group from Scotland helped paint the
school building and really brought some well
needed enthusiasm.
We have a proposal going out maybe sometime
this week for solicitation of a TV channel. We
have a radio receiver system here and the
information is that there is also signal for one
TV channel. It just may need an antenna to
transmit the signal.
I am very much hoping that this come to fruition.
When I was in Senegal we did a little project
for a battery powered TV. It received one
channel only, which was by the Senegalese for
the Senegalese. I, till this day, am convinced that
bringing the information to that village did more
than anything to open the minds of the villagers.
Out here it is even more important as the San
people are also trying to find a new way from
the hunter/gatherer life style.
It is funny that people who have come from
towns are kind of quick to criticize the San.
They do not live like town/city people do. They
really don't understand maintenance of their
properties. In the old way, it was one month
in one location, then up and off to another.
So this national TV channel should give some
ideas as to how other people in Namibia are
living.
Again, it is in the hoping stage. These things
may come about and if they do, they may
not be all too great of a situation. But better
to have these things happening that having
nothing happening.
That's it for this week.

Little excitement

2010-01-08T18:40:00.000+02:00

In the picture you can see what is the remnants
of Mozambique Spitting Cobra. It happened to
wander into the compound and it created a bit
of excitement.
It actually isn't a lethal snake but when it's provoked
it rears up, spreads it's hood, then ejects
venom into the eyes of an adversary. It can also
grow to 1.5 meter or about 5 ft.
I was in my room when I heard some commotion.
The cry was ... there's a snake under a log. The
log is actually a tree trunk cut in half which will
be used sometime in the future, but I don't know
for what.
Everybody in the village has at least a few sticks
about 2 meters or 6 ft long somewhere near their
houses. These sticks are used to deal with the
local snakes. The most prominent ones are the
Black Mamba, Puff Adder and of course the above
mentioned Mozambique Spitting Cobra. The first
two can be lethal.
So, we go out and after a few minutes of how are we
going to get the snake out from under the log ... I must
mention that at the time we weren't sure if it was
the spitting cobra or a mamba. the colors can be
somewhat close when looking under a log ...
What happened was, as someone rolled the log
over as to expose the snake, it appears that it
actually rolled over it's head and ... goodnight
spitting cobra.
Nothing fantastic other than the excitement of it
all, probably easier to understand when one's
face to face.

That wasn't the only exciting part of the week.
After almost 9 months we've finally have the
the Khwedam (one of the San languages)
HIV/AIDS DVD almost ready. Well, we
finally have all the clips. I put it together last
night and I am pretty impressed with the job
that the local health workers did in making it.
It is in the editing stage but it doesn't look
like it needs much work. Just trimming the
beginning and end of some of the clips. It
is usually a fairly easy process except that in
this case, I don't know the language so it
will take a little longer to get it worked out.
Hopefully not another 9 months.
But, the value of this DVD is that it will be the
first one of it's kind for the Khwedam speakers.
It is pretty good, it explains what is HIV/AIDS.
How to contract it, how to protect oneself
including demonstrations of the male and female
condoms.
It explains testing and also the counseling process
and it's confidentiality. It explains a little about
ARV's and adherence. Plus it explains about
misconceptions.
One cultural point is that one of the practices
the Khwe people have/had, is that of
using a razor blade to make a cut, then
putting in some traditional medicines. The
major point here is of sharing or usage of the
blade.
But again, it came out ok, so I guess the wait was
worth it.
Other than that, it was a slow week but school
begins again next week and the Romanian people
that are here are having 23 visitors. They are
coming for about 2 weeks to help them refurbish
their building.
Man, that's going to make 28 white people here.
That's more than I've seen in almost a year.
And they're all Romanians so I can actually sit
and converse with them.
So, it looks like things are going to pick up.

New Year - New Hope

2010-01-01T10:07:00.002+02:00

Probably a popular thought ... that is with the
arrival of the new year, a new hope will be
tagging along with it.

In the picture you can see the improved version
of the solar oven we made back in September.
Prior article with picture.

The hope for the new year is that ... like the solar,
oven that cooks with about zero effort ... so will the
flow of work go, easy and natural.

Of all the other countries and villages I've been in, this
one is in the greatest need of such a concept. I have
mentioned repetitively in other blogs that the Khwe
(Bushmen) of this location, need to find a new way
for their society. It is truly amazing to see how a people
have been challenged to change a way of life which is
said to be well over 70,000 years old, at least.

In a personal view, the coming of the new year also
reminds me that there is possibly only one year left to
help get things kind of sorted out. There is no one pressing
me but myself. Things will go as they are supposed to go,
at their pace. This reality is understood, but can't just
having hope and a little luck go a long way?

I read this statement once a few years back ... Hope is
for losers. I know this person has never been in the trenches
(so to speak), where at times, hope is actually the only
idea/vision/motivation that one has to work with. Maybe
I'm wrong but in hope there is power. The power to wake
up every morning and keep trying.

Every new year can be an opportunity to take time and evaluate
or re-evaluate. Looking back, it was a decent year with some
progress. I feel that the biggest accomplishment from
last year's effort is that of one of the younger Khwe person's
statement yesterday that he wants to have a little more
seriousness in his life. He is a very capable and intelligent
person and in my opinion, one of the future leaders of his people.
His problem and as a result, the problem in the community, is that
he drank too much and it influenced his vision of life. I've been
working with him and I have over 19 years since I've stopped
drinking, so I've brought up the topic a few times ... more like
a lot of times. But I was surprised to hear his statement
yesterday, actually pleasantly surprised.

Again, here is where hope is part of daily life. I hope that he
goes through with his desire to be serious. He can make a
huge impact in the future of his people.

He is also a San person who understands that the Khwe have
lost their ancient societal ways. There is a hope that we can
help find a new way that doesn't forget the past but can
be incorporated so as to get the San centered again.

I guess there is no getting away from the word ... hope,
while in this business.

For me, I hope that like the solar oven that sits, takes in
energy (when the sun is out) and does it's job in a natural
way, that it will be the theme of how the changes in the
upcoming year will progress.

Again ... I hope?

Bitter sweet week

2009-12-26T18:45:00.000+02:00

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 ...

2009-12-23T14:28:00.001+02:00

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 ...

2009-12-19T11:58:00.000+02:00

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 ...

2009-12-16T19:10:00.002+02:00

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

2009-12-12T09:30:00.000+02:00

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

2009-12-05T19:30:00.000+02:00

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.

Sundown on another week

2009-11-28T20:17:00.000+02:00

The picture you see is that of the sun
going down with the Kavango River
in the foreground (or is that forewater?).

The photo sets the mood ... the end of another
week out in the middle of the bush 70 km
from anywhere.

For every good week there is a bad one. This
one would go under the category of ... not too
great. It isn't like everything was rotten, it just
stunk.

It was a lot of barriers and hurdles to overcome
with little to show. But that is the roller coaster
ride we go through. 'This too shall pass' is the mantra
for this week.

I almost forgot to wish everyone a belated
Happy Thanksgiving Day. I am from New England
and I would have to argue, one of the best places
to be on that day. It is a little difficult to feel that
Thanksgiving vibe, even in the realm of nostalgia
when the temperature is about 95 to 100 degrees.
But I guess that that vibe really should come from
the heart. I guess if the week went better I'd be
feeling it.

The support garden is in kind of a floundering mode,
after electing a new management board, maybe it
will get moving. This one has been challenging lately.

The choir is going along and soon will have their little
DVD together. Yesterday was a little bit of a bad day
as they filmed about 5 songs. Take a guess as to how
many came out good. None of them, due to a couple
of crying babies that basically wailed throughout the
whole thing. Just one of those great volunteer days.
But you know, I am kind of immune to it all now.
Oh well, we'll just do it again tomorrow or never,
who knows in this gig.

One pretty positive thing was that the San Cultural Group
is on their way sometime next week to the national
dance competition. They are not competing but going
as sort of a demonstration entity. There is really no
category for the San styles of dancing, yet. So I guess
that this group is on the pioneer side of it at the moment.
It should give them some great exposure and also allow
them to be court side for the national dance competition.
A great experience for them.

The San are really trying to find a new way since they've
had to abandon their hunter/gatherer ways and to
best describe the situation, they are trying to find their
place in the Namibian society. Participating in the
national events should help get them better accepted.

There were a lot of other little irritations that I kind
of brushed aside.

Well, next week is a new week and maybe a new
energy. To repeat, this gig is all about this ebb and
flow jazz.

Elephant art

2009-11-22T16:37:00.000+02:00

That's what you are looking at in the picture above.
It was given to me by one of the other two white people
here, one of the Romanians, in fact. I just need to sand it
a little to make it smooth.
He works with art, carving and drawing/painting.and this
he received from some artisans that live in a town called
Kongola. The Romanian guy lived in that town for a while
and was able to make contact and learn how to do that
type of carving.
It is a possible project here in the village but at the moment
no one either has the skill or the desire to work with
those types of carvings.
This is where we come in as volunteers to try and give an
option to some of the younger people in the village. Over
the years as the San people have left their hunter/gatherer
ways behind, it has been mentioned many times by the
young, that they do not know the skills of their fathers.
All this happening within a matter of a generation or so.
With collaboration between the Romanian guy and me,
we hope to be able to grab the attention of a few younger
people. More of an awakening or bridge to their past.

In general the past week was a fair one. We have a new
organization sponsoring the HIV/AIDS support group
and it appears that it has energized the group. So that
is a step forward and more activity for me in the process,
that's what I'm here for.
The school finally received the computers promised to them
about 6 months ago. They aren't new ones but they run
fine. It is also a little bit of a challenge to get them up and
running in a network system. They have two different
operating systems so the work to integrate them is a
little bit of a challenge. I have been able to get about
half of them going in the right direction. It is a challenge
for me and I am really liking it. I have at least 7 weeks
to get it up to the highest standard, with luck ...

The choir group has made a series of songs that we are
going to put on a DVD. The group was just started up
a few months ago and I think that they are still in the
process of finding their way. There are members
coming and going, but I can see the core forming.
The reason for making the music video is so that they
can see themselves and critique their performances.
In a perfect entertainment world (I think, never been in
one) they would have a wall of mirrors to be able to
see themselves. So the video will be their wall of
mirrors for now. Some songs, they have sung well and
a few others they may want to re-do. But all in all, it
a fun thing to do and it keeps a group of young people
out of the bars for a few extra hours a week.

Actually somewhat of a miracle happened. I believe I
mentioned in a prior article that we had a solar system
radio receiver transmitter for the village. It hadn't worked
as it was designed to do for over almost 6 years. One
reason being is that the people in the village didn't quite
have the experience they needed to request the system
to be repaired.
Again, these are the San people and all the elders have
no experience to fall back on. They were living out in
the bush where there was no need of writing request
for repairs of anything. This is something that is going to
have to fall on the shoulders of the younger generation.
Within the San community there is still the respect for
the elders and village headmen. So, it is difficult for the
younger go take action because they feel that they may
usurp the authority of the elders.
What happened was that I discussed this with a young
man who has some responsibility to work with such
issues. Together we wrote a solicitation for repair and
he submitted it to the headmen. They approved and
then the young man submitted it to the company
supplying the service.
Personally, and also a few of my colleagues told me,
well, we all thought that I would be long gone
(in another year and a half) before anything was even
looked at. I was shocked to hear that the company
came down and fixed it within two weeks of receiving the
solicitation. Wonders never cease and I was actually a
little giddy upon hearing the news.
Sometimes things just go right and it makes ya feel pretty
OK for that day.

I may be leaning towards the glass being half full instead
of half empty, but, I am feeling that things are kind of
wakening up in the village. I can't put my finger on it and
maybe I am delusional about this, but I just have a sense
that things are getting a little more energetic. Hopefully
I am not too 'crazy' as far as this goes.

So that's it for another week, as far as giving a mark I
would say that it was a 7 out of 10.
I'm OK with that.

66 Impala and the real thing

2009-11-14T21:44:00.001+02:00

In something like1976 or so, I had a great looking
1966 Chevrolet Impala. It was a beautiful mint
green color. It needed a little work but with a
few hundred dollars, at the time, it was like brand
new.
This weekend I went to the Buffalo Game Park.
I've been there before a few times and it was probably
for the last time as my colleague who has been there for
the last year, is winding down her service.
Today, we went on a game drive at a park across
the river from her location.
It was a pretty decent day and we saw a lot of
animals. But didn't see elephants or giraffes
or lions.
There were warthogs, kudu, tsessebe, buffalo, sable,
roan, hippos, baboons, vervet monkeys, zebra,
wilderbest. reed buck, water monitor, african fish eagle,
wartled crane and of course impala.
In the picture above you can see a female impala,
really a beautiful animal. Two of them ran by the
front of the vehicle and it was a tremendous sight
to see them jump. It was so graceful an action.
The best part was that the animals were in herds,
so, it wasn't isolated instances here or there.
It was a herd of buffalo here and 100 yards later,
a group of baboons and so on.
It was a great way to spend the time with a good
friend before their departure.
It is funny that even when I had that '66' Impala
it was just a name that identified a car. After seeing
the real thing, I can see the similarities and just like
the animal itself that '66' was just a sleek old
girl.
It was kind of crazy that when I saw the herd of
impalas and the first thing I said to my friend was ...
I had a '66' Impala.
Over 30 years later I got to come face to face
with ... the real thing.

One library forward and one house back ...

2009-11-07T21:16:00.001+02:00

I took a picture while I was in the library the other day.
It is a difficult place to take a photo of and it
is impossible to get a true representation of
the interior.
The picture may give you a decent idea as to
the transformation that has gone on so far. There
is a before picture in a prior blog article ...
Long term something to do
In the photo you can see that the walls received
a little freshening up. Also, that is the extent of the
book shelves and books at the moment. In the
foreground you can see a few boxes of books
that we've received from a colleague who is in the
process of completing his tour here in Namibia.
The books are of good quality and are a mixture of
stories and educational material. They are a very
welcome and appreciated addition to the school's
library. The books are more geared for younger
students and now there is a big imbalance of material.
A rough estimate is that the books are about 85%
that of for younger than older students. But that is
ok as it brings the challenge to get books for the older
(teenage) students. We will do our best and never
give up and hopefully we will continue to grow the
library and as an end result, the minds of these kids.

It also is the end of another week and it was a good
one, all in all.
We showed a short film on teenage pregnancy at the
school last evening and it was the first time in over
7 months of struggling that they allowed us to do it.
You know this development thing isn't always about
the physical resources. It is more (a lot more) about
the mind. In El Salvador and Senegal it was about the
physical resources. In Romania and here, Namibia, it
is more the lack of mind resource that is the barrier.
Here, there are a lot of things to work with. We have
limited (about 9 hours) of electricity to use.
We have a few computers and there is a person or
two whom are capable of teaching. But ... the problem
is that, for example. The school's principal is not computer
literate and therefore, he has no interest in them. Worse,
he doesn't support a program so as to teach computer
literacy in the school. So, unlike El Salvador and Senegal,
where we could see why we couldn't teach such
things, which was due to not having electricity or computers, it
was understandable as to why not. Well, here, where we just
about have it all ... man ... it can be frustrating. Especially
when the people want their children to learn how to
use a computer but will not take the principal to task on it.
This is just one of about another 10 similar situations with
the same theme.

As I have mentioned in the past, this village/town's biggest
problem is alcoholism. It is really taking out the society as
the youth (especially young men from about 15 to 35) are
virtually totally controlled by it. The only activity they do
all day is to get a dollar or two to go to drinking.
It even got to the point for this one young man of about
23, in which he took the roof off his house and sold it so
that he could get a few dollars for alcohol, really.
This village/town is an old military base and the majority
of it's houses are what could be considered small barracks.
They are of some sort of wood for the walls, cement floors
and the roof is made of corrugated zinc.
The zincs (as they are called here) are a pretty hot item
to sell.
So the other day as I was walking by this young man
who was in the process of knocking down his walls ...
I was thinking, why.
The house was actually one of the better little ones and
it just didn't make sense.
So upon asking and receiving a reply, the word was that
he sold the zincs and that no body knew where he was
going to sleep
Just an example and the most extreme I've seen since
arriving here at the end of April.

Another instance of the damaging effects of alcohol
has to do with what happened to the San Cultural Dance
Troupe. They had gotten invited to the regional dance
competition in a town called Rundu. They actually went
in more of an entertainment capacity. The competition
was more for the Mbukushu people and their traditional
dances.
The San haven't a dance category specifically for their
cultural style. In fact the troupe from here is just about
the only one of the San culture in this region that is
somewhat active outside their village.
So, upon doing their dance demonstration in Rundu the
troupe received N$ 300 or about 35 dollars US.
The group decided to take the money, put it on the side
and later, buy some beads that they would use to enhance
their traditional attire.
Well, what happened was the Youth Officer was given
the money by the event organizers and said that he was
going to hold on to it. He did hold on to it ... for about
the time it took them to return to the village. Then he just
plain took the troupe's money and used it on alcohol. This
was after he went through his own not too shabby pay check.
So now the troupe received another invitation to go to the
National Dance Competition in the Capital, Windhoek.
This is really quite a chance for the troupe itself and also
for the San people in general. I am not sure if they will be
the only San Cultural Troupe performing there but I know
that they will be the only one from the northern part of
this country.
When the troupe heard what the Youth Officer did with
their money they said that they didn't want to go to the
Nationals. I don't blame them for thinking so. But the
person whom should be working with the dance troupe
spoke with them and convinced them to not lose their
big chance to be in front of a full stadium and also the
chance to get some notoriety. Finally they agreed to go
but will not go if the alcoholic Youth Officer goes.
So, again, alcohol comes in to the equation of ruining
something.
So that was the week, despite the setbacks as a result of
the drunken bumbs, there were some progress. But the
progress never comes easy.
That seems to be the end of the week same old song.

Building a monument

2009-10-30T20:03:00.001+02:00

That is one of the things a lot of us do, even
if we don't plan it that way.
While we are in our villages and towns we try
our best and in cases at the end we leave the
'old monument' standing as a testament to our
time there.
What you are seeing in the picture is the
beginning of the building of my monument.
This morning I put the sign over the door of what
I have dubbed ... 'my project'.
I've written about this library project that I decided
to make it my own personal unsustainable endeavor.
Well, the unsustainable part is not quite as cut and dried.
As far as the actual activity of this project, as of the
moment, heck, it's as unsustainable as unsustainable
can be.
Reasons being, I've thought of it, I bought the paint,
patched all the walls, searched for shelves, screws,
wood, did all the work except that a teacher
actually painted the sign that you see above the door.
So why in the haides do it if it doesn't fit the model
on how to build and nurture sustainability and self
reliance?
In this case, I am throwing all caution to the winds
and just rolling the dice, so to speak. I am just investing
into what I hope will become sustainable by the
knowledge that the school students may acquire.
If you later continue on to the Pando Project blog ...
link is in the upper right hand corner of this blog ...
you'll read a bunch of introductions from students in
the 9th grade English class here. The last entry is
by a girl named Rosemary and in her section, she
mentioned that the library was kind of weak and
lacked resources.
I am taking this as there are some kids who are
willing to make use of this library. The impact on
them should be related to the quality of the tools
they have to use.
So, despite the unsustainable side of it till the present,
there seems to be a possibility that sustainability
will come in the form of intelligence that they
will carry with them throughout life.
Do I think that the people will maintain the library
and keep it progressing after I leave, heck no.
So maybe the window of opportunity to make
the impact that will make all the investment worthwhile,
is limited to my time here, that's ok. I think it goes
under the ... it's better than nothing ... category.
Over the nine years, there have been successes and
failures and that's normal in all our lives. But even
after the years I feel pretty good because I've never
lost the ... ant can, move the rubber tree plant ... hope.
I've learned that it really isn't all that bad to throw
out the supposed (sustainable) model (that if it really
worked I wouldn't have been where I've been over
these years trying to make things better) and just go
by the seat of your pants, that gut feeling.
So, that's my monument, probably more of a monument
to flying by the seat of my pants than anything else.
But darn it, an ant really can move a rubber tree plant,
it make take a few generations but just by teaching the
child ant to keep trying, well, that could be called
sustainability.
I hope no matter if it all comes apart after I leave that
a few kids will have noticed this old guy just trying
to make it better for them. And if they do the same
for their future generations ... then that rubber tree
won't stand a chance of staying put.
.

Art - bush style

2009-10-24T19:14:00.000+02:00

When I am in the States I live by the coast so when
taking walks, it is the norm to come across many
beautiful pieces of drift wood. In the case of the
picture ... what are you looking at is kind of the same
concept only from the bush. So I guess one could call
it ... bush wood.
Almost daily I take a walk out into the bush (not too
deep, two weeks ago a man got killed by an
elephant, he was deep in the bush) and of course
there are many things to discover.
One of them being that piece of bush wood. It has
become a mantle piece for my table. If you look at
the center of this piece you can see a shape that
resembles a dragon. It is one of those meant to
be/fate things as my Chinese astrological sign is the
dragon.
But as this is Saturday and the end of another week
it is kind of a recapitulation time.
The week went well and there was some progress and
of course regress. But I think that it appears to be
arriving at the point where the progress is greater than
the regress.
The netball court situation is still up in the air. One of
the poles broke and that's another challenge to overcome
(getting it fixed).
The women's support group garden had taken a little
back step as the people were occupied with other activities
but it is back to normal again.
The library continues to develop. The shaky shelves are
now actually able to stand on their own. Well, if they
are bolted together in a cross configuration. The shelves
were actually nailed to the wall and when we took the
nails out they actually collapsed like they got hit by a
George Foreman right hand. The reason that they
collapsed is that the metal shelves usually come with
some pieces that are bolted to the sides but of course,
aren't here. Also the shelves normally would be bolted
together with about 40 small bolts with nuts and washers.
Well, these had about 15 bolts and no washers.
So using the old engineering degree I somehow managed
to obtain, used the old noggin and also had about 10
bolts hanging around and lo and behold, it stands, holds
books and people are amazed that it functions while
not having to be crucified to the wall.
Another progressive situation is that with an ex Romanian
Peace Corps Volunteer we have been able to start up
a cross cultural blog. The link should be or will be in
the upper right hand section of this blog. The blog's
name is 'The Pando Project'.
We thought of this last year when we were both in
Romania and what it's goal is is to bring schools
together from different countries with the intent for
the students to ask questions and discuss points of
difference and interest.
This has been slow to start due to various reasons but
finally it appears to be gaining momentum. We hope
that once it gets up to speed that the countries represented
will be ... The United States, South Korea, Argentina,
Kazakhstan, Romania and of course, Namibia. So after
almost a year since conception, it is pretty cool
to see it come to life.
The debating clubs had a little snafu this last week and
didn't get to do their weekly debate, but we ironed
some points and it seems that it may begin to be easier
to get it to be kind of like it should be, easy.
Also had a sharing of my culture experience that worked
out well.
One of the goal posts at the new soccer field was basically
held together with bubble gum. The upper right hand
corner where the two pieces of tubing joined, had it's
welded joint broke. So what the people did was put in
a short (too short) piece of smaller tubing to
hold it together. It worked except for the fact that if
you hit, knocked or ran into the upright pole, it
would come crashing down. This was a dangerous
situation, that with the right circumstances, could
actually kill someone.
So, I found a longer and bigger piece of tubing and
then asked anyone at the Youth Office (responsible
for fixing the goal post) if they've ever heard the
term ... beat the s__t out of something. Here they
don't have all these colorful sayings like we do in
the States. I am sure they do in their local languages,
but not in the English they use.
So I said that all we needed was a strong hammer
and I will demonstrate what beating the s__t out of
something was.
So we went to the soccer field, found out that the
tubing that we wanted to use to fix the goal post
was long enough, but was too wide.
By beating the s__t out of that tubing and also
demonstrating and sharing of my culture, it worked.
The goal post is as stable as if it was welded.
I asked the guys if now they understood the meaning
of that phrase, beat the s__t out of something. They
said that now, they did. Let me tell you, I really had
to beat that tube to get it to work.
I guess there were other minor successes this week
but too small to mention.
It was a good week and of course that the hope
is that this is the beginning of an upward spiral.
Ciao

simply rice

2009-10-18T17:03:00.004+02:00

That's all you're looking at in the picture. Nothing
spectacular with that batch of rice except ... that it
was cooked in the solar oven we made a while back.
The picture of the solar oven is in a prior article. Click
here to see article and photo of oven.
It isn't a big thing, in many places it is old technology
and has been used for a while. Again, except, here it is
the first time anyone has seen anything like a solar oven.
As mentioned in the prior article, it was made by me and
the guy from Romania. He said that he's never seen one,
while I was in Romania I never saw one either. He
wasn't so sure that it would work but today he came
and showed me the cooked rice.
It is a beautiful Sunday here and it has been the best day
yet.
It started with the church choir just get better by the week.
They have 3 songs that they are really incredible at. So
that went well.
The test of the solar oven finally happened after 5 weeks
and that worked.
I took a walk into town and saw the lady with the new
brick oven's bread. And it was just beautiful. Cooked
almost to perfection. This is the third day that she's used
the oven. The first day, it was under cooked, second,
over cooked but today ... voila.
Also saw the OVCs (orphans and vulnerable children)
playing soccer on the new soccer field. Then saw
a bunch of young girls playing netball on the court we
made.
Then saw a notice on the wall telling of the upcoming
debate on Wednesday between the school kids and
the younger adults. The topic or motion will be ...
Are the parents important to development of child and
society. We know this is true but it is a topic never
discussed out here and hopefully it will start spreading
food for thought. Many parents here are alcoholics.
Also, I met a few of the San girls who are participating
in a theater group that we've started. The interesting
part is that they are not just mimicking other plays.
We asked them to write their own and there are
four topics. Malaria, HIV/AIDS, teenage pregnancy
and my favorite ... the lazy husband.
For us the most important part is that they are writing
it and it will give us a better insight through their
interpretations. The San (Bushmen) think differently
so the standard messages don't work as well as they
do with other peoples. Hopefully they can tell us how
they see it.
We will be looking for clues as to how to prevent and
deal with those issues.
So, it has been the best day yet but to keep the feet
on the ground, I remember that it can all come crashing
down in a New York minute.
But for today, you can keep New York, I'm liking it
here 70 km from anywhere.

Surfacing

2009-10-14T19:02:00.000+02:00

What you see in the picture is the guy from
Romania beginning the base for what will
be ... for the lady who cooks bread in a hole in
the ground ... an above ground quasi traditional
oven. So, the whole effort is surfacing from a
subterranean time, to a time of what I am kind
of hoping will be, enlightenment.
We started it yesterday and today we finished it
and it looks pretty good. I will post a picture later
on that will show the finished product churning out
it's first in what hopes to be ... lots of bread.
To describe the oven ... it is not so tall, square and
has two shelves to cook in. Really kind of nice.
So this is some type of progress though it is not the
only traditional oven in town. There is a huge one that
was made for a ladies project. Another group project
that failed because they either , ate the goods or gave
out credit to the moochers whom never paid back.
Again, same old story in a group setting. Everywhere
I've been it has been the same.
That's why this lady's above ground oven is a good thing.
She's been cooking pretty inefficiently in a hole in the
ground that consumes gobs of wood to heat up the space.
But she's been in business for the last 6 months. She's
smart enough to know that she needs money to be
able to buy more materials to make more bread.
The hope is that this oven will at least cut down her
consumption of wood by half. Speed up her cooking time
and who knows, with the added free time she may be able
to try cooking new types of things to sell.
Also, tomorrow should be the the debating event between the
learners and the youth who have completed school. It will
be in the newly painted library and it may be not a bad
little activity. Of course in this gig one can't count the chickens
before they hatch, but, also despite that factor, you gotta
have a little hope to keep ya going.
All in all it's getting a little active now and it is one of those
cyclic things, will ride the peak of the wave this it crashes.
Right now in this time of activity I am just hanging ten but
always have the mind open for that possible ... wipe out.

Update

2009-10-10T12:50:00.001+02:00

It has been a little while since I last posted an
article and I guess that it can just be said that I
just got lazy.
But, that isn't how it has been in the village since
the last posting. Not that it has been crazy but it
has been somewhat active and for me, a surprise
or two.
Starting with the support group's garden expansion
plan ... well ... we did about 85% of it but to get the
men together for that last 15 ... well ... it has been
at least a month of no shows. The other day I went to
the garden and it was funny because something just
seemed off. The I realized that someone actually worked
on expanding. I was totally surprised that someone
actually took their own initiative, surprise #1. So now,
there is about another 5% to go to finish the whole job.
If the greater forces can roll a lucky 7 for us, then maybe
that last 5% will be finished before the end of the month
or year.
The soccer field is totally done except for one thing. The
thing being that the village's teams would play on it. It has
been completed in full about 2 weeks ago, still no action.
But the orphans have been using it at times and for that
it isn't all too bad. There is a rumor that today the big guys
may finally play, we can only hope.
The Youth Officer has put out notice that the sign ups for
a debating club and a theater group are in effect all next week.
He did that on his own initiative and that is surprise #2 for me.
I have been knee deep into the building/re-building of the
school's library. It is my private project ... I've done the work
... bought the paint ($20 USD) and I have to say that despite
the fact that there is another 2 days work left, looks great.
I know that it doesn't seem to be sustainable as described
so far. The sustainability will come when the students have a
solid clean library/resource center to use. If I waited for the
adults to participate in this project, these kids grandchildren
would still be in the same dingy room. One on my colleagues
has sent me 8 boxes of books, so, the place should be looking
pretty nice and actually have some books too.
Another thing is that the gauntlet has been thrown in regards
to debating. The school's fledgling debating club has accepted
a challenge from a few of the younger people in the village.
This activity will be the kickoff event for the refurbished library.
It should happen either Thursday or Friday. This will be the
first debating event of it's kind.
Also, started working with a church choir. I have just filmed
their practices so that they can watch and hopefully critique their
performances.I am hoping that it will open the door for youth
activities such as AIDS/HIV education and discussions of
behavior relating to it.
So, it has been a fairly productive few weeks with a lot of potential
and hope that things will move is a positive constructive direction.
I have to end here, got to go to work on the library, it has to be
ready for the kickoff debate. I like it, it keeps me busy.