Kaworoworo

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

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 ...

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 ...

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

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

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?

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

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 ...

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 ...

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.