I would call this "You know you're in Africa when..." but I want you, the reader, to start making a distinction between what is "African" and what is Namibian. For too long people have grouped all Africans together as one and the same. So let's start now by distinguishing that this is not about Africa, but about Namibia, a place in Africa, and the people I meet here. So this page will contain short pieces about events and people that have impacted my stay in Namibia.
Year 2, Term 3
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Namibian Dreams
A couple of former volunteers have started a non-profit called Namibian Dreams. The plan is to sponsor visits from Namibian children to America. Why? Well, Dan, one of the founders sums it up nicely in his own blog:
In the U.S., as in the rest of the developed world, it is important to all parents that their children “dream big.” Why should we not want the same for the children of Africa?
(May 4, 2009)
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Drinking with DJs
So I've learned never to drink with radio DJs or at least agree with everything they say. Last night I was out with a group from KUDU FM, a radio station that I've mocked a few times here. Well, I re-iterated some of my thoughts (like how the Top 5 at 5 starts at number 25) and found them discussed on the radio today... not sure if I'm proud or embarassed (May 2, 2009)
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How does that happen?
Last year's head boy came back to visit the school. We talked about how his tertiary education is going, and he's not happy.
He got accepted into Polytech for computers, but the course mysteriously "filled up" after he was accepted, and he was de-listed from the program. His second choice, Business Studies had the same problem. So, yes, he got into Polytech (which is an achievement) but he's having to study Marketing.
Something fishy is going on at Polytech. (April 24, 2009)
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Disarticulated Cultures
There was a concept that i studied as an undergraduate. It was called "disarticulated economies" and it often happened in under developed countries. To whit, there are two economies existing in the same space, but they have very little or no interaction or impact on each other. I know that Namibia is not a true example of a disarticulated economy, as the higher paying industries on the coast - diamond and uranium mining and the fishing industry do employ a lot of people from throughout the country.
But I do believe that this country suffers from a disarticulated culture. I experienced it sharply last year when I took the Intercape bus down to Cape Town and I've experienced it the last few times I've been to Swakopmund. Going to Cape Town, I was seated beside a white namibian teenager, and surrounded by other volunteers. We were sharing our experiences as volunteers living in this strange country. Now we were all living in the north, and this teen was from Walvis Bay, the last town in namibia to transfer from South African to Namibian citizenship. This girl was shocked by things that we were adjusting to as "normal namibian behaviour."
Recently in Swakpomund, one of my friends pointed out that dogs here are walked by their owners on leashes. I hadn't noticed that - it's completely opposite to the ownerless packs wandering around town that we are used to in the north. I did however notice that some of the dogs were actually recognizable breeds and not just mutts. In Swakopmund, dogs have pedigrees and leashes and owners who care. My learners in the north would not understand this. (April 12, 2009)
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Jaded
I know I'm getting jaded about many things in Africa, as I work through my second year here, but the thing I'm most jaded about right now is tourists. Part of what made my Christmas trip so annoying was that I was a tourist. I had no interaction with the locals, except in very controlled situations where "we" outnumbered "them" substantially. Nine days in Tanzania and I don't think I ever heard an authentic Tanzanian song or met someone who wasn't part of the tourism industry. Where was the culture?
Last weekend I drove down to Swakopmund (Namibia's Germanic seaside town) and ran into a group of people on one of those tours. They were all gushing about how they're "experiencing Africa!"
I had to leave. It was that or snap at them.
How many of them have been relocated because of flooding? How often have they had to pay a bribe to get something done? When have they had to truly worry where their next meal was coming from? They're not getting an African experience, they're getting a Disneyfied Lion King experience - take photos of animals and take thrill rides like dune-boarding, quad biking or parasailing. These things aren't a part of the experiences of any of the "Africans" I know, most of "them" have never even seen the wild animals of their own country. (March 27, 2009)
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One teacher
There are seven periods every day at our school. At the end of each period, the teacher is to sign the class's book, indicating when they were there and what the topic was that they taught. My last period today was 12E, far from my favourite class. They're not as advanced as other classes, and make much less of an effort. Well today, when I finally got to the class, that were rowdy and unfocussed. It took a long time to get them to focus. At the end of the class, when the class captain handed me the signin book, I discovered that I was the only teacher to visit them that day. Six others had not managed to attend. No wonder the class is unfocussed and disruptive. (March 25, 2009)
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One Laptop Per Child
Namibia is finally exploring joining the "One Laptop Per Child" program. A) About time. B) It's about 2 years too late, as OLPC has been hitting hard times and may not survive much longer (my understanding from reading industry news). (March 22, 2009)
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A snake does not have legs
There was a commotion outside of my house the other day. It turned out that the teachers were killing a snake (so they said). They had thrown the body onto a fire before I got out there, so I only had their description. they insisted that it was a "big snake" (about a foot long - compared to the meter-long one we killed in November), and it must be a snake because it only had short legs. Even as they were telling me this, I could see one of them mentally checking and coming up with "oh, snakes don't have legs..." (March 19, 2009))
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Wasted Opportunities
Our school has a commerce club, but they don't run the tuck shop. We have agriculture students, and a lot of land, and we don't have enough food to feed all of our "at risk" learners - but we don't grow food, not even a smal garden. (March 17, 2009)
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How not to hire a driver
Not sure that I would call this a case of corruption, but it was definitely an interesting example of why sometimes things don't get done here. I should note that this example doesn't come from me, it comes from another volunteer who is no longer here.
There was a meeting this past October where year targets were discussed, and this particular government project had had as one of its targets the hiring of ten drivers for the recently purchased vehicles. The man tasked with this objective gave his report, stating that in the past 6 months, he had managed to hire one driver.
While this was seen as good news, and met with a round of applause, it was then noted that the hired driver (who was being paid) could not start driving yet, as his license was suspended. It seems that before being hired, he had been charged with vehicular homicide.
Oddly enough, this fact alone did not disqualify him from becoming a government driver, nor did the fact that he actually now doesn't have a valid driver's license. Good hiring there. (Feb 22, 2009)
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It's about time
I'd forgotten about this one until a conversation last weekend. When it was time to change the clocks last fall (April) our school staff had a huge debate about it. It was seriously proposed that we should not change our school clocks, that in essence, Ponhofi should become it's own time-zone.
This wouldn't be too bad for the learners living on school grounds, but it would play havoc with the more than half who live off-campus.
Eventually cooler heads prevailed and the school decided to recognize the official government time as the actual time at our school too. (Feb 22, 2009)
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Snake in a tree 2
Remember last year how I had a snake in the tree outside my window? If not, click here, I'll wait. OK. Well, to follow up on two things:
One - that is a black mamba, the most poisonous snake in Africa. I've compared it to a live one in captivity in Kenya as well as to photos online. Once bitten, it can take up to 3 hours for you to die, but they are incredibly painful hours, and most people actually die within 15 minutes.
Two - the tree that it was in has an old metal loop with bits of rubber hanging from one of the branches. We discovered this while a bunch of teachers were under the tree picking fruit off of it. When I asked what that was for I was told that you burn the rubber to scare snakes out of the trees, and that this tree is known for its snakes. They waited 13 months to tell me this. (Feb 21, 2009)
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Rain, rain, go away
Actually, the rainy season around here is feeling rather pleasant compared to last year. It does rain most days, but usually at night. The mornings are cloudy and the afternoons are hot and dry. Then the cycle repeats. However, this year the thunderstorms have been more intense (and spectacular to watch). The flooding hasn't been as bad, although it's a bit early to breathe easy on that one. There have been floods and they keep telling us that the efundja - the floods from Angolan rivers - are still to come. Last year the efundja caused most of the problems. The dirt roads are suffering, and getting rutted and very rough to drive over. It's possible that my car will soon become school-bound for a while. (Feb 21, 2009)
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Wonder where the lions are
A few months ago (my computer died, I'm playing catch up) a friend's FaceBook status read "xxx is wondering where the lions are." I had thought about commenting that eight of them are 170 km east-southeast of me guarding the Andoni watering hole, inside Etosha National Park. That's the nearest that I've seen lions to me.
Well, it turns out they're much closer. To start with a man was attacked by a lion about 70 km from here. It wasn't random, the lion had killed one of his cattle and the man was part of a group looking for the lion (according to the paper, 14 men with only 4 guns. They killed the lion while it was attacking that man - nice to be bait.).
It turns out that although Namibia is quite tame (with well noted exceptions - mostly around the borders and parks), the southern border of Angola is more than a little bit wild. This lion was crossing the border at random and feeding off of Namibian cattle.
The southern Angolan boarder is only 10 km from me, but I don't know how wild it is around here. I don't expect to be seeing lions around my house anytime soon. I do live inside a school compound that had razor wire fence around it. The school is in the middle of a town that is surrounded by many herds of free-ranging cattle and goats. A lion would have to be suicidal to get close to here.
But it does raise issues about driving at night. If your car breaks down (flat tires are very common) do you dare get out to fix it? (Feb 21, 2009)
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The cost of tires
Years ago, I was travelling in Australia. I was shocked to discover that Levi 501 jeans cost AU$160 at that time. The same jeans cost CDN$70 and the two currencies were very close to par. The jeans were more than double the price in Australia. The accepted wisdom from the locals was that it was the cost of transport that made them so expensive. Flash forward a few years, and I was in Saipan, a small island in the west Pacific. In Saipan, Levi 501 jeans were US$50. Saipan is an American protectorate, but surely the cost of getting Levi 501 jeans there would be more than Australia - just the difference in volume would be enormous. Economies of scale should work in Australia's favour.
Why write this now?
Because of the price of tires/tyres. In Namibia, a new tire for my Hyundai Accent costs about N$400 or about CDN$50. These are quality tires from TrenTyre, a Goodyear affiliate. This weekend I had to go to TrenTyre to get a tire repaired - it had been punctured and had a slow leak. Nothing like trying to go somewhere only to discover you have a flat! The cost of fixing the tire - I had taken it off the car, but it was still on its rim - was N$25 or about CDN$3. This involved finding the leak (using a tub), taking the tire off its rim, patching the tire (some kind of glue/epoxy was added to the interior), re-rimming it, and balancing it. I can't imagine Canadian Tire doing the first step for three dollars! (Feb 20, 2009)
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Coca-cola shortages
During our new group's orientation this past January it was obvious that the local stores simply didn't have Coca-cola in stock (or any of the more popular brands). Eventually, we heard that this was because of drought conditions in the north (the rains hadn't really started yet). The Coca-cola plant is in the north, not far from Ruacana falls. Apparently the bottling plant gets told when water levels are high enough to allow for the creation of Coke. It should be noted that often around the times of shortages, Coke (especially in cans) will suddenly change flavour and started tasting like Kingsley Cola, the local, cheaper competitor. I can't help but think that Coke uses Kingsley's bottling plant and recipes when they can't produce at their own place. (Feb 20, 2009)
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A rough start to the year
Year 2 started with a bang. It should have been a blast, spending Christmas on the Serengeti, New Year's Eve in Zanzibar, but the trip was not fun for many reasons, most of which come down to the company and the guide.
So I started my orientation work with the new volunteers in a less-than-ideal frame of mind. They're good people but I wasn't really feeling social.
Then my computer died. With it went all of my planning for this year, all of last year's lesson plans and all of my photos - most notably the ones from my Christmas trip, which hadn't been backed up anywhere yet.
That was on or around January 10. It took until February 12 to get a new hard drive. It took until this weekend to get some of the files and photos recovered from USB sticks and camera memory cards. I still don't have a complete back up of this site. I'm still missing a lot of data (the original hard drive seized - anything not replicated somewhere else is lost.) It looks like I'll be able to recover low source copies of most of my photos from my iPod eventually, but some great photos are basically gone for good. I didn't realize that the iPod wasn't keeping good copies of each photo. (Feb 19, 2009)
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More later, I'm sure...
Year 2, Term 3
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