Rural Homestay

During our trip to northern Namibia we had our third and final homestay of the semester. Everyone in the group from CGE was placed in a home around the village of Oniipa. This was the rural homestay, and was supposed to provide a different experience from the previous homestays in Soweto and Katatura. I know that, for a lot of people, mentioning staying in a rural home in agricultural Namibia for a week brings up images of African huts and no plumbing or running water. Let me make this very clear: there is a difference between a rural home and a traditional home. The traditional Oshiwambo home is a collection of huts forming a compound, with individual huts serving as the kitchen, storage room, bedrooms, etc. However, almost everyone in the group was in a rural home. My home for the week was fairly normal (for Namibia) house. One large brick/cement building with a kitchen, family room, bathroom, and several bedrooms. It was rural in that Oniipa is a rural village, we had to drive on sand roads and through some cornfields to get to my house, and my family had about 30 chickens running through the yard, along with their mango and guava trees. Although I did have to master the bucket shower, there was running water in the house (the shower was broken), and the food was pretty typical for Namibia (meat, pasta, rice at every meal).

My home for 8 days!

My Host family:

Gottlieb and Selma: They were my host parents, and they were really nice, but I never really connected with them. Selma just finished her master’s degree so she was in South Africa for the week, so I only saw her for two of the nights I was there. But she was fun, and made me feel really included. The first time I met her she was asking me questions about my school, and then wanted to know how far away PLU was from the University of Washington. At first I was a little skeptical, because most people here only know Washington as Washington D.C. But then I found out that she communicates with the UW for work (she teaches nursing at UNAM)! I was really excited, because it’s nice to find someone here who knows something about where I’m from. Gottlieb was also nice, but he worked the overnight shift at the hospital in Oniipa (7pm to 7am) four of the nights I was there, so I never really saw him on those days. This family also had more traditional gender roles, so there were several nights where he sat in the living room watching tv, and then had his dinner brought to him.

The whole family was pretty protective of me. They wouldn’t let me walk anywhere by myself, which was a little frustrating. They also kept trying to get me to eat more! I would eat a small breakfast and tuck some fruit in my purse for a snack later in the day, but then Gottlieb would get home to drive me to town for the day and would try to get me to eat more. This was the homestay I felt most at home in, but I felt like I didn’t have any independence like I’m used to having.

Sara: Sara was my 17 year old host cousin. She’s originally from Windhoek, but is going to school in Oniipa and so is living with her relatives. We got pretty close during the week, because she was the only one I really talked to most of the week. We cooked together at night, and hung out while she was doing other chores I wasn’t allowed to help with. We talked about school, and the future, and gender and cultural differences, along with just life in general.

Sara cooking dinner

Reuben: Reuben is in 8^th grade at the Oshigambo Lutheran Secondary School. It’s a boarding school, so I only saw him on Friday afternoon and Saturday, before he headed back to school on Sunday. He was full of energy though. On Saturday afternoon I went into town with him and Sara. We went to a hotel and got snacks at the restaurant there. It wasn’t too exciting, but it was good to get out of the house for a little bit and see more of the area.

Ombili: Ombili was in first grade at one of the elementary schools in Oniipa. I didn’t see him much because he was usually playing with the neighbors.

Ombili and Lalia in the truck outside

Lalia: Lalia (I’m not positive if that was her name, it was difficult to communicate with her a lot of the time) was my little sister. She was almost 5, and didn’t really speak English. But she decided she liked me on the first night I was there and would come and stand next to me in the kitchen or imitate the way I ate. She was definitely sassy, and had good faces and comebacks to the times her brothers would make fun of her. Every night we ate dinner on the couches in the living room, and she always came and sat next to me to eat. There was one night she started whispering secrets to me while we were eating dinner, and I would whisper back. It was really sweet, but we couldn’t understand each other at all.

Lalia liked to pose like this in most of my pictures

Another interesting note about this homestay: We had Oshiwambo language lessons in preparation for the homestay. I learned about enough to be able to greet people, but that was all. However, I would greet people in Oshiwambo and then it was like that flipped a switch in my brain. I knew I wasn’t supposed to speak English anymore, but the default language for non-English is not Oshiwambo, it’s Spanish. So I would start thinking in Spanish, with Spanish grammar and vocabulary, but with a few random Oshiwambo words thrown in. I guess it was good, because it made me practice my Spanish for a few days!

Ruacana Falls

So much has happened in the last 3 weeks! I’m going to try to get caught up, so bear with me if these next few posts get too long.

On March 7^th we left for our travel seminar to northern Namibia. It’s about an 8 hour drive to Oniipa, the town for our rural homestays. We drove all day Monday, and on Tuesday we went to a fish hatchery. They raise tilapia and catfish, which they then sell to farmers who have been trained in how to successfully grow these fish in ponds at home. These farmers can then sell the fish when they have reached adulthood to earn extra money. It seems like a good program, but I just wasn’t very interested in our visit there (it was extremely hot, there were biting ants crawling all over my feet, and I’ve been to fish hatcheries at home).

After the fish hatchery, we drove to the Angola border to the Ruacana waterfalls! The scenery in the north is very different than the scenery I’m used to around Windhoek. It’s very flat, green, and covered in water right now. Northern Namibia gets floodwater from Angola every year, so there are a lot of homes and farms that are completely flooded right now. There’s also a lot of livestock by the side of the roads, so we were constantly stopping so cows, donkeys, and goats could cross the road.

Wildlife crossing the road

We picnicked at Ruacana Falls, and had most of the afternoon to explore and really appreciate the beauty of the waterfalls. The Kunene River forms part of the border between Namibia and Angola. Ruacana Falls is huge! So much water, although it supposedly dries up a trickle during the dry season (apparently all of Namibia becomes brown and hot during the dry season, which I’m finding hard to imagine after seeing all the green lushness of the country right now). While I reveled in the mist coming off the falls, all I could think about was how in a couple of weeks I was going to see an even bigger waterfall! But it was a lot of fun to walk around the falls, sit on rocks with my feet dangling in the river, walk down a set of stairs leading to the bottom of the falls, which involved getting soaking wet from the spray.

Ruacana Falls

During the dry season, students can walk out into the river and stand with one foot in Angola and one foot in Namibia. Needless to say, the water level of the river was far too high to even think about attempting this, and everyone was disappointed that we weren’t going to be able to say we had been to Angola (Angola is one of the many African countries currently experiencing civil unrest, and we had been warned that although it might be easy to get to Angola, it would be far more difficult to return to Namibia. We were told not to cross the border). Some of us decided to be really rebellious and stick our feet through the fence so we could say we had set foot in Angola. Then we discovered, with the help of one of our drivers, that further along the path there were some rocks you could climb to actually get into Angola! Of course, everyone in our group crossed the border so we could say we had been in Angola. Angola was obviously expecting this to happen, as they had a stone pillar reading ‘Angola’ conveniently located five feet over the border so tourists could take pictures in front of it.

I'm in Angola!

So, I crossed into Angola and can now check that off the list!

More blogs to come in the next few days as I attempt to get caught up on all the happenings of the last three weeks!

Ituye! or, Let's Go!

We leave early tomorrow morning for our two week travel seminar to northern Namibia. We’ve been packing for the two week trip all night, and it’s been a little stressful rounding up everything that we need. After the two weeks I’m going to be back in Windhoek for a day and a half before leaving on spring break!

The north is much more rural than Windhoek, but it’s the part of the country that gets the most rain, so there are a lot of people who live there. I’m going to be in another homestay for 8 days. I don’t really know anything about the family yet, so I’m a little nervous. Hearing stories from past semesters, it sounds like the families really vary. Some students lived in what we consider normal houses, while others lived in huts. I’m also worried about the food, just because I know I can have a really sensitive stomach, and I tend to be a picky eater.

We’ve been in language class for the last month, learning some basic Oshindongo. Basically, I know how to greet people and some general vocabulary. Here’s to hoping that I don’t make any huge language or cultural mistakes next week!

We’re with our families at night, but during the day we’re going to be with the group traveling around the north, seeing different sights and meeting with different guest speakers. After the homestay we get to go to Etosha National Park, where we should see lots of African wildlife. It should be quite the adventure!

Side note: I won’t have internet for 2 weeks, but I would love to come back to Windhoek to lots of emails and messages from my friends and family back home (or wherever you are around the world)!

Reflections on a normal week in Windhoek

This week was pretty low key. We got back from Swakopmund on Sunday, and have just had a normal week of classes and internships. Sorry if this blog ends up being focused entirely on academics, but that’s what my week was like!

With a partner, I was in charge of leading our religion class this week. It was a little intimidating because class is 3 ½ hours long, and we weren’t able to get a guest speaker. But we ended up having an awesome debate about whether apartheid was right or wrong, representing the sides of the churches that both opposed and supported apartheid. Some of our arguments were a little absurd, but we were able to see how individuals born into a society in which they were extremely privileged would attempt to justify their actions. If I had been in that situation, would I have been able to stand up against a violent government and say they were wrong? I’d like to think I could, but I honestly don’t know.

In history on Thursday we had a guest speaker, Mburumba Kerina, who was involved in the Namibian independence movement from abroad. He was so entertaining! He told us funny stories about cultural differences in the U.S., including getting stuck on the subway because he wasn’t quick enough getting through the doors. Mixed in with his humor, though, was the story of making it out of Namibia and to the U.S., and the things he had to go through to get out of the country. Kerina was interrogated by the South African police prior to obtaining a passport, and even after he got on a ship out of the country, officials from the South African embassy in London attempted to detain him. Even in the U.S. he wasn’t very safe, because South Africa declared his passport fraudulent and tried to get him sent back (he was the son of a chief in Namibia, and they were worried he would present Namibia’s case to the U.N.). However, a friend reported his case to JFK, then a senator, who advocated for him to stay in the U.S. Kerina ended up testifying before the International Court of Justice, and lived in the U.S. for over 40 years before returning to Namibia (post-independence). He told us stories about his friends in the U.S., who of course included Martin Luther King Jr., Malcolm X, and Maya Angelou. He was pretty amazing to listen to, especially since he helped author the Namibia’s constitution.

Development class today was also pretty good. We visited USAID (United States Agency for International Development) to learn about its programs in Namibia, along with the basic types of jobs at USAID and how people can get started working as a foreign service officer. It was interesting to learn about the role of USAID in Namibia, especially since our class today was focused on international investment and aid, and whether or not it helps the countries it was designed to help. There has been lots of criticism against the role of the U.S. in foreign aid, but after speaking to USAID it seems like they are taking the criticisms in stride, and that they are actually doing good. They definitely seem to be providing services to Namibia, and although it might not be the best aid approach for Namibia, they help fund many essential organizations. The woman we spoke to also wasn’t sure how the proposed budget cuts for foreign aid will affect these programs. It was interesting to learn about the role of USAID, and it was a much more positive view of foreign aid than we received in our class readings for today.

This week wasn’t too exciting, but I really enjoyed all my classes. They brought up many thought provoking issues, and I hope you enjoy getting a peek into what I’m learning here!

Conquering Dune 7

Friday morning we headed to Walvis Bay, which is about a 30 minute drive south of Swakopmund. It is the largest port in Namibia, and serves much of the southern Africa interior. We met with a representative from the Walvis Bay Export Zone, and then from a labor representative, who has a very opposite view of the export zone policies. Basically, the export zone provides incentives to foreign countries, in an attempt to attract foreign investment. All sorts of incentives are provided, and in return the companies employ Namibians, which eventually should help the economy. However, there are lots of issues raised with this policy, because it hasn’t always worked out well for the Namibian government.

We picnicked at Walvis Bay, where we saw lots and lots of flamingos! It was so exciting! I’d never seen flamingos in the wild before, and there were hundreds feeding in the lagoon. Due to their diet, the flamingos at Walvis Bay are very pink. They are a pale pinkish-white, but when they spread their wings you can see a darker pink.

Flamingos at Walvis Bay

After lunch and a short meeting at the Walvis Bay Wellness Center, we headed into the Namib Desert to climb Dune 7!! Dune 7 is one of the tallest dunes in Namibia, which makes it one of the tallest in the world (according to the Namibia tourist center, one of the dunes in the Namib is the tallest in the world). To reach the top, you have to climb almost straight up 1200 feet in burning hot sand. It was probably the most intense thing I’ve ever done. I couldn’t make it more than about 10 or 15 steps at a time before I needed to stop and catch my breath, but the breaks weren’t that great either because the sand was so hot, it was painful to stop and have your feet sink into the sand until you were buried halfway up your shin. Once I finally reached the top I was out of breath, needed water (which of course was at the bottom), and my legs were cramping up. But once I recovered slightly, it was so amazing!

View from the top of Dune 7. Look at how steep it is, and how small the cars are!

We are strong women: we reached the top!

It was so surreal to be standing at the top of a sand dune in the middle of the Namib Desert. In one direction all you could see were miles and miles of desert. In the other direction, you could see over the sand dunes to miles and miles of ocean. So beautiful! It was also liberating to stand at the top. We trekked over the top of the dune to a higher point. I can only imagine what it must have been like to live in the desert long ago, and go for long treks over the dunes. Looking down at the palm trees, I wouldn’t have been surprised if there had been a caravan of camels walking by. I was filled with so much joy, and wonder, and amazement. Such a great experience!

The way down was also a lot of fun. Some people somersaulted down, someone else cartwheeled part of the way, others log rolled down. I chose to bound down, leaping off the dune. It was awesome getting to see people full of energy, excited about being in the desert.

Katelyn, me, and Joel at the top of Dune 7

Saturday was a free day, so the group split up. Some people hung around Swakopmund, others went kayaking with lots of seals in Walvis Bay. There were 8 of us, though, who chose to go sandboarding! Half of our group did stand up sandboarding, which is just like snowboarding, except on a sand dune. The other half of us did the lying down option, which was a little like sledding. Every time we went down, we had to hike back up to the top of the dune. It was a whole lot easier than climbing Dune 7 – less steep, more compacted sand – but it was still difficult. We rode down on what was essentially a piece of plywood, but it was so fun! There was one run where they used a speed gun to see how fast we were going. I hit 70 km/hour! That’s so fast!! (it’s a little over 40mph). It was an exciting day. Then in the afternoon Linda, our development professor, led yoga on the beach.

It was such a fun trip. I just want to go back to Swakopmund! I feel like I left part of my heart there.

Dunes where we went sandboarding

Also, a HUGE thank you to Tamara Siburg! I didn't bring my camera to the top of Dune 7 because I was worried about sand ruining my camera, so the pictures from the top are all due to her marvelous camera!!

Welcome to Swakopmund!

On Wednesday afternoon we headed to Swakopmund, on the central coast of Namibia. It’s only a four hour drive, but so much changes on the drive. It was so fascinating to watch the scenery change from the green mountains outside of Windhoek to the flat plains to the brown desert to the red sand dunes and then finally the Atlantic Ocean. It was so beautiful. Also, lots of wildlife! We saw a family of baboons hanging out on a telephone pole, a bunch of antelope and springboks or gazelles, and then five giraffes! It was so exciting to finally see lots of African wildlife, and I’m definitely looking forward to going to some of the national parks to see more animals.

Swakopmund is a cute little beach town, and the whole trip felt like a little vacation. At first I was really surprised to see that Swakopmund was like every other beach town I’ve been in: quaint little shops, long strips of beach with walkways, a jetty and a pier, a lighthouse, lots of B&Bs and little guesthouses. After my initial surprise though, I realized that there is no reason why Namibia shouldn’t have a cute little beach town. Just because I wasn’t expecting to see a very European style beach town doesn’t mean Namibia doesn’t deserve to have one. This is just another example of how this trip has been challenging my perceptions of life in Africa.

Thursday morning we visited the Rossing Uranium Mine outside of Swakopmund. I’ve never visited a working mine before, so I had no idea of what to expect. We watched their promotional video about the production of the mine and its impact on the environment and the community. After the video and a question-and-answer session, we were driven to the pit. The Rossing Mine is an open pit low grade uranium mine. It’s the third largest producing uranium mine in the world, and it helps to make Namibia the fourth largest exporter of uranium. The pit itself was massive! Almost 4 km long, 1.5 km wide, and 400 m deep. I have always been convinced that, because of their hugely negative environmental impact, mines are terrible and we need to find an alternative to using their natural resources. While I still think that we need to explore alternative forms of energy, I can now see that the issue is far more complicated than I ever thought it was. Although the Rossing Mine does have an environmental impact, it has a very positive economic and social benefit on the communities of Swakopmund and Walvis Bay, as well as on Namibia as a whole. Rossing is the largest employer in the region of Erongo, and one of the largest in Namibia. Over 98% of the employees are Namibians, which says a lot considering that many companies in Namibia import skilled workers. This makes a huge difference in a society with a 50% unemployment rate.

However, due to the Export Processing Zone, Rio Tinto doesn't really pay taxes in Namibia, and the money from Namibia's natural resources doesn't stay within the country.  Namibia does not financially benefit from their own natural resources, except for the 5,000 or so people who are employed.  How is this a just system?

The mine has poured money into developing a town just outside of the mine, including a museum and an institute for training mine workers. Rossing has also financially supported many organizations in Swakopmund and Walvis Bay. We went to an after school program, and their computer lab was completely funded by uranium mine donations.

This information just complicates the issue for me. I need to find a way to reconcile the fact that the mine has an environmental impact, but also an economic impact in a country that needs all the help in this area that it can get. I can’t just sit here and hate mines any more, after I’ve seen the good they can do for the community. Maybe ignorance truly is bliss, but I know that being forced to come to terms with this reality will be good for me in the long run. It’s just difficult to deal with now.

Another interesting aspect of being in Swakopmund was seeing the very different racial population than I have been getting used to Windhoek. Swakopmund has a much larger European population (largely German, but also other Western European countries) than Windhoek does, and the white population dominated the stores and restaurants that were aimed at tourists. We went to Erich’s Restaurant for dinner on Thursday night. It was a German restaurant, and I’m pretty sure that every patron was white. The staff, on the other hand, was mostly black with the exception of the German bartender. Even though I could tell that there were racial issues that I needed to understand in Swakopmund, I didn’t really learn much about them. But I still had fun walking around! It was like a little European city in Africa, and it was really beautiful. Go, if you ever have the chance!

During my walk around Swakopmund I had some really good conversations with Katie, one of my new CGE friends (she goes to Valpo). It was nice to have a good conversation while walking along the beach, and reminded me of lots of similar nights spent walking along the beach in Edmonds. Later that night after dinner a bunch of us sat on the rocks at the jetty. The night was kind of stormy and windy, and the waves were huge. It was so mysterious, but it was really fun to sit on the rocks and just watch the waves crashing into the jetty.

A Forgotten Genocide and 'Good Hair'

Does anyone know about the first genocide of the 20th century? I’ll give you a hint. It was committed by Germany. No, it wasn’t the Holocaust. It was the genocide of the Herero people in Namibia, from 1904-1908. In just a few short years, the Herero population went from 80,000 to 15,000.

We talked about the Herero genocide in history today. We watched a documentary, had a guest speaker from the Herero tribe, and visited the Alte Feste Museum in downtown Windhoek. It was kind of a shocking experience to learn about this genocide that has been largely forgotten throughout history. I’d heard about this genocide before, but never really knew any details. According to the documentary we watched, the genocide has been “wiped from the official memory of Namibia.” It was a difficult event to try to process during class. This genocide is not included in the educational curriculum in Namibia and although is a monument in Germany, the only monuments related to this event in Namibia commemorate the German military. The agenda of ethnic cleansing against the Hereros led to terrible actions taken by the German military. Hereros were forced into concentration camps in Windhoek and Swakopmund where thousands of people were worked to death. Others were forced into the vast Kalahari, and the limited water sources were poisoned in an attempt to further eliminate the Hereros.

The Alte Feste Museum is on the site of the German fort that originally overlooked Windhoek, and the site of one of the concentration camps. However, at the museum there was only one small room that was related to the genocide and a statue of a German soldier is just outside. Other parts of the museum are dedicated to Robben Island, the Namibian independence movement and elections, and German colonial life. It’s so bizarre that this genocide has been mostly wiped out of the public memory and history of Namibia. In 2004 Germany made a public apology for the actions of one of the first German generals, but not for the genocidal actions that occurred after this general left. The Herero are still advocating for a German apology for all the genocidal actions, and for the term “genocide” to be applied to these events.

It was so frustrating to learn about this, because there is limited scholarly information on the Herero Genocide. For a brief time I considered what it would be like to study this genocide for a history capstone, but it’s just not possible to even thing about. I’m sure there’s not information about this genocide outside of Namibia and possible Germany, and there’s not even much within Namibia. How is this genocide ever going to be processed by the Herero people if there is no information about it? The documentary we watched showed videos of people riding quad bikes in Swakopmund over the place where the dead from the concentration camps were buried. There is no awareness about this genocide, it’s been just completely wiped out. I just can’t get over the fact that so many people died because the Germans wanted easier access to land, but there is such a serious lack of knowledge.


Tonight, several of us went to the American Cultural Center to watch the movie “Good Hair,” being shown as part of their series for Black History Month. It’s always kind of nice to go to the U.S. embassy, or in this case, the American Cultural Center, because I know that I’m going to be able to easily understand the speakers, and I know that things are going to operate on a time schedule I’m used to (instead of “African time”). It’s just kind of a nice break from the constant cultural differences I’m thrown into here. Anyways, the movie examines the black hair industry, from relaxers to weaves to the hair sacrifices in India. It was fascinating to learn about all these aspects of hair that I had never thought about before. After the movie, there was a discussion with the audience about what they thought. The discussion got very emotional for many of the women, as they expressed their feelings of being judged for if they chose to wear their “natural” or “unnatural” hair textures. It brought up all sorts of other issues about what women do to themselves to make themselves attractive or acceptable to their community. It was definitely a good discussion.