Etosha

Camping at Etosha was great. I didn’t expect to get so close to so many animals. And, I never expected to see lions! They say it’s tough to find them usually. Here are some pictures. Yes, we were this close to them. I have to give photo credit to Nick Boire. He took these ones.

We saw giraffes, zebras, hyenas, mongoose, wildebeest, oryx, jackals and lions. It was the wrong time of year for elephants and rhinos. Oh, and Etosha is the 6th largest game park in the world… I misspoke in the last blog.

It was really nice to spend some time with the volunteers too. I camped with Nick, Ian and Chris. They are the first ones I’ve seen since swear in. I’m headed to Swakopmund this weekend. It’s supposed to be a nice coastal town, pretty touristy though. I’m just looking forward to the beach. We have a 5-day weekend thanks to Easter and Independence Day. Why don’t we get Monday off for Easter in the States? Bummer for you guys.

My Address

Upon request, here's my address:

P.O. Box 1770
Tsumeb, Namibia

Doesn't it seem to easy? I'm all the way in Africa and this is my simple stinkin address. Please don't feel the need to send me care packages necessarily, but letters are great!

A Little Info on my Tsumeb Family

Quick review… my Tsumeb family is Tate Tobias, Meme Rosina, brother Jesse and sister Tangasia Cassdy Ulla Palla.

Mr. Tobias is the Tsumeb Regional Councillor, a former school teacher and soldier in the country’s fight for independence. The proper way to address him in the business community is ‘honourable councillor’. Sometimes they just call him ‘honourable’, and I think the shoe fits. He has strong morals, carries himself professionally and he’s always smiling and laughing. He supports as much local business as he can. He’ll give anybody in town a lift. People wave him down in the streets, and he stops the car and lets them voice their concerns. He spends almost every Friday night and Saturday as an MC for memorials and funerals of those he barely knows, and he does it because they ask him to. He is also my supervisor as a Peace Corps Volunteer, and it should come as no surprise he always has time to listen to my plans and ideas. Tate’s wife is Meme Rosina. They seem to be linked by a very similar sense of humor. They are both funny people. It only took a few days for Meme to start joking with me, making me feel at home. Unfortunately, she is gone to Windhoek for the year. She’s a nurse for Tsumeb Hospital, and they’ve sent her there to study for an advanced nursing degree. She will return in December. Baby Ulla is with her. We miss them both very much. Jesse is in his last year of school at Otjikoto Secondary. He hopes to become a pilot one day. He does most of the cooking now that Meme is gone, and I’m usually his sidekick in the kitchen. He loves TV, music and his baby sister. He’s a smart kid and we get along great.

Just a quick note: I’m doing pretty well. Lots of opportunities have come up recently, different ways for me to serve the community. Some involve the centre and some don’t. Luckily the Councillor gives me the freedom to involve myself in the community just about any way I’m interested in. I’m excited for next weekend. I’ll be camping with some other volunteers at Etosha National Park. It’s the largest game park in the world! I hope I see some good wildlife. Who knows I might have pictures for you soon. God Bless.

Towns and Locations

A Namibia Geography Lesson: In Namibia, townships are made up of towns and locations. A reasonable comparison in America would be a city made up of suburbs and ghettos, not exactly the same but close enough. Each township has a town which is usually located very close to downtown shopping, businesses, etc. Each town has locations which are usually further away from the centre of town. You could say it is the opposite of some American cities where the ghettos/inner city neighbourhoods are in the centre of the city and the nicer suburbs spread out from there. Some locations have newer, nicer homes while others may consist of only tin shacks with no electricity.

During Apartheid, Blacks were confined to these locations (most of these locations remain populated only by Blacks). Whites lived in the towns. Schools were segregated. The Black schools had a lower standard of education, and teachers dressed in military uniform and carried guns. At the university level Blacks couldn’t study certain subjects such as medicine. Blacks were not allowed in town after dark. There were separate toilets, separate benches in the parks, and Whites only beaches… and this continued into the 80s. Namibia, then known as South West Africa, didn’t gain Independence until March 21, 1990. I haven’t actually read about the full history of Apartheid here. These are just some of the things I’ve been told.

Here in Tsumeb, most of the locations are in decent shape. The oldest location, called Soweto, is pretty rough. This picture is from Soweto. They only received electricity last year. I don’t think many families have bought ovens yet, as I can smell all the wood fires burning when I go through there. I enjoy the smell, and the neighbourhood. People are always outside and kids play soccer on the dirt roads. The locations are not generally considered dangerous, but after dark is no time for a stranger to be roaming around. The locations are full of shebeens (bars/clubs) and bar fights seem to be pretty common, but during the day the atmosphere is fun and welcoming.

I live in town with the Tobias family now. In December, I stayed in the location. Both areas have their advantages. I enjoyed the liveliness of the location, the soccer fields and greeting people more often. Town life is quieter, which is nice when you’re trying to sleep (The music from the shebeens in the locations seems to go on all night). I live in a bigger, more modern home in town and I’m surrounded by more trees. Here’s a picture of my house. Its now under construction. I'll show new pictures when its completed.

Something Light

Like Coca-Cola Light for example, no diet soda here. Oh, and Pepsi makes a larger can of soda and calls it the ‘Afri-Can’. Oh the marketing genious, sort of. And, it all tastes different. They don’t use corn syrup here, so the sodas are made with real sugar instead. That’s a plus. And, the flavour of chips is different. Simba is the big brand here, comes from South Africa. They have tomato, cheese & onion, and chutney flavours among others. You can find Doritos here, but none of the flavours we get back home.

I put together a list of local lingo. Some of it comes from British English and Afrikaans. The rest I’m not all that sure.

In America we say.... In Namibia they say

Soda or punch... cool drink
Porridge... pap
Barbecue or grilling... braai
Lunchmeat... polony
Peppered beef jerky... chilli bites
Ground beef... mince
Polish sausage/kielbasas... Russians
sausage links... boerewors

He’s drunk... He’s babbalaas
Right?... Isn’t it?
How’s it going?... Howzit?
You’re welcome... Pleasure

Students... learners
Graduate... matriculate
Co-workers... colleagues
Shuttle or van ... kombi
Pick-up truck... bakkie
Trunk (on a car)... boot
Braids... plaits
Tennis shoes/sneakers... tackies


And my favourite. They say: I’m coming, I’m coming now, or I’m coming now now. If someone says ‘I’m coming’ you know they’re not serious. If they say ‘I’m coming now’ it means probably less than an hour. If they say ‘now, now’ it should be less than 20 minutes.

Here are some pictures from Valentine's Day. We wrapped up condoms and gave them out around town. TCE, Red Cross and Meameno joined together for this effort.

My New Community

Well, my life as a Peace Corps Volunteer has begun. I started work last Monday, after being afforded a restful 4-day weekend following swear in. My first week was certainly uneventful. I spent it at the centre where I’ll be based (Meameno HIV/AIDS Support Centre). Not a lot happens there right now. My primary job is to change that. The centre just opened in May and most people either don’t know it exists, or what we do there. Once in a while somebody will stop by… A community member wanting to get involved, a police officer sheepishly looking for the free condoms, or young children taking guavas from the trees. With little else to do, I’ve at least gotten to know my counterparts, Zenecia and Mattheu a little better. They are local volunteers. The three of us run the centre, and work under Councillor Tobias and RACOC (Regional Aids Committee).

While I did spend most of the first week staring at my watch, I also had one pretty productive day. On Tuesday, we did some work in the field. In the morning we went out with TCE (Total Control of the Epidemic) members to identify homes with a need for home-based care. RACOC has a budget to facilitate home-based care training so we’re beginning that process. In the afternoon, we delivered condoms to employees of one of the grocery stores. The response was great. They were very happy to see us and suggested we come more often. This second act was so easy, yet really gratifying. I’ve spent much of my time in Namibia doubting my ability to be an effective volunteer… that’s nothing new, I’m a pessimist and tend to doubt myself more often than not. The Peace Corps reminds us to recognize small victories. I think this day qualified, and boosted my self esteem.

If anybody is interested there are Peace Corps Namibia 2008 calendars available for purchase. A former Namibia PCV, Shayna Dooling, started this project a couple years ago. I’m sorry to say I don’t remember exactly which cause this supports but proceeds do go to Namibia. To order:

E-mail duffyd@optonline.net
Mail check – U.S. $11 each – payable to Shayna Dooling – 18 Donack Lane, Bellport, NY 11713 (they are mailed from the U.S. so shipping should be fast)

Also, check out the blog link listed on the left. It comes from a fellow volunteer here in Namibia. He has several other current Namibia Volunteer blogs attached to his site.

1 more week

The end is finally near. On Wednesday, 10-Jan we'll be sworn in as real volunteers. And let me tell you it's about time. We're all burned out on training. Today and tomorrow the health volunteers are giving sessions to the education volunteers to help them discuss community health and HIV with their students. I don't think they're in the mood to retain much of it but we'll give it our best shot. We have our final LPIs (language proficiency interview) on Sunday and Monday, I scored at Novice-Medium on the first test... definitely room for improvement. Tuesday we travel to Windhoek for shopping to prepare for the next 2 years. Wednesday we swear in, and I hear the Namibian Broadcasting Company (NBC) covers it with a news story. We have to give thank you speeches in local languages, and that usually gets on air.

Referring to my last post... Our workshops were indeed successful, at least according to the feedback we got from Tsumeb youth. We kept the sessions interactive and taught on many subjects (Science behind HIV, Alcoholism, Stigma & Discrimination, STDs, People living with HIV/AIDS-PLWHA, Condoms). In the end the youth would show up for just about anything as long as we served food, and we did that. Who doesn't like free food though? I know I've found meetings/conferences in the states where the food was definitely the highlight of the experience.

One sad note... we lost our first NAM27 volunteer. His name is Seth, and he was a fun guy to have around. We respect his decision to leave but he will be missed.

Picture Time: 1. The Tsumeb youth at our workshop 2. My host sisters Winnie and Susana desparately trying to teach me to dance on Christmas Eve 3. Meme Egumbo, Grandmother to my host sisters and wonderful host mom 4. Me before braids 5. Me with braids, done by host sister Susana (hope you can see them)