Independence Day

Tomorrow is Namibian Independence day, 21 March.  The country is celebrating 23 years of independence.  It is incredible to experience the celebration with people who lived through the struggle for and attainment of independence.  At Monday’s staff meeting my colleague Mr. Geingob was absolutely glowing.  Upon greeting him he told me how excited he was that day 23 years ago and every day for this entire week.  He told me that he’s been telling the learners how everyone knew independence was coming on 21 March.  Being in grade 11 he was old enough to comprehend and appreciate the significance of what was about to happen.  His excitement and appreciation has not faded in 23 years.  I told him how special I thought it was that he remembered independence so clearly since for people in my country Independence was so far in the past that the significance can often be forgotten as people focus on barbecues and fireworks.

Here are photos and I’ll try to post videos separately from the short celebration we had at school today:

The Pre-Primary class started the celebration with the national anthem.

The “cadets” performed some traditional Herero drilling. This was really fun to watch. The boys get very into it and I like the way their shoulders and feet move like they are dancing.

The school choir. Many of my best grade 6 and 7 learners are in the choir.

Grade 3 learners spoke about children’s rights and sang a tribute to the late Minister of Education for giving children the right to free education.

Here are a couple pieces written by learners today.  I suggested they write about independence for a social media site started by a group of Russian students who visited the school last year.  It is part of a larger technology project, which aims to increase access to technology and link several schools in various countries around the world.  It was part of their city’s bid to host an International event, but I forget which one at the moment.  Here is a link to a video they created from their visits to all the school sites http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2IgO6-skqCE and to more information about the project http://adorecreative.com/press/AdorePressReleaseGMA.pdf.

Independence in Namibia

Independence happens on 21 March 1990.  Today is 20 March 2013. I want to tell you about what I do in Independence.  We celebrate with my friends and we do drills.  Many people died because of our right there were people who fought for freedom there name is Dr SAM NAUJOMA and Hendriek witbooi and other chiefs.  Namibia was a colony by Germany in 1884 and then a colony of South Africa.  There were white bread for white people and black bread for black people.  There were white schools and black schools.

WRITEN BY GODLIEB KAETOUHANDU COSMOS

INDEPENDENCE

We celebrate independence on the 21of March. Namibia got independent in 1990 and many Namibians died because of this. First Namibia was a colony of Germany, and Hedriek wit booi was one of the people who fought for freedom. Samuel Maharero was the leader of the Ovaherero.

The first president of Namibia is DR Sam Nujoma

Written by Mbitukorua

Saturdays

So I mentioned in my last post that last weekend was the first I spent in the village in about a month.  Here’s a somewhat quick update on what I’ve been up to in between: The weekend after visiting the farm, I spent all day Saturday in another village for a school meeting.  It was mandatory for all teachers and one of the most frustrating and unproductive days ever.  I was gone from about 7:30 am until 6 pm.  There isn’t much interesting to share about that day besides the fact that I ate boerewors (sausage) and thought it actually tasted good!  The first time I ate sausage here I thought oh yea that’s what this tastes like and why I don’t eat it.  However, perhaps it was because I expected breakfast and then it turns out we only were served lunch at noon and was super hungry or the boerewors was particularly great quality and/or cooked really well.  Regardless I ate it and it tasted great!

A breath of fresh ocean air

The following weekend I visited Swakopmund to visit another WorldTeach volunteer in her second year as a volunteer.  It was my first time meeting her and she’s awesome.  She was very welcoming, shared a lot about her time here and what she’s learned about Swakopmund, and showed me a lot of great places in the town.  Swakopmund is basically a coastal vacation hot-spot, both for foreign travellers and Namibians alike.  There are a lot of second homes/vacation homes and a lot of adventure trips to explore the dunes (sand boarding and the like) depart from Swakopmund.  It was extremely refreshing to be on the coast.  It was a cloudy day on Saturday but regardless I loved hearing the crash of the waves while sitting on the sand and taking in a nice cool breeze.  It is cool there year round so that was nice after nearly two months in the desert.  I also enjoyed a big bowl of creamy mussels and good coffee (from a coffee roaster!), stocked up on sunscreen and contact solution, and bought tortillas and brie!  After the weekend though I concluded that I’m very happy I’m placed in a village and not in Swakopmund.  All the things I did there were too similar to what I can do in Washington DC.  I wouldn’t be learning and experiencing quite as much and challenging myself in many new ways.  I also wouldn’t be as connected with my school and community.  She lives a taxi-ride away from her school while I’m literally a minute from the school gate.  Living at a hostel school, I appreciate constant visits from school children and I feel so close to my learners as a result.  I also think it would be much easier to feel lonely and miss Washington DC.  It would be too similar, there would be too many reminders, and I wouldn’t be able to sit on my stoop and be visited or engaged in conversation in a matter of minutes from a colleague or learner.

You can see the giant sand dunes of the Namib and the ocean at the same time. Contrasting beautiful views like this are what brought me back to Namibia!

Finally, this past weekend I was invited to a colleague, Ms. E.M. Gertze’s house for her birthday.  When I first arrived she was still preparing food and had me settle in the sitting room.  She turned on the TV, gave me a bowl of chips because “I was all alone,” and sent one of the boys that live with her (a nephew) to entertain me.  It was fine since her nephew is one of my learners and has great English.  He asked really great questions, like does the United States only have cities and have you ever been on an airplane.  So we talked and watched TV.  When she first turned it on I was very interested because all they had was the national station (NBC) so I thought there would be news, but instead first there was soccer (awesome) then Desperate Housewives (not awesome-so much for avoiding that show).  Then we ate chicken, macaroni with tomato sauce, and cooked carrots for dinner.  Her sister, also Ms. Gertze, is the pre-primary teacher and her birthday was the following day, Sunday, and I got to meet their older sister who is a retired teacher.  After dinner they brought out a cake and explained that for the children it’s not a birthday party without cake!  They got to eat it of course with their hands, children in the US would be so envious.  At that point it was late so Ms. Gertze put a piece in a baking dish for me to take to eat later and they walked me home.  It was a lovely evening of such great hospitality.

Cooking in Namibia: Sweet edition

What else did I do with my time in the village last weekend?

Bake of course!

I went a bit overboard with my baking, but I shared a bunch and froze a little bit since it was way more than I could or should be eating myself.

First I made banana bread.  This isn’t too out of the ordinary and there are too many banana bread recipes out there to bother typing up the one I followed.  I shared several pieces with the family I share my house with and with the Grade 7 girls that came for Girls Club.  We planted patty pan squash in a garden plot in my yard.  They were a HUGE help raking in the sun with me.  I hope I am successful!  It’s going to be quite the challenge to garden in this rocky dry desert.  They were grinning ear to ear as soon as they saw me putting food on a plate for them afterwards as a treat for their hard work.  They gushed later that they have never had bread with banana before and they didn’t want to finish it because it was so good.

Mango Bread: Then I made mango bread.  AMAZING!  I’m typing this particularly with Laura in mind but anyone who likes mango should definitely make this bread.

¾ C sugar

1 Tbsp. plain yogurt

1 Tbsp. milk

2 C chopped mangos

1 Tsp. baking soda

½ C butter/ margarine

2 eggs

2 C flour

½ C nuts (I think chopped walnuts or pecans would be best but I had mixed raw almonds and cashews and decided these wouldn’t be as nice so omitted the nuts in mine)

1 Tsp. vanilla

Mix all ingredients and pour into greased loaf pan.  Combine:

4 Tbsp. flour

2 Tbsp. melted butter

1 Tsp. cinnamon

Melt butter, stir in flour and cinnamon until smooth.  Brush or sprinkle (mine turned out crumbly) this on the top of dough.  Bake at 175^oC (350^oF) for approximately 60 min. (Adapted from the Peace Corps Namibia cookbook)

mango bread

Rusks: Next I made rusks.  They seem to be a regional treat that I’m guessing originates in South Africa and among the white/Afrikaaner population.  I came across them while reading an article that mentioned a restaurant with good rusks in a travel magazine and was curious what they were.  However I never came across them in the village.  It wasn’t until I travelled to Swakopmund that I got to taste them.  I had some store bought “condensed milk” flavoured rusks at someone’s house.  On my way back to Omatjete I went grocery shopping and realized there is a giant selection of rusks in all sorts of flavours.  The Peace Corps volunteer I travelled with bought “museli” flavoured but I decided I can make these on my own.  They taste quite similar to biscotti.  When I baked mine they weren’t quite as dried out and hard as biscotti but I think that is all a matter of how long you bake them with the oven door open in that last step.  Mine turned out softer but still good.  I cut the original recipe in half, so feel free to double it.  My version made about a dozen and I added ¼ cup of raisins to make it a slightly healthier breakfast with coffee.

2 C flour (I used 1 cup white and 1 cup whole wheat)

¼ c sugar

1 tsp. baking powder

1 tsp. cinnamon

¼ tsp. salt

1 egg

¼ c oil

¼-1/2 c milk (somewhere in between, remember I don’t have exact measuring tools here)

1 tsp. vanilla

(optional: 1 tsp. almond extract is included in the original recipe but I didn’t have any)

Handful raisins

Preheat oven to 400F.  Mix dry ingredients, including sugar.  Add in wet ingredients.  Mix and knead until combined.  If desired, continue to kneed for a few minutes.  Roll into balls, about half-way between the size of a golf ball and a tennis ball.  Place, touching one another, on a greased baking pan.  Bake for 25 minutes.  Remove from oven.  Turn the oven off, and let the rusks cool.  Slice rusks to about 1cm thick, which works out to about 3-4 slices per ball.  Place slices loosely on a baking pan.  Return to oven, set oven to its lowest setting, and prop the oven door open slightly.  Bake for ~1.5-2 hours, longer in an electric oven, until rusks are dried out.  (adapted from the WorldTeach Namibia cookbook).

Fro-Yo: I also found a recipe in the volunteer cookbooks for Froyo!  It is delicious.  I only had plain yogurt so it is condensed milk flavoured.  I’m excited to try all sorts of flavours with different kinds of yogurt (peach and guava) or mix ins (coconut and honey)!  I’m a little too excited, but remember I am 50+K along a very hot gravel road from the grocery store.  Ice cream is not an option, but transporting yogurt is.

500 ml. yogurt (about a pint)

1 can condensed milk

250 ml. cream (about a cup- I used the omaere so even whole milk should work)

Beat yogurt and condensed milk together. Fold in cream and mix well.  Freeze and stir occasionally  Take out ice cream shortly before eating or it will be too hard, let it get melted enough so you can stir it and make it creamy. (adapted from the Namibia Peace Corps Cookbook)

Finally, I made my aunt Barbara’s apple cake for Ms. Gertze since I was brought up well by my mother and feel as if I must bring something when invited to someone’s house as a guest!  (So I didn’t test this creation but I know it’s good and will make it for myself soon).

Rodeos make so much more sense

I’ve been feeling quite busy now that we are over halfway through the term and there is more marking (grading) and I was tasked with writing the term 1 exam for grade 7 for the cluster.  The book club has been popular and I’m requiring a small book report with each book read to show they actually are reading, which has added extra work!  Also, this past weekend was the first I stayed in the village all weekend for several weeks.  So I’ve had this blog post about visiting my colleague’s farm the last Saturday in February in my head for weeks and haven’t gotten myself to sit down and write it.

The principal’s granddaughter Rosa. She’s incredibly sweet and always so helpful!

I was picked up by Ms. Gertze, a first grade teacher in her very last year teaching before retirement at age 60, around 10 am along with my principal and all the children that stay with her.  I think they are all grandchildren but I’m not sure.  She is raising them and they are all great kids.  Her youngest girl, Nona, is pre-primary, Rosa is in grade 4 so she’s in my arts class, and Prince is in grade 5B so I’m teaching his class Arts and BIS.  They piled into the back of a covered bakkie and I sat up front between two men that help out/work on the farm so I could see everything along the way.  Most of the drive was on grated gravel road, as all roads are around here, until we got to the turn off for her farm.  We were following a path, but it was strewn with rocks, roots, bushes, and trees to steer around and I thought there was no way cars were supposed to take this path.  It was slow going but impressively the very old bakkie and the driver’s very agile movements of the wheel managed the terrain.  I don’t know how it was possible.

One of the buildings on the farm, and the sky that is always vast and beautiful here.

Her farm is nestled closer to the mountains than Omatjete, which I find so beautiful.  When we first arrived, Ms. Gertze brought out some water and placed water on each of the children’s foreheads.  This was a cleansing ritual before the boys ran off to “help” slaughter the goat we would eat later.  I followed the principal’s lead and rinsed my hands.  Then we placed some chairs in the shade to sit and I took in the view.  The girls soon ran off to swing in a tire swing so I followed.  It wasn’t long before I was called in to the cattle kraal to check out Ms. Gertze’s wealth.  Cows are extremely valuable and highly revered in the Herero culture.  If you look up pictures of Herero you’ll see that the women traditionally wear something on their head made of fabric, sometimes lace and decoration, and shaped like cow horns.  They will also walk swaying in the manner of a cow.   I haven’t met anyone that slaughters their cows for meat because it seems the goal is to keep as many as possible at all times, but cow milk is a staple in the diet.  Also, it seems you start acquiring cows young, many learners already have their own cow.  I was fairly impressed after I counted 60-70 cows.  The principal kept gushing to me about how beautiful they were.  I tried to be sincere in my agreement but cows aren’t an animal I find beautiful.       

A few “beautiful” cows. I had a funny conversation with a learner yesterday who couldn’t believe I didn’t have a cow. I tried to explain that i lived in a city but then he only asked what about on the farm?

Next we headed back to the house and sat in an open air brick enclosure, walled on three sides and fitted with a roof for shade, to enjoy some fresh omaere.  Omaere is the Otjiherero word for milk and it refers to the fresh full cream milk that is a major staple.  It is strained so it is quite thick and tastes like a slightly sour plain yogurt.  I love yogurt so I enjoyed it and we all drank out of the same yogurt container being used as a cup.  That is until the principal shared that she always drinks too much omaere when visiting a farm and inevitably suffers from a running tummy.  She said she was looking for a thick enough tree just in case she needed it later.  After that I took only one more sip, because I’m sure my Western stomach is even less conditioned to omaere.  Rest assured no one at the farm suffered from a running stomach that day.

Prince and Ms. Gertze straining the omaere just before we drank it.

Then Ms. Gertze said something to me about watching the cows be milked, and I was kind of hoping I’d be asked to help since I don’t think I’ve had that experience since I was 5.  However, that was not what transpired.  Instead I got to watch the cows being branded and tagged.  This was very serious work.  One man “lassoed” a cow’s hind leg with a rope while simultaneously another man pulled or pushed the cow to the ground manually (often by another foot).  One or two men would hold the cow down on the ground while another one or two men would hold the rope, and one of the boys would always hold the very end very seriously “helping” as he did with slaughtering the goat.  Then another man would come with the “gun” for tagging the ear and the fire hot brand ready to burn the hind flesh.  Now the lassoing cattle event in the rodeos I attended in my youth in Oklahoma and Texas make a lot of sense.  It was a real life task of cattle ranching put into a competition.  I was relieved when Ms. Gertze finally decided it was time to leave the cattle kraal and finish preparing lunch.  It felt like an hour of constant cringing in the hottest part of the day.  I was impressed and disturbed all at the same time.  It felt very violent but I was also impressed that the men continued this work for at least another hour and it was literally the hottest part of the day.  It was interesting to watch the cows’ body language as they tried to avoid being lassoed, but I hope I never have to be in a cattle kraal during branding and tagging again.

The cattle kraal from a bit of a distance.

Lunch was a chunk of goat meat in a stew with porridge.  It seemed to be a bit of the leg sawed off so there was more bone than meat, which is the piece that takes some work to find and eat the meat.  Not my favourite but I ate up like a good guest.  After eating Ms. Gertze decided I should see a nearby “waterfall” and we piled in to the bakkie and headed in the opposite direction from where we arrived on the same “path.”  I was standing up behind the cab next to Ms. Gertze so I got a really great share of the breeze and sprinkles of rain.  I also had to swiftly duck out of the way to dodge branches.  After a bit we stopped and headed off on foot.  Ms. Gertze, the principal, and the two girls hung back and I found myself with the three farm workers that didn’t speak English and the two boys.  I also had no idea if we were anywhere near our destination or why the women didn’t follow.  We arrived at a completely dry “riverbed” and the men seemed to indicate we had arrived.  Oh this was very similar to the “dam” I was shown my first weekend in Omatjete.  The boys played in the sandbank and the men began chopping wood and one again asked me how was England and London even though I had already told him I was from the United States when he asked me the same questions at the farm.  This time I just told him they were very nice but very cold right now since it is winter there.  Finally the women joined us and we collected the wood the men chopped in the back of the bakkie.  Ms. Gertze and one of the men had to walk back since the bakkie was now partially full of wood for fuel.

When we got back to the village it was dusk and storm clouds surrounded us in the mountains above.  Unfortunately, it didn’t rain on the farm.  I enjoyed another beautiful sunset and as it got dark grew tired and eager to return home.  However, after we packed up the car and just as I thought we were leaving I was told there was a dispute to be settled.  My principal ushered me over to “listen in.”  There were three men and one woman cradling a baby from another farm and Ms. Gertze with her brother and three farm workers.  Of course it was in Otjiherero so I have no idea what they were saying and it went on for quite some time.  At some point I just couldn’t handle sitting there quietly anymore and headed to the bakkie to chat with the children.  They were asleep so I pulled out my book and headlamp.  One of the men came to tell me how good the banana bread I had baked and brought along that day was and I tried asking him about the dispute.  His English wasn’t very good so he just told me something vague about it being nothing.  We eventually left and about halfway back to the village we slowed down and stopped in the middle of the road.  There was a large snake in the road and the men were compelled to get out and kill it by throwing rocks at it over and over again in the light of the headlights.  It was a strange image from my position in the back of the bakkie watching through the windshields.  I guess that was a good thing to do since I think we were near the turn to another village.  However, it also seemed an absolutely insane act.  I was glad to be safely inside the bakkie.

The proud farmer!