The railroad in the North(it wasn't compelte the last time I was here)Stuffed in a cab with Christi and Pandu
-The sunset on the farm
Traditional Ovambo Hut
- Massive tree
Under a mosquito net
Ndapandula & Pandu
.......... Preying Mantus.................Huge Rooster!
-mahangu storage.. Makondjo,christi and Pandu. Makondjo playing around wearing a traditional ovambo womans dress
Martha waiting for taxi... Me and the Moon (picture doesn't do justice)
Kuku Anna
kuku annas farm... mahahngu... field
Foibe and baby.. foibe in traditions dress
Giraffe in Etosha.............Girls Playing In Puddle
John and Makondjo
Children of the Mahangu...Ewilili(spider)
Fina sewing dresses to sell at the open market
-Picture by Pandu (sandals and Chicken)Family in Havana 2 ( father Present)
The week…….Friday we left Windhoek to embark on a journey that would take us over 1200 kilometers to the northern part of Namibia as far as Oshikati and back to the city center once again. Along the way we encountered many people, animals, bugs and the hot sun all in our little white Toyota tazz, which is similar to a geo metro but just a little bigger. Charlotte, Annie, Foibe, her 3 month old baby Mansona (Gift) and I stuffed our belongings like sardines in the little tazz and were on our way by 10am with a radio/cd player that only worked about 30 mins our whole trip. First stop, Okahandja, to drop off food and school supplies to the family that the girls Annie knows from Holland helped while they were here. The sun was hot while we pulled up to their house and started to unload the supplies. One of the milks we bought had split open on the way up and it was only on the way home, a couple hours outside of Windhoek, when we finally put two and two together about what was making the car smell so bad for our entire trip. After we delivered such gifts, we made our way to the famous wood Market of Okahandja. “Madam, come take a look into my shop. Free Touch, I’ll give you good price, just take a look”. I quickly realized that the female hawkers initially gave us better prices and were easier to bargain with than that of the male sellers. It was interested to see who would offer what prices for similar items. 150 from one person, 40 from another- I suppose they thought it was easy to sucker us tourists into paying three fold for a product. Of course, it is important to support local traders, but there should be a medium where both buyer and seller and happy with the end amount. It is a technique that takes some skill, and it helped immensely to have sharp Charlotte with us who is a pro at bargaining. After getting sick of all the heckling, we decided it was time to hit the road so we would make it to Waterberg Park before sunset. No radio once again. Silence followed by a little singing here and there, followed by laughter and little cries here and there from Gift who slept most of the way due to the relaxing hum of the car on the paved road. The drive into Waterberg was fantastic- my first plateau ever! I have heard about them in 4th grade geology and figured that they were flat on top hence “plateau” but it is very beautiful to see in person! We arrived in the late afternoon and after settling in our nice bungalow, Annie and I went for a walk on the trails and saw the great vastness of Namibia and Waterberg Park. Along the way we saw termite hills, big black dung beetles, and an array of winged insects, birds and animals. We realized after walking all the way down, we would then have to walk all the way back up. Needless to say we took a nice water break when we got back to our house. While at dinner we heard the chatter of the beetles in the background and finally had to move inside at the end for they were flying all around us, swooping down in our faces. Imagine a June bug and then times that by ten! Creeeeepy!
The next morning (the day of my birth) we made our way to Otjiwarango where we finally purchases a radio with a tape player. The shopping center was flooded with people because it was the end of the month, which is when most people get paid. We stopped on our way home back to Windhoek again to return our radio that had a busted antenna and radio dial and the center compared to the last time we were there was a ghost town, this time semi-filled with kuku’s (grandmas) collecting their pension (N300=$45) and going grocery shopping. From Otjiwarango we made the trip to Oniipa, Ondangwa. We passed through a checkpoint and entered the free range north where animals are free to move all over the place, including across the roads. Eyes were open for cows, goats, donkeys, guinea fowl and dogs- “freedom of movement” as Charlotte said. It got hotter and hotter the more north we got. Annie’s arm got tan on the ride up and on the way down she had to sit on the other side of the car in order to even out such color. As we got closer to Oniipa, the Ondunga tree, which resembles a palm tree, started to spring up and I knew we were not far from our destination. When we reached the Lutheran Guest House I called my family that I stayed with and told them I was here. Later, the would tell me next time to give them more notice ( I called them a week ahead of time) so that they can prepare gifts for me and my family as well as food. I told that they everything was perfect, the fact that they welcomed me back into their home was good enough. Before I went off to stay with Martha, we dropped Foibe off at her parents, driving back into the villages and barely making it through the brush. When we finally reached her house, which was undetectable because there was no roads leading past it (we took the back way) we just had dodged the two gaping holes in the ground. Foibe’s family lives in the tradition Ovambo huts with a bunch of other family members. We got a picture of four generations of women-Gift, Foibe, Meme and Kuku (who was at least 90). She made sure we knew that she bore Foibe’s Father. We gave them gifts and they offered us a huge plate of traditional sweets (dried fruit). It was great to be back in the area and to see the traditional way of living once again. It is completely different than the urban center we came from for many reasons, one being the wide open spaces, the other being the nuclear families that all live together on the farms. There are a lot of issues that surround rural vs. urban living. Many people move from the North trying to find jobs in the city; young people are not content with the simplicity that the norther rural areas offer- often feeling they need money to support not only their families but also their material needs. It is quite a contrast between my brother, Makondjo, who has never been to the city and is very pleasant and considerate (he actually ironed Pandu’s and Christi’s uniforms for Martha as well as did the dishes after we ate) and the other guys that live here in the city, many of whom have come to Windhoek to find work and end up living in informal settlements worse off than before moving. The thing is, although many would consider the city to be livelier, they comprise their lives for a little material wealth, a lot of the times contracting HIV. Furthermore, many men will lead double lives- one family in the city and one family in the north. While we were out in the community doing family interviews many women expressed that the father’s went back to the North. Yet, it is a double standard because when we talked to some women in the North, some of them said that the fathers were in the city (or another city around Namibia) working. So what exists is this vacuum where fathers are absent, working in any city other than the one where their family exists. Only once out of all the interviews did we actually meet the Father of one of the children. Back to the family stay: it is a shame that I couldn’t stay longer, because it is so peaceful and relaxing- granted I didn’t have to do any house work (although I offered to do dishes and what not). All day Sunday I played with the children and we went for walks and they pointed out the oshivambo names for things and were telling me about the animals and trees. We ended up at the old farm that I stayed at the first time-this time I stayed with Martha in her new house that had electricity, running water (a kitchen sink and indoor bathroom). Kuku Annas farm has grown over the years, bigger trees, more housing and many more chickens. It was good to be back once again and see all the wonderful people that I had spent time with before. It was sad to leave and Christi cried all morning before she had to go to school and we actually had to drag her out to the taxi that brought her to school. We drove through etosha on the way home and stayed at this great guest house and then we got back to the city wed..One coudl write forever about the differences between rural and urban areas and all that it entails (economics, culture....)
That is it for now (am out of time and will write more later) make sure to check out annies post below!
This week we haev the easter party on sat.
Love you all and thank you everyone for the kind birthday messages!
It was great a day that I spent on the road adn with my family in the North!
Take care everyone.
peace
mary
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