We can all get along ...

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Presenting ...

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 ...

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

  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 to capacity 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 experienced 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 know what it was but it 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.

  What I've liked throughout my time in Africa is the
life with emotion. Be it happy or sad.

  So this day sadly 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 ...

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 ...

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 ...

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

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 ...

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

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.