First Sunday in the village

Or to be more exact, the first half day seeing as it is only one in the afternoon. In Namibia the custom is for the noon meal on Sundays to be the special one for the week. Let me tell you, it was. We are all full and I think that siesta time will begin after posting this article. Let me tell you how the morning went. When I was here for my site visit about 6 weeks ago, I mentioned that a girls' soccer team is a must. Well now there has to be at least 25 or more girls interested. While walking through the village it seemed like every young girl we passed asked "when will the team start"? I purchased 2 soccer balls yesterday so it is up to the coach to organize the practices. Hopefully, sometime this week they will start. Also along the road we saw a dead pig that died from a snake bite. There was a trailor truck that drove through the center of the village (anybody lost?). We saw the truck while we were on our way to see the garden area of the Womens' HIV Support Group (above photo). They should be cleaning and planting this upcoming week. Part of me being here is to work with and support them. I hope we will be able to do some good things. I met a young girl named Natalia who wants to participate in the soccer team but, she is also a member of a San cultural group in the village. I gather that they haven't been all too active since 2007. She seems passionate about keeping the San (Bushmen) traditions alive. The village is an old abandoned military base and doesn't have any traditional San structures. Natalia thought that a traditional San building/hut that could be used as a cultural meeting place, would help to keep their San culture from fading away. Again, I hope to get involved and see if it is at all possible to support the San cultural group. I am here and will try my best. And, I am thinking, pretty cool Sunday so far.