There is less than 24 hours left for me in

Namibia and the Peace Corps. So, it is

time to say goodbye to both.

This was a great tour. It was all that I hoped

it could be when it was in the dream stage

over three and a half years ago.

But it is also the moment to reflect back from

the beginning on 5 September 2000.

Since then there have been countries called

El Salvador, Senegal, Romania and of course,

Namibia. There have been villages called

Sihuanango, Goundaga, Nadlac and Omega.

They've been people called Osmin, Segnor Jose,

Demba, Amadou, Pisti, Ioli, David and Susanna.

They've been volunteers like Karen aka Karina,

Bene, Pat, Brendan, Big John, Sam and Peggy.

All those countries, villages, counterparts and

fellow volunteers have been part of my life over

the years. All of these, pieces of the puzzle in

the mosaic of life.

I leave feeling at peace and as of now, there are

no future plans, just ideas.

It will be home and after this amount of time away,

a period of adjustment. I've changed as I spent

day after day with Mayan, Fulani, Roma, Romanian

and San/Bushman people. I've taken bits and

pieces from each culture and made those

pieces, part of me.

Everything between the fire flies of Sihuanango

in El Salvador to the Southern Cross in the

sky over Omega in Namibia have been magical

and precious.

But it is time and I found the picture above of the

kids in the San Cultural Group waving goodbye

and I thought it a good last picture to post.

As this will be my last blog post I thank everyone

who has come to this blog over the years.

Maybe the adventures are over or maybe not. My

heart says no but the future holds the answer.

So the ride that began 5 September 2000 ends on

20 May 2012.

And ... it has been a good one.

In the picture you can see what is basically downtown Okahandja. I am waiting for one of the home stay family members then we head to the capital. I also stopped by the Garden Cafe to say goodbye to Tony and Catherine. We have the transportation reserved ( a friend of the family's car) and ready when we are. I do have to say that Okahandja is a nice place to live. It isn't too big and it has anything anyone needs. If not, the capital Windhoek is only 45 minutes away. In Namibia 45 minutes away is considered kind of close. So soon it is Windhoek and another world. It probably is a good thing as I am slowly becoming adjusted to city life again. After 3 years in the bush with no stores and intermittent electricity, easing into the life of everything for me, is best done slowly. I don't want to lose the simple way of life I've grown to prefer. I think it will take an effort at first to maintain that frame of mind when I am back in the States. But I will live a simple life there ... somehow. So, now it's away to Windhoek. One more step to go.

While I was visiting with the home stay family,

one of the girls had her baby girl baptized.

In the picture you can see the baby with her

godmother who's name is Maria.

The baptism was held at the Ovambo Lutheran

Church. The Ovambo people are the majority

tribe in Namibia. In this church Oshiwambo

(the name of the language of the Ovambo people)

is spoken which meant that I understood about a

total of zero. I was in a majority San village and

the difference between the Ovambos and the San

are, to use a worn out phrase, night and day. They

are about as polar opposite as opposite can be.

There were 8 babies baptized and I took a video

clip and so when Martha (name of baby girl) is

older she'll have something to see.

I was the only white person in the church which

always leads to some interesting looks. After

all these years of being, the different person, it

isn't a problem. More like business as usual.

One funny thing did happen that Sunday at the

end they had some kind some of collection.

Africans have pretty extensive expanded family

relations and a church collection consisted of a

person from that family lineage standing in front

with a bag in their hands. Then each one from that

family would go up and put change in the respective

bags.

There was a young man from the family sitting

next to me to kind of translate but he got bored with

church and split.

One lady in a bench ahead of me pointed to me

(while smiling) and told me to stand up. I did not

knowing what I was standing up for. The whole

church burst out laughing.

When I sat down someone explained to me that I

just pledged to give to that family just like I was a

family member.

I have to admit, it was funny.

At home afterwards they had enough food to feed

almost the whole church and I told them, this is

way too much. But of course I was wrong because

I didn't know the Ovambo customs. There were

people falling out of the sky, literally. It was a two

day thing with every person coming eating like

heck.

And ... plates sent out by kids to the neighbors.

I didn't understand much as they spoke Oshiwambo

so I just was there.

Despite just being there it was a great experience

and even after all these years of being in places

like this, there is always something new to see and

learn.

But that time is coming to an end soon as tomorrow

it is off to the capital Windhoek to begin the

out-processing.

This time next week I will be on my way home.

I am spending a few days in Okahandja which

is on my way to the capital and which will

eventually lead me to home.

I am visiting with the home stay family that I lived

with when I first arrived in Namibia back in February

2009.

When we are trainees we stay with a family

which can last anywhere between 8 to 10 weeks.

I have stayed in touch with the family over the years

and have visited with them several times. I was

invited to the baptism of a baby girl from one of the

family members. I will post info on that a little later.

The main topic of this post is shown in the

picture posted above.

In the photo is Tony and he is sitting within his

restaurant right here in Okahandja. It is called

the Garden Cafe and I first went there in February

2011. At that time I was spending a week at the

training of a new group of volunteers. I heard about

the cafe and since then, every time I am in town, it

is a must stop ... daily.

The cafe was opened and managed by Tony and

his wife Catherine. They opened it in November

2010 and have seen it grow and prosper ever since.

The cafe is more than just a cafe and it is actually

the foundation of what would best be described in

the USA as an ... 'inner city project'.

The project is religious based and I am not going

to write on that aspect but instead, I will focus on the

developmental side of it.

The project that Tony and Catherine are offering is

one that which takes youth between ages of 19 to 29

and gives them training and skill to become workers

within the restaurant/lodge industry.

Here in the cities of Namibia it is very difficult for

the youth to find a job and let alone get any work

experience to be able to develop any form of CV

(resume). It is the proverbial catch 22 and a huge

challenge for the youth.



The course is a 12 weeks course and it consists

of improving English, mathematics, hospitality,

cooking and basic restaurant management plus

some time for the bible and character building.

Also upon completion they have a chance to

work in the restaurant and build up the CV a bit.

It has been an overwhelming success with three

groups completing the course and another one

soon to finish. With that a total of 34 youth with

only 1 dropping out that have attended. The one

that did not complete the course had a life

situation and not because of a lack on interest.

The number of participants is limited to a maximum

of 10 per course, more or less and this insures a

quality learning experience. Tony and Catherine

say that they prefer to have their program

emphasize quality over quantity.

With the struggle of finding employment and

in essence, a path in life, some of those that have

completed the course have mentioned that before

they joined that they were contemplating suicide

due to frustration and despair. Their vision of

life hadn't a component of hope in it.

The news of their course has reached the

capital and a few of those whom participated

have gotten jobs in lodges. Also, the reputation

of their project is expanding and many businesses

are inquiring and are ready to accept any of

the youth, virtually sight unseen. An incredible

compliment for their program.

It is funny how we meet people. They are from the

mid-west of the USA and if they weren't here and

of course, I wasn't here, we never would have met.

We both have the same goal of helping and it is

refreshing to meet people who are concerned

about the youth of Namibia.

I only will put my reputation on the line for people

or projects that I feel are good, run well and have

the honest goal of helping. Well, this is one of those

projects.

They do have a blog address which I received

from them and 'Click Here' if you'd like to visit it.

It is religious based but there is some contact info

if anyone is interested or have inquiries.

It has been a great honor for me to have met

Tony and Catherine.

It is a good feeling to see people such as these

doing the good work they do, selflessly.

The time came to depart the village after three

years. It was rise at 5 then sitting with Bob the

Romanian guy to drink a cup of tea and

reminisce.

Then at 6:30 a.m. I left the Bob's mission

(in the picture, window of left was my room)

to walk the one and a half kilometer to the

road to catch a hike out.

Bob walked along and after about an hour

a person stopped and I hopped on.

At that moment, all references to the village

began to be spoken in the past tense.

I have to say that out of the four tours I have

had in different countries, this one was the

most challenging. It was challenging for many

reasons and for that, I am happy. I was in a place

that had needs.

The main reasons were HIV/AIDS and the issue

that many people didn't seem to take it seriously

despite the fact that they've seen people living

with it, dying from it and still, they contract HIV

though they know everything about it.

Another big reason was the degree of alcohol

abuse to the point that people would buy it

over buying food. Some wouldn't eat for days,

just drink.

Another central point was the change in life style

of the San from hunter gatherers. The situation is

so similar to that of the native Americans over a

125 or so years ago. It has resulted in a social

crisis.

I am not fooled to think that I saved the world there

and I know ... they were surviving before I

arrived and will continue after my departure.

I have found that it is about moments in time. It

is about living those moments, realizing and

enjoying that it is all fleeting. It is about doing one's

best, never giving up and caring for the people.

I have left it all on the field so to speak in

that village.

A few people said some nice words before I left

and I was totally surprised of what they spoke.

One said, that it wasn't only the physical or

financial help that he felt was important but the

ideas that I gave to help make his people better.

Another who was a soldier during the time the

South African Defense Force used the village as

a military base said that during that time there

was an apartheid treatment and segregation

in the living areas. The black Africans in one

place and the white in another.

Through that experience and since he never

thought that he would see a white person ever

take time for black people. He said that I was

the first white that he'd seen that would go over

to a black person's house to sit, talk and

socialize. He stated that I changed his mind

concerning white people.

I was really surprised with these statements.

Always wondered if anything would come out

of my time here. I am blessed to have heard

these words. I have a kind of a going out on

top feeling to take with me.

So, as that moment in time has receded in the

rear view mirror, my thoughts are that of

gratitude to have even had the opportunity

to experience it all.

Now, it is off to Okahandja.

What that means is ... 'better than nothing' in

the Thimbukushu language.

The village is majority San (Khwe) but there

are also quite a few Mbukushu people and

of course, Thimbukushu is their language.

I used the Thimbukushu language because

I know how to say ... better than nothing ... in

the language. The Khwe language (Khwedam)

I am not too sure of. I asked and they told me,

I have forgotten but if I use my word for word

translated English to Khwedam then it would

come out something like hasha (the Khwe use

the same word as the Mbukushu) ghambe hru.

The hru (don't know if it's spelled right) is

pronounced like who but with a small rolling 'r'.

But to translate it direct hasha ghambe hru then

it means better nothing thing.

Ok, all that jive about language but the real point

is as you can see in the picture, a one-third

finished traditional San/Bushman hut.

David the cultural group leader and his brother

Paulus whose real last name is 'Rambo' (really),

worked hard to just get it to that point with the

limited time they had.

So here's how I see the construction:

First, they dig holes around a predetermined

circle to anchor the poles in the ground. Also,

it gives a foundation as later they will have to

bend the poles and they need the resisting force

to keep it from moving.

Then they tie two poles together from opposite

sides after they have been bent to the desired

shape and height.

Then, they tie thinner more flexible poles around

like you see on the outside but also on the

inside so when they put the grass on it won't

fall in.

Then they add a few more layers and the top

is grass that is centered then bent over where

the ends are on either side so the water won't

leak in.

David also said that at night they make a little

fire in the center and with the heat that the

house retains, the people can sleep inside even

on the cold nights, without a blanket.

Despite the fact that the hut wasn't finished by the

time I left, I am totally happy to be able to see even

that. I have to thank my time in the Peace Corps

for teaching me to accept things the way they are

much better. It taught me to not stress about those

little things and not to get attached and caught up

in an idea.

As you can see the blogging has been a bit fast and

furious the last few days and that's only because

all these things are happening all at once. But it

should slow down as the last few days are just going

to be reflecting and preparing to depart.

Despidida is a Spanish word and it means

a going away party / present.

That's what happened the other night, in fact,

it was a surprise despidida.

As mentioned in some of the recent blog posts,

we were trying to get the djwara project finished

but it just didn't work out.

There was a flurry of situations in the village that

took David's (cultural group leader) time. But he

did make a great effort and in the next blog post

I will show you a picture of a one-third finished

traditional hut.

The other night David called and told me to go to

the djwara and bring my camera. I figured that

maybe there was some progress on the traditional

hut because that was the last thing we needed to

do and which I wanted to see. I thought that maybe

it would be my last chance to see one in person.

When I got to the djwara I could see that something

was up and found out that in fact it was a despidida

for me.

I really don't like despididas and really prefer to walk

out quietly with my thoughts. But this time I had no

choice and I am glad that I didn't

As you can see in the picture, the kids danced in

the night the traditional way with the two fires.

It was truly a night to remember. The kids danced

especially motivated and energetic and in fact, it

was the best that I've seen them.

The drums were beating, the kids were singing and

dancing and the place under the dancing tree was

aglow with the light of the two fires.

This time, I have no words that I can use to describe

exactly what it was like.

I am so grateful to have been able to experience a

pretty close to the 'Old Way' traditional night of the San

(Khwe) people.

I usually don't get this way but it was a bit emotional.

The project of the San cultural group has been one

of my favorites. No matter how the kids in the group

end up, either good or bad, all we can truly say is that

... we tried. Leaving that project behind will just make

me wonder if we've done anything good.

But, as all things must end, and this one ended in a

way that I can probably describe as magical. To be

able to see something resembling what the Khwe

had practiced for thousands of years, how can it

get better?

Probably could guess that I am going to write this at

this point but, yes, it was a farewell party but to me

it really was ... a present that I will never forget.

In the Old Way of the San/Bushman (Khwe)

people, at night the kids would sit around the

fire while the elders passed out the societal

wisdom.

The elders would pass the information out in

the form of stories.

In the picture you can see such en event. The

other night we went to the almost completed

djwara and just kind of hung out.

They started a fire as the night was cool

seeing as the southern hemisphere is entering

it's winter time.

I am not sure what they were talking about but

I think that they were passing out some wisdom

as to the benefits of staying in school and

studying seriously.

Despite the fact that I've been here three years

there are still activities like this that are a first

time see.

This type of passing of knowledge doesn't happen

anymore in the 'New Way' and I am kind of lucky

to have seen an example of it. Maybe it isn't as

authentic as it used to be because the people

would be wearing skins and the such.

But it is ok, I am still tickled to have at least seen

a facsimile.

This life living in places such as here just gives one

the opportunity to see and experience things like

this first hand.

It's just amazing to be able to.

In the picture you can see Bob the Romanian

guy finishing today's run.

I have been running at the village's old runway

for about a year and a half just to stay fit.

(The village used to be an old South African

Defense Force Base and that's why there is

the runway.)

A few weeks ago Bob decided to start running

with me so he could also stay fit.

So, as my time here is coming to an end

activities like this are also having their last hurrah,

so to speak, and today was the last run.

As I was running I was thinking of how life just

sometimes has a path for us.

I believe I've written about this in a prior blog post

but I am going to write about it again here.

Before I arrived in Namibia I spent two and a half

years in Romania. There is a link on the right hand

side of this page to the blog I wrote when I was

there.

Upon leaving Romania in December 2008 and

while in the airport in Bucharest with another volunteer

named John, we both agreed that it was probably

going to be the last time we will ever speak a word

of Romanian.

Fast forward to August 2009 and while living 70

kilometers out in the bush of Namibia, a pair of

white guys show up in the village. The crazy thing is,

that it was Bob and another guy and guess where

they were from, yup, Romania.

It's just difficult to understand how this could be. I am

probably the only American in the area that can speak

Romanian and here they come.

I have to say that during the three or so years that my

Romanian has improved greatly as I have always

spoken to Bob in Romanian and he has spoken

English to me.

So I am wondering that when I told Bob that as I am

returning to the States and that I will probably never

speak another word of Romanian again, that it would

be true. But as experience has taught me back in

Bucharest, who ta hell knows.

But also, it has been a great time working with Bob

over these last three years. I was there when they

started their mission in a building that had been

abandoned for over 20 years. I saw the resurgence

from the ashes just like the Phoenix. I also helped

him as much as I could and felt that by helping people

who are helping other people, then I am helping

development of the village.

It has been an honor to be able to have worked with

Bob and there is the memory of that special certain

time of seeing progress go forth throughout the village.

As I am leaving all I can do is wish Bob and his

mission all the luck in the world as they continue to

help the people in the village.

The djwara project continues and today we

finished the platform which you can see in

the picture.

David the cultural group's leader is in the

forefront with Mavandje (one of the girls

from the group) in the back with the pink

shirt cooking on the fire.

The platform isn't exactly authentic and that

is regarding the height. The one in our djwara

is about 6ft of 2 meters. Normally it would be

something like 3 meters.

The platform's purpose was to store food/meat

and when the young members of the San/Bushman

group would go out to hunt or gather, they would

put the elders on top.

The reason for the elders staying on the platform

was for protection against hyenas or lions. From

the platform they had an advantage as the could

thrust downwards with their spears to ward off

the attackers.

We still have the house to build and hopefully

tomorrow we will be able to complete it.

The djwara is starting to come together and is

really looking good. With that house it should be

just about complete.

Then I think it is the going away get together. Only

a few days left.

That seem to pop up kind of frequently that just

make being in these villages and living within

different cultures, interesting.

Today when we were working on the djwara

project I saw a few of the young girls fastening

a few vines together then all of a sudden, they

are jumping rope (or vine).

I just enjoy seeing these little innovative things. No need to

spend amounts of money to have fun, just got to think

a bit.

the vine (above)

after stripping leaves and fastening several together ....

the girls are jumping vine (below).

The time is really winding down now. There is just

about a week left.

The only activity left to do is finish the djwara/cultural

center project. It doesn't look like it will actually totally

finish as I mentioned in the last blog post.

But it will be finished enough for me and I will leave

content with it's status.

As you can see in the picture, the fence of poles are

almost all installed. In the back there is a section that

needs to be completed but all the poles are there and

it is a matter of just planting them.

Today is Friday and it is the last weekend for me in the

village so ... if anything is going to happen on the

djwara it will happen this weekend.

The big hope that I have is that tomorrow we will be able

to construct one of the traditional huts. So, I guess

'we'll see' is the mantra for that hope-wish.

There have been some pretty good changes going on

in the village over the last few months. One big one

is that they installed two 10,000 liter water tanks for

the school. The school had been struggling for a

decent water supply for years. It took a demonstration

from the students to get it fixed.

It was really a combination of effort of the school's

assistant principal and the students that got it the

attention it needed to get action.

But it was David, the leader of the San Cultural

Group who talked to the students and told them, that

if they wanted to get something done then they

had to get active, to light the spark. It worked and

the students refused to go to classes for 3 days,

threatened to contact the TV station and the newspaper.

It got it going, miraculously it got priority from those

responsible .

With a week left I am feeling pretty good about the

village and I am very optimistic about it's future. There

seems to be more people discussing the issues

concerning the development of their part of the

world.

It is a gift to me to see this, I can leave feeling good

about the future of the friends I will leave behind.

There is more or less two more weeks left for me

here in the village. It really has been busy and at

least the people are taking advantage of my help

before it is too late.

In the picture you can see the djwara project and

it looks like it's not going to be finished before I

go. But I think that we will be able to build a hut

in the traditional style though. That is programmed

for next Saturday and with fingers crossed ...

Also in the picture you can see the dancing tree.

I guess I don't have to explain that the tree

doesn't dance but that is where the kids do their

practices and performances for the village.

I do have to say that when you are under that tree

it just feels like it has some special energy.

Also, with two weeks left there is still real life that

goes on. This morning we attended a burial for

a girl named Atalia. She was in one of my first

blog articles way back in May 2009. If you click

here it will bring to the page and in the photo with

the four girls in it, she is the one on the left in the

back.

HIV is never very far away here and she passed as

a result. During my time here I've worked side by

side with a few people at the clinic that have HIV

but it took over two and a half years to find out.

They are taking their ARVs and I never knew a

thing.

Well there are those that take it and those that

don't seem to understand, I guess. Atalia was

one that took ARVs then stopped for no particular

reason. Then she became pregnant and then

started taking them again as part of the PCMT

or prevention of mother to child transmission.

She had a miscarriage and then stopped taking

them again. Then after a while she got pregnant

again and the same thing happened.

About a month ago she comes into the clinic and

looks totally terrible and it was too late at that time.

She weighed about 100lbs when healthy but

weighed a little over 60 at the end.

Just wonder what was in her mind about the ARVs.

Did she really want to live with HIV or ... She had

all the info about it and ignorance wasn't a factor.

It is what happens out in villages. It does

kind of take the luster off the ending of my Peace

Corps tour. But it is the reality and she's not the

first to have passed as a result of HIV since I've

been here. It just seems that many of the people

just decide to stop taking the ARVs.

I am hoping that some of her friends have learned

something so that she didn't die without leaving

something that could maybe save others.

Sometimes this is the reality of life in the Peace Corps.

Today the New Gospel Church Choir finally got

together to make their music DVD.

In the picture you can see the interest it created as

a bunch of people showed up at the airport to

watch some of the filming.

When we first got there I noticed that there was

about 5 or 6 extra kids who tagged along. After

the third song I happened to turn around and

then saw all these people. It was ok and upped

the intensity of the choir.

The photo was taken as we were moving to

another location after filming four songs.

In total we filmed 11 songs and each got better

as they warmed up.

I now have all the clips, pictures and songs I

need to compile into a DVD for them.

With an hour and a half of electricity a day it

should take me a few days to get it all set.

I filmed it with a generation 1 Flip camera so it

isn't a Hollywood production by any means but

it actually is, ok.The djwara project still has some to go and with

two weekends left, I am getting a little concerned

that that project may not be finished enough

(like totally) and we won't be able to have the

inaugural festivities while I am here. So, I am

hoping tomorrow we can plant another bunch

of poles and make progress.

I am really wanting to take a few pictures of

the building of one of the San (Bushman) huts

that is programmed for the djwara project.

I want to write about it and add it to this blog.

Other than that, time is going too fast and it is

time to start throwing out junk and thinking

about packing.

Today was the first day in the construction of

our djwara/cultural center.

As you can see in the picture, the kids from the

cultural group are getting their hands dirty digging

holes so that we can plant some poles.

What our project consists of, is the building of a

traditional San (Khwe) homestead. It was told to

me that the traditional homestead of the Khwe is

unique from the other San tribes.To build the traditional homestead we need

a fence made of poles. A few small traditional

huts, a platform and areas dedicated for cooking,

dancing entertainment and other reasons that I

haven't learned yet.As mentioned in my last blog post, this is the last

major project with the group and unlike the other

projects in the past, this one has a time limit.

Usually everything goes at a slow pace out here

in the bush but I have been impressed with the

fact that they are trying to finish it before I go.If it is finished in time, we are thinking of having

kind of an inaugural event. Something like we did

last year which was dancing all night, a little food

and some tea. The last time was fun, but this

one should be better because we'll have the

traditional setting. I am kind of hoping that the

elders will come out in numbers and tell us their

opinion of the djwara.At this point, with one month left in the village, it

is the time that all the other people that have

mentioned things they would want to do, but

never seemed to have the ambition to start,

are coming out of the woodwork. Other small

activities planned are another movie with the

drama group at the clinic and a music video

of religious songs from one of our churches

in the village.Those little projects I like but the village

generator gave up the ghost the other day and

the news is that they aren't going to fix it this

time. With electricity coming to the village

(typical question is when) sometime this year,

it really doesn't make sense to pay the money

to repair it.That leaves me with a lot less computer time

to put the movie and the music DVD together.

But I guess with those we will have to hustle

like we need to do with the djawara.So, I guess the thought I had of just chilling out

in the village for the last month won't happen.

But that's ok, we'll just hopefully get it all done

in time.

I have only two months left here in Namibia.

It was originally supposed to be three but due

to a visa issue I have to leave a month earlier.Even though it is only a change of a month it

makes things a little more intense. It is always

the way that when you leave, people are just at

the point of getting animated. Right now I am

pretty busy doing all the little things. Just kind of

taking care of all the details.In the picture you can see a sketch that David,

the leader of the Young San Cultural Group made.

It is a traditional San (Khwe) homestead. It is

called a dwjara (don't know how to write it but it

is pronounced that way). We started making one

about a year or so ago but it didn't get to be what

you see in the picture.But we always talked about making a cultural center

and the original idea was kind of like a brick type

building as the center. Instead we decided to make

the dwjara as the cultural center. kind of makes sense

and if it goes well, visitors will be able to spend the

night sleeping in a traditional hut.I am hoping that it can be completed before I have to

leave. It would be a great thing for me to be part

of it and see what a real one looks like.It would be just like the period at the end of a sentence

... it would end my time here the right way.

It has been a bit since I last posted. So, there

are a few things that have happened since.The village health clinic where I work has been

the recipient of a very quality solar system. I like

the workmanship that the company's employees

did.

It really changes things a bit and now we can show

our movies/dramas on health and social issues

daily. It also makes it a lot easier for the nurses

when they have emergencies at night and it eliminates

having to deliver babies in the dark with only

candle light.The cultural group is still going along with activities

to keep the kids busy and out of trouble. Yesterday

we loaded them all up into a small pickup truck and

then headed out to Katima Mulilo, a decent sized

city about 250 km from the village.

Out of the 15 kids we brought only two have ever

been there so, that was a new experience for them.

There were a lot of firsts for the group but also for us,

the adults (there was four of us).

Let me see ... the first first for the kids other than

arriving in the new city was ... get this ... ice cream.

Yeah there were kids about 8 or 9 that have never

had the chance to eat ice cream.

It was funny as one of the kids about 8 years old, tasted

his ice cream and said that he didn't want to eat it

because it was too cold (even though it was about 35 c

or 95 F) and it was going to make his body cold.

David the group leader just laughed and

said it was just like the 'The god must be crazy"

movie.

I am leaving in three months so this was kind of like

a going away activity at the same time. So I was

able to give each kid N$20 or about US$2.50 so

they could go to one of the China shops to buy

something.

Man, the kids did shop and it was really surprising

to me what they bought with just the N$20. Again,

for about 10 of the kids it was a first of having

their own money to buy something in a store.

Then we went to the nice open air market and

had a lunch of pap (porridge) and fish. The lady

was pretty happy as she sold 19 plates at one

time and probably made a normal day's pay

in about an hour. Again, this time first for all the

kids.In Katima is a mission/project that takes in some

underprivileged kids and gives them a solid base.

They live at a small complex that is situated right

on the Zambesi river.

A few of the kids come from our village so we

thought that a decent thing to do would be to go

visit them while we were in the neighborhood.

There are two people running it at the moment

and they are from the States. They do a great

job and are very sincere and caring people.

When we contacted them about visiting we

mentioned that we were a cultural group. We

brought a drum and the skins (traditional clothes).

In the picture above you can see the kids from

our group dancing along with the kids from

the mission/project.

It was really a great time and it was a new

experience for both our kids and the ones living

there.

Again, this was another first.Then we headed from the Zambesi to the center

of town. We set up a tour at the NBC (Namibia

Broadcast) studio.

We arrived about 4 o'clock on a Saturday afternoon

and the people working there were really nice

to give us the tour. Normally the tours are during

the week only.

The man who gave the tour was just the greatest

and had patience with the kids and with 26 years

of experience at his job, knew everything and was

willing to share it.

He showed the kids the studios and the equipment

and even let the kids sing a song that he saved on

the memory drive.

So, if someone wants to request their song, then

in minutes after doing a search on the server, the

song can be played.

The kids were kind of happy and impressed with that.

Also, the goal in bringing them there was to show

that by going to school and studying they may be

able to work in a studio too.

The guide told them what kind of education they

need and we hope that it was a planting the seed visit.

We pray that in one of the kids, it will grow.

Again, this was another first.Then we headed towards the border post between

Namibia and Zambia. We couldn't go across and

the border closes at 6 p.m.

We got there at about 5:30 so even if we wanted to

walk out a bit to see the bridge over the Zambesi,

it was too late.

But the kids did get a chance to look at Zambia.

Not a big first, but a first nonetheless.We then headed home and the kids were full of

food and tired. It was a good day.So, with 3 months left here for me, it is winding

down time. I am happy that we had a good day

like yesterday and I am not sure that there will

be any more chances for trips like this.

If there isn't, we went out in style.

Seeing as the Patriots (my team) is in the

Super Bowl, there is a need to be informed.

I am from Massachusetts and during my time

in the Peace Corps the Patriots have been

to four Super Bowls and today they are heading

into their fifth.

The first time I was in Leon, Nicaragua and

that was a great atmosphere. The second

and third I was at Kounkane and Kolda,

Senegal respectively.

Number four was at Nadlac, Romania and

the fifth (today) will be 70 km out in the bush

in north eastern Namibia.

The first three I was able to watch it on TV. The

fourth was through an internet live update feed.

To stay updated on this Pats Super Bowl quest,

I am going to be using what you see in the

picture above ... my cellphone with and internet

connection.

I have downloaded an ESPN app that will post

the plays.

I will refresh every minute or so and though it isn't

like watching it on the tube, it will still be exciting

... especially if they win.

It will require waking up at about 4 a.m. here. It's

ok, it's worth it.I am really lucky that I can keep up with the game

out here. It can always be worse.One of the aspects of life that living in the Peace

Corps reminds one of, almost daily.

Tomorrow morning bright and early it's out the

door and time to head back to the village.

It has been about 10 days out of site and

it's been a quick ten days but it was a good

little break. I actually had a chance to watch TV,

go for breakfast a few times and catch up on

the soapies (soap operas / telenovelas) that

they show here in Namibia.

I've stayed in contact with some of the people

I work with in the village and there are a few things

lined up so it will be some things to do upon return.

I was able to do a little more playing around with

my netbook computer since here there is 24/7

electricity. So, I converted another one of the

Young San Cultural Group's songs.

This one I really like and the name of the song is

... people from the oil tree.

It isn't exactly a traditional song but it is one that the

kids put together themselves.

To listen to it and if you want or download just

click here

when you arrive at the page you will see the player

and to the right an option to download.

Send me a comment if you like the song.

Time to go start packing my things for the 11 hour

journey back.

Africa is that at any time, any where, you may see something that you've never seen before. Despite having almost 6 years of living on the continent, there is still a good chance that something unique will appear out of the blue. This morning I walked into town ( I am spending a few days in Okahandja. A city. ) as you can see there is water jetting out of somewhere due to some work mishap. You can also see a car under the water flow. The great thing is the guy drove through then stopped, backed up and basically washed his car in the middle of the street. Can't say I've seen that before and maybe others have but this was a first for me. I just love things like this. Freedom to just do these things without worrying about what people think. Things like this I'll miss when my time is up in 6 months. But it ain't over yet.

I am out of the village at this moment and

took a few days to visit the host family that

I stayed with in Okahandja.I had been in the village almost full time

since returning from my 1 month vacation

at the end of June. I didn't have to stay there

all the time but I did because there always

seemed something going on that I didn't

want to miss being a part of.But I feel that I was due to just relax a bit. Here

I can catch up on some of the things that I

wanted to work on. In the village the electricity

was basically limited to 1 hour a day and when

they fixed the big generator and it was on for

about 9 hours per, I ran out of airtime for going

on the internet to look up information.

With the 3G connection we have it costs about

1 USD for 7 megabytes of download/upload.

So by being in the city I can get access to buying

airtime by just going to the center of town. In

the village it is hit or miss with airtime so there

are limitations.In the title it says 'A new view' which basically means

that I am in another place. In the picture is a

part of the new view. On the left is Helvy and on

the right is Helena. They are a part of the host

family that I stayed with during my first three months in

Namibia. It is part of the Peace Corps' program

to have trainees live with host families at the

beginning. It is actually a very good thing as it

gives one a chance to get immersed while making

the transition.This family in particular has been very good to me

during training and ever since. I visit them every

so often when I get a chance to pass by this side

of the country.Back to Helvy and Helena ... Helvy is in her last year

at the University of Namibia and she is finishing

her studies in economy. Also she is from the Ovambo

people, one of the many different peoples/tribes in

Namibia. In her language to say hello to

anyone who visits this blog one would say

... ongeipi ... which means 'how are you'.

the reply if things are going well is ... nawa.

Helena is still in high school and will be entering

the 11th grade.

They are both good girls and I am sure that they

will do well with their lives.Now it is time to end this blog entry and take

advantage of the electricity. Maybe we'll watch a

movie or listen to the radio and even crazier, watch

TV.Going without those things isn't a real problem and

when I get the chance to use these every so often, it

really is a treat. I really like how this experience helps

keep life into a perspective. I am hoping and am

almost sure that from here on in, I will never take

any of these things for granted.What a way to enjoy all the things life has to offer ...

but it starts by learning to never take them for granted.

At this time of the year I have made it a

habit to take a few moments to reflect.

I like to reflect back but also forward.

The picture is the view from my back

window. I like just looking out it and

thinking about things every so often. So

I did before I wrote this blog post.It has been a good year all and all. There

are always things and situations that could

have panned out better but ... as it goes it

goes and that's how it's meant to be.To say that the world was changed here in

the village in front of our eyes wouldn't be

accurate. But, there has been progress and

that's all one can ask.The last year's activities were really targeted

towards behavior change and that's really a

tall task if one wants to see 'instant gratification'.

We slogged along and every opportunity that

arose, we took. If it was with sports or culture

groups or just sitting in the middle of the village

and talking one on one, we did it.

The probable biggest success was with the

cultural group. What started out slow and difficult

ended in a bang with the activities of the last

few months.

It was really heartening to hear the mother of

two of the group thank David (group organizer/

leader) by saying that if she had money to give

him she would. She said that her two older kids

give her trouble but the two that are with the

group are good kids that don't give any problems.

She can't thank him enough for what he's done

for her kids.

It was the goal of the group work to help produce

good kids. Hopefully we helped to change their

future, time will tell.

The sports went well but in spurts. If they have a

tournament where there is money, they practice

like heck. If not, no action at all. We tried to

motivate them for the love of the games ... it

improved some but it needs more effort.

The movies we made at the health in 2010

continued to get mileage. They went to a hospital

in the region and the actors from the village got

a lot of text messages from their friends who

saw their work. They are low level celebrities.

Problem, is that we need to make more or at

least one with a good message about alcohol

abuse. It is the leading source of our community's

problems.

One of the smallest yet ' more bang for the buck '

activity we did was with the Youth Office. The

youth (18 to 35) were in a huge need of CV's

or resumes. We worked out a good solid one

that the secretary at the Youth Office put in his

computer. With his support to complete the CVs

at least 15 youth were able to join either the

Namibia Defense Force (NDF), police or

vocational workshops and courses. It was the

largest amount of youth being able to participate

in the above mentioned at any one calendar year.

That was a definitely good surprise to see.There were also a lot of the small things like helping

out anyone that needed it. I always felt that no

matter how big or small, it adds up. Of course

it does, no revelation there.Then there is the upcoming year. I have until June

here so the time is getting short and then there

is the sense of urgency setting in. The work here

with the San is really a slow process, the slowest

than in the other countries I've been in. It is the

nature of the beast. So there is a realization that

it is most certain that all things desired will not be

able to be completed.

One real last activity we'd like to accomplish is

to take the Cultural Group to Etosha National Park.

For me it would be a fantastic climax to the work

we did with that group. Of course there are the

normal struggles of resources (funds) and logistics.

But we will try, all we can do.

As mentioned above, one more movie about alcohol

abuse. If we make it, people will watch it over and

over. They've done it with the other movies so

maybe by repetition (on their own choice) something

will sink in. Even if I'm not here.

Electricity is coming so I hope that it is in place long

enough to be able to help a few kids learn a bit

about computing. It is a matter of timing, we hope

it will be in our favor.I guess that's all for the year end reflections. It was

a good year and hopefully the next half year will

be equally as good.We'll see if that will be possible ... starting tomorrow.

It is another Christmas time and being in a

warm weather climate (it is summer in the

southern hemisphere) gives it a different

feeling.In the picture you can see my Christmas present.

I've been basically just staying in the village all

the time. Except for going out with the cultural

group on their excursions, being here is about it.

So this is a real treat.A girl from the village named Mildred came back

for Christmas to visit her family. She brought what

you see in the picture above. Happy Lion is kind

of a Kentucky Fried Chicken place that's in the

big towns.Mildred had some problems at the beginning of

the year while she was living in the capital. I met

her when I was there and I gave her a little help

and some advice.With that help she got a job in Katima Mulilo and

is doing very well at the moment.The other day she SMS / texted me to tell me that

she was bringing the Hungry Lion. She said that

when she had nothing I was there to help her so

she wanted to do this.Christmas presents are in many shapes and forms.

It is about being happy which is really the best

present of all.The Hungry Lion worked well

... I can tell you that but the present that makes me

happiest of all (this may sound corny) is to see

that she is doing well.I am also happy that she took the help and made

something with it.Just helping one person may not save the world

but it will make it a better place, for sure. In the

life of a Peace Corps volunteer it may be 1 or 2

or hundreds that are affected, a lot of times we

never see any results. It happens after we're gone.But I can say this, seeing Mildred doing well gave

me the best Christmas present ... happiness.

The village is experiencing a let down after

the last weekend's tournament. It was really

hopping and people are saying that it was

the best one ever held here. In a place like

this that has no working radio or TV reception,

events like this are the main source of en-

tertainment.But after the curtains have closed what is there

to do? Especially in this holiday season. A lot

of people have left, a few others are coming

back this upcoming weekend.So, in between there isn't much to do (here

is where the picture comes in) but sit in the

middle of the village and 'look stupid'.

There is actually a story that goes with this. One

of the goals of a Peace Corps volunteer is to

share our culture with the people we are living

with.

When there is nothing to do I usually go to the

center of the village where there are normally

a few people hanging around. During one of

these times I explained the sitting there looking

stupid statement.When I was younger I played softball for a local

team called the Seagulls that was sponsored

by the owner of a bar. His name was George

(God rest his soul) and he looked almost like

a brother to Burl Ives and he had that Santa

Claus look going on. George was a great and

funny guy and he liked to drink a bit too.

One day me and my friend Ray were going to

go fishing and we happened to poke our head

in George's bar on the way to the pond. George

asked us what we were doing and he had had

a little to drink at the time. We said that we were

going fishing for a few hours and George looks

and us and says " fishing ... every time you go

by a lake or pond all you can see is these people

sitting there with fishing poles in their hands

and looking stupid".

The funny part was that on the way back we

stopped in for a drink (it has to have been over

21 years ago or more because I haven't drank

a drop in that amount of time) and there was

George, sitting in the same place on the end

of the bar.

So we said to him ... who's looking stupid now.

You're still here and also looking as stupid as a

drunken guy with a fishing pole at a pond.Not a big deal story but while just sitting there in

the center of town exchanging I told them that

one. So now, whenever we ask one another

what we are doing that day, if it is going to hang

in the center of town, we all say we are just going

to look stupid.Cultural exchange comes in all shapes and forms.

But one thing I do like about this life is the time

that can be taken to just sit and talk and share.

Many time it is an American, Mbukushu, Khwe,

Xong, Mayee, Silozi, Rukangwali, Subia and

Ovambos just sitting there looking stupid together

sharing stories and ideas.

This is what makes this volunteer gig really

something.Oh yeah, the picture is the view from the place

where we sit and look stupid.Old George's opinion stills lives on in our little

village in Africa.

So they played the finals and it was kind

of funny how they changed the strategy for

determining the winner. First it was by a

point system but in mid stream they went

to an elimination scheme.Here's how it finally turned out. The Youngsters

beat Mutjiku 4 to 2. Then in the Finals it was

the 'Vultures' from Chetto against the home

village's Heroes.It was the best game of the whole tourney and

the Heroes maintained and won 2 to 1.In the picture you can see the teams making an

opening jaunt across the field and back. They

also had to dodge the puddle of water that

accumulated after the big rain.Final results:1. Heroes

2. Vulture

3. Youngsters

4. MutjikuThe field that they played on was actually the first

real project that we did here. There was a prior

soccer field but it was outside the village and full

of thorns. Plus it wasn't very amendable to

spectators.So after talking for months and getting the backing

of two of the schools better teachers (who have

left) ... we finally found a location adjacent to the

main housing area in the village.The next problem was convincing people to come

out and work. That took another two months

and it took two more months to take out four trees.

Should have taken three days but the four other

guys kept saying that it wasn't fair that they were

the only ones working. Which was true but I told them

that one day they will see the fruits of the labor.It took two years as this tournament was the first

one held at this field. It was really just great and

I met three of the guys that were with me doing the

work. They all agreed that it was worth it and

seemed a bit proud and happy that they did

the field.The goal was to put the field where people would

come and watch. It worked, as at any time there

were at least 300 villagers sitting and enjoying the

action. I was really surprised to see the people I

saw watching the game.It was about trying to build a nice little community

setting where people could hang out, relax and

enjoy without having to go to a bar and drink

until drunk and become a nuisance.Also, the best part about this project was that the

total cost of making the field was ... absolutely

zero. Not one red cent.I am happy because as I watched the people

just having fun, it felt good to see that one of this

projects

went as designed.Now we have to fix that hole where the puddle is.

Should be easy to get those guys out there with

me ... this time.

An update is that they played through the rain with the Heroes winning 3 to zero. Now (in picture) it is the semi final with Mutjiku and the Youngsters. The finals to come.

An hour or so after blogging about the beautiful Monday morning I am looking out my back window (in picture) at a small deluge. That's how it goes out here in the South Africa region during the rainy reason. At the time the rain came the local Heroes team was 1 up over the Youngsters of either Chetto or Omega 3. Will find out which later. We ran home like the bulls were chasing us in Pamplona so what the plan is to finally finish the tourney, is something I have zero knowledge of. Looks like the rain is here for a bit. Again, more to come as it breaking.

Blogging from the soccer field with an update on this beautiful Monday morning. In the picture you can see the thrill of victory and the agony. The team in the center (on left) of the field are the Vultures from Mashambo and the team on the right in blue, the Mutjiku, don't know their other mascot name is. The Vultures won 4 to 2 and it was a good match with evenly skilled teams. The Vultures are in the finals and they will play the winner of the next game. So forget what I wrote yesterday about points determining the winner. It will be mano a mano. Next game is starting. More to come.

After the rains cancelled two games

yesterday it delayed the finish. Tomorrow

the final games will be played.

The manner of deciding the winner will

be through the point system.With that it

is pretty safe to say that the village Heroes

team, should win. They've won all their games

and have outscored their opponents by

about 21 to 3. So, it seems that they got it.The Heroes girls netball team did win it all

and they were crazy with joy. Like I've men-

tioned in other blog articles, it's hard to

remember a better victory display than what

I've seen in Africa.In the picture is nothing much other than a

moment in the game that saw our other village

team (the Hunters) lose to the 'Vultures' from

Mashambo village. The score was 3-1 and it

was a good game but with the loss, they where

mathematically eliminated from winningIn these tournaments there has been a pattern

of some of the teams getting into beefs and

arguments but so far, it's been great in the

fact that it's been really anger free. The only

real anger we saw so far was between an

off duty policeman from another town (who

was best said ... totally drunk) and his wife.

It was a real show but our local police were

there and after a bit of bezerko behavior,

got it under control.So, tomorrow, the final results to come.

The tournament began at 8 a.m. and they

actually started on time, which was pretty

good.There were 3 and a half games before the

rain came down in ... seeing as we are in

Namibia, it wouldn't come down 'like cats

and dogs' but more like 'hyenas and cheetahs'.The first game featured the Chetto A-team

against the Omega 3 A-team with the outcome

... a draw 2-2.Next up was our village A-team the Heroes

going against Mashambo and the local team

put a bit of a hurting on the visiting team to the

tune of 4-1.The third game also featured another of our

village teams called the Hunters. They lost

2-1 to the Chetto B-team. In the picture you

can see the goal that the Hunters scored

with about 10 minutes left.The fourth and last half game before the rains

came was Divundu facing off with the

Omega 3 B-team. It was 5-0 in favor of the

Divundu team before the half and before the

deluge came.On the netball side the two village teams were

triumphant and I think that they may actually

face off each other tomorrow but I'm not sure

due to the fact that we were running from the

rain before I had the chance to get the info.But it has been good till now and the village

is really enjoying the event. It is fun to be here

and it is even more fun because people from

the other villages haven't seen me and are

kind of shocked and surprised that I can speak

a bit of their San-Khwedam language ... even

with a few click words thrown in.So I am going to predict that the finals for the

football will feature our village's Heroes team

playing against the Divundu team. It should

be a great final as the Divundu is really im-

pressive.I hope to be able to post the info tomorrow after

the finals but if not, then Monday.

I guess that is the best to describe what is going

on the in the picture is ... gas and tourney.The village is sponsoring a netball and football

(soccer) tournament which begins tomorrow

morning at 8 a.m.

In the background are a few of the girl netball

players cleaning and grooming their court.

The young men went out to the football field and

cut new boundaries and lines. Here the ground

is nothing but sand so it is necessary to refresh

the lines on a normal basis.There will be 8 football and 6 netball teams

competing so it should be a big weekend here.

It also seems like a time for reunions amongst

the people from the other villages.Now the gas part. in the foreground of the pic

are people beginning to queue up to get some

drought relief sacks of dried beans. Each person

that registered got two bags at 5 kilos each or

11 lbs.

So with what looked like at least 500 kilos of

beans passed out, there should be a lot of gas

around this joint for the next few weeks.In the past they gave out maize meal and that had

it's problems as some would use it to make a

local alcoholic brew called 'tombo'. So getting

the beans is a better option as far as I can see.Other than that, it is a slow time of the year with

school out. The upcoming project to electrify the

government buildings seem to be on hold until

after new year. But I hope that the electricity is

in place by March so it will give me at least a month

or two to work with people on computer skills.The cultural group kids performed for a few visiting

people yesterday and it went ok. Wasn't their

best but it seems, that what I've observed, is that

they are as good as the amount of people that

are watching.Other than that some people are coming back for

the holidays and it is my last Christmas here so

I am staying around and hanging out with the

peeps. Nothing spectacular other than spending

quality time with friends I've made over the years,

in another country and culture. Never ceases to

amaze me to be in places like here.Hopefully I'll have some good reports about the

tourney by Monday.

The kindergarten is finished for this year

as we mentioned in a earlier blog posting.

The area that we used was actually very

small and one of our goals was to get or

make an area that was at least a little bit

bigger.

The original kinder had space for 20 kids

and the new building will be able to handle

30.

It isn't actually a new build but really a rebuild.

The mission that we are in was actually a

kinder during the time where the South African

Defense Force built and occupied Omega.

We are really building back up the area that

was used as the kinder area at that time.

It was destroyed as people salvaged roofing

materials and anything they could. But now

we are rebuilding it with whatever we can

find. We are looking for any materials we can

get our hands on.

In the picture you can see the beginning of

our project. We found some old zinc roofing

sheets and also you can see some reclaimed

bricks that we will use for the walls.

We think that it is worth all the effort we can

do to increase the number of kids that will

have the chance to attend and receive a good

foundation for the beginning steps in their

education.

The name of our kinder is Emmanuel Kindergarten

but after rebuilding the old kindergarten we

may have to consider naming it the Lazarus

Kindergarten. It is coming back from the dead.

We do hope that the Lord will bless us in our

work and give us the strength to finish our

project and allow us the chance to help more

of the very young people in our community.

Last Sunday the 4th was Chief's Day as

I mentioned in the prior blog article. It was

a pretty ok day despite the fact that it had

a constant but not too strong rain all afternoon.In the picture you can see the kids from the

cultural group performing the animal song.

The young boy you see is the Chameleon

and he is doing his interpretation of one.

He is actually the brother of one of the older

girls in the group and he also just finished

kindergarten last month.The crowd just went wild when they saw him

and he was definitely one of the favorites.The group was the high point of the festival.

When the dignitaries talked there were a few

people. When the drum began the people came

running. There was at least 400 people watching.

The kids were 'troupahs' (as we say back in

Massachusetts) as they danced through the rain.I have mentioned a lot about the group and their

activities but I don't think that I've mentioned the

real goal behind having this bunch of kids

together and occupied.None of the kids families are rich or well off by any

means but there is one girl that epitomizes why

we are doing our best to develop the group.

She is actually the newest girl dancer to have

joined. She is also one of the youngest (about 8

or 9 years old) and I think (and maybe I am a bit

delusional with this) that, she may benefit the most

out of it.Her family consists of her, a small brother of about

6 months, a mother of 27 and a grandfather that

I have never seen standing up. He appears pretty

feeble.Her mother has HIV, is an alcoholic and really isn't

a bad person, she is just having a lot to deal with.

Last Saturday when we were organizing the kids

for one last practice before going to the Chief's

Day Festival we had to send a girl to go find the

young dancer. She was at one of the shebeens

(bar) watching her 6 month old brother while her

mother was drinking. And this was a 10 in the

morning.So, the mother to her credit, let the girl go to

practice and we got her away from that environ-

ment for at least one day.I am hoping that by her participating in the group

that it will give her a chance to see another side

of life. Also, the rest of the kids are good kids and

she has friends that are of good quality and to her,

good influences.So, working with the group does have a serious

side and there are a lot of the benefits that come

from it, I'll never see the final results as in 6 months

my time is up.But I know in my heart of hearts that there is a

good possibility that at least one young girl out

here in the bush, might have gotten a chance.

In the picture you can see the probable

next generation of dancers for the Young

San Cultural Group.

Yesterday at the practice I had a chance

to take the picture of these kids dancing

along with one of the songs. It is a song

about going in the veld and picking the

traditional fruits and food in the bush. The

dancers have a portion of their routine where

they spin and bend down to pick something

from the ground. The picture got a few of the

kids doing that part of the dance.

It is one of the goals of the cultural group to

be consistent and continuous in it's

existence. So far there has been two gen-

erations and by the looks of it, the third one

is in the wings.

There has been some success with this as the

young kids look up to the older ones and as

so far, the older ones haven't been in any

trouble (pregnant or going to the bars ... yet)

they are what the kids out here need, role models.The group was practicing because tomorrow the

4th is Chief's Day (for the San - Khwe) and they

have been invited to perform. They are the only

dance group invited and they have been to two

other Chief's Day and the crowd liked them. I am

going to state that if the crowd liked them then,

they'll love them now. As a result of the month

long training the kids did before going to the

Lodge, they've become even 10 times better.It has been a good run with working with the kids.

We've struggled for a year and a half to get

things moving and now ... we've been to the Lodge,

the nature park, the fisheries institute and in

a 'what is in the works' category ... a possible

tourist boat trip on the Okavango river.

None of the kids have ever been on a boat so

it looks like it may be that there could be some

impact in the form of a new experience.In the village the school is out and it got a bit

quiet. But there seems to be some change in the

air. I've lived here for two and a half years and

one gets the flow of life after a while. It seems

like there has been less drinking and almost

no fighting ... is it possible that there is a spiritual

revolution going on?Strange things can happen ... I've been told.

Today was a pretty good day in the

effort of working with the cultural group.

We are trying to do varied activities

with them. It is part of the strategy to

show them options and give them ex-

periences that kids with resources have

access to.

We are limited with what we have to work

with and to get things done is a struggle

and a lot of finagling but sometimes a

little luck helps.

The planned activity was to take the kids

to the Mahango section of the Bwabwata

National Park. That section is dedicated

strictly for game drives. There was only

a single member of the group who had been

on one before, so it was a first time experience

for 15 of the kids.

We were fortunate to get the assistant principal

to supply transport (as he is the most reliable

option around).

We left the village about 7:30 a.m. and it might

have been a little late to get to the park to see

the animals.

There is a road that is about 4 or 5 km long

and is specifically for two wheel drive vehicles.

The assistant principal's pickup truck (called

bakkie here) is a two wheel drive so we took

that route.

The first pass was pretty uneventful as there

weren't many animals and the main animals

out were the Impalas. They were a lot of them,

more than I've ever seen at this park.

The park borders Botswana so we headed to

look at the border post. The kids never saw

one. It is a simple thing but they now know

a little about what it is about.

On the way back the kids wanted to go back

through the same road in the park and they

made the right decision.

There were a lot more animals but no giraffes,

elephants or buffaloes but there were a few

others types instead.

There were a lot of kudus, baboons/monkeys,

iguana and there was even a hippo with a

small baby out of the water. It made up for

the first pass.

Near the entrance of the Mahango section is

a fisheries institute that works with fish farming

throughout the region.

It is really an incredible place and even though

it was a Saturday afternoon and the place was

officially closed, they opened it up and gave the

kids a tremendous tour.

In the picture you can see a few of the kids with

the assistant principle inside one of the

institute's building. In those tanks are the fish

species that the institute works with.

These are the only kids in the whole school of

310 students that have ever seen anything like

this before.

They were really great and even the guide said

that they were one of the best mannered and

interested groups that he's guided.

That is one of the things about development,

the thought is to work with the difficult but also

I think it is ok to keep the good ones occupied

so that they don't go to the other side (as in

alcohol abuse at a young age).

We also got them plenty of food and those 16

kids can eat so it was a little pricey but it the

end ... worth every cent.

So now we have have to come up with another

activity for them to do. The idea is to have them

do kind of a cultural concert / performance

specifically for the elders. After watching the

kids dance at the school building's inaugural

event the elders are asking to see more of the

group perform.

So, as it goes, it was a great Saturday in the

life of this Peace Corps volunteer.

It is not the Super Sunday of American football we're talking about here. But it is our own little version, only bush style. In the picture is action from one of the four netball games played here yesterday. Two teams from a village called Mashambo dropped in to slap our village teams around. They won three out of four games. But that really wasn't a big deal. The big deal was the place was rocking. There had to be at least two hundred and fifty people out on a Sunday going nuts. With the main work here for me being that of behavior change, anything that is good clean fun, helps. As mentioned in prior blog articles, there is a lot of alcohol abuse and it leads into bad decisions and unprotected sex. Of course which may lead to contracting HIV. So activities that eat up time during the day is needed. Good activities that is. But it was really fun and one of the great things to see is the winning team doing their victory dances. Our village team won the last game so maybe the Mashambo team really got tired from dancing all the time and ran out of gas. For me, I never get tired of seeing the small village events. They are grass root without a lot of resources, but excitement filled nonetheless. I guess it is like 'the beauty is in the eyes of the beholder' only that the Super Sunday is also in the eyes of the beholders. Yesterday was super for sure.

I guess putting audio clips on this blog

is like just getting a new toy. So here is

another one.

I've talked about the San (Khwe) throughout

this blog. I am not sure if anybody has heard

any of the San languages spoken. If you've

seen "The Gods must be Crazy" 1 and 2 then

you have heard the clicks that are used in

their speech.

The San in the "Gods must be Crazy" are not

of the same tribe as the Khwe. I really don't

know which tribe of San the people in the

movies are from.

This morning I asked David (leader of the San

Cultural Group) to say a few words in Khwedam.

In this clip (click here) David is greeting you,

telling his name, where he was born and also

lives (Bwabwata National Park). He also mentions

that some of the animals here are elephants and

a few others. Also he welcomes you to the Park.

Big upcoming happenings are that the village is

going to get electric lines coming in. They are

starting to put up some poles next week. We

had a village generator but that has only worked

for about 2 months in the last year.

The electricity coming is good but at first it is

only going to the government buildings. The

school, the health clinic, police station and

the Youth Office. They said it would take at

least another year to hook up the rest of the

village.

For me, I am finished here in about 7 months

and no 24/7 electric for this kid in this village.

That's life and it's ok. We will keep trucking

on with our little camping generator.

Despite the not going to benefit from the

upcoming electric bonanza, I am happy that

the joint is going to develop. And that's tcaka

tceha (good really).

In the picture is what they call here a jerry

can. This one is made of plastic and I can

say that to me ... it is a hot water heater.

It is a simple concept if one doesn't have an

apparatus to produce hot water and doesn't

want to struggle with the fire wood gig.

One of the best things is there are no moving

parts, except the twist cap. So it makes it a

maintenance free system.

Here in Namibia there is about 300 days a year

(average) with sunshine. Since I've arrived back to

Namibia after a month back home I've only used

anything other than sun to both cook and heat

water, twice.

Doing some seat of the pants not so accurate

math I figure that out of about 148 days I used

the sun 98.65% of the time.

It goes like this ... 8 in the morning put the food

in the solar oven and jerry can with water in the

sun, finished. When I come back by noon every-

thing is ready.

Oh, and I got to say, that hot water can get scalding

hot. It can turn someone's cheeks another color

without a problem.Some Young San Cultural Group info. Today at the

village school the dignitaries came to inaugurate

a new building. The group was on the schedule to

perform and again, they brought the house down.

(Probably not a good thing to do after they just

built it, eh).

When they started everyone came running from

wherever to see. I've seen them do their dances

maybe a few hundred times but the kids never

seize to amaze me as to how well they've not

only improved their dancing but also their capacity

to entertain.

In two blog entries back (the one about the trip to

the lodge) I mentioned how Mavandje (the girl that

impersonates the monkey in the animal dance)

went up to an old man with white hair and acted

out grooming and taking out insects from his hair.

Well, this time when she danced the animal dance,

the old man with the not white hair but balding

nonetheless, was the victim. Yup, it was me.

Man, I knew she was going to do it, it happened

per chance that I was sitting in the front row and

I am like, oh oh. She's dancing next and I am

in a perfect position. Of course it happened, the

people had a great laugh, I probably blushed. It

was just great.

So as the sun is beginning to set over this village

out in the bush in Southern Africa, I will say ...

tcaka kara ee, maka tca ... stay in peace where-

ever you are.

Many times I've blogged about the Young

San Cultural Group. It is probably time that

you actually hear them.

I uploaded their harvest song which is one

of my favorites. The language is Khwedam

from one of the several San Tribes.

Here is the link ...

Mara Ku Se

I hope the link works and I hope that you

enjoy the song.

In the last blog article I mentioned that

on Saturday the 5th, we would be going

out to a lodge with the San Culture Group

to perform.

Well, it happened and it all went better

than expected.

Let me tell you how it all went down.

I went by David's (Cultural group leader)

house in the morning about 8 o'clock, just

before I went to the old airstrip to do some

jogging.

He was stepping out and I said I'd come by

after the run. This took about 40 minutes

and he was there with about half the kids.

They were stringing a few more necklaces

of beads and David and his brother Paulus

were going over the clothes to make sure

there were all the ties ... etc.

The kids were already antsy and saying that

the time was going by too slow.

So after a few hours I went back to my room

and just waited till the arranged pre-departure

get together time of two in the afternoon.

We were planned to leave at three thirty and

maybe two was too early and the kids were

just lounging around. We bought some fat cakes

and the kids ate and had some sweeto which

is equivalent to cool-aid.

At three thirty we met the transport (the school's

assistant principal) and after loading up fourteen

kids and four adults in a small pickup truck, we

were off.

This was actually kind of a big event for these kids

so I was hoping that during the 75 kilometer ride

to the lodge that we would be lucky enough to see

some animals. I felt that this would just make the

experience even better.

We were lucky and within 30 kilometers we saw

a large male elephant right on the side of the

road. To make it even better, in another 20 km

we saw a group of at least 80 elephants

crossing the road. There had to be at least 20

babies within the group. The babies were sur-

rounded by the adults.

We arrived in the small town (gas station, store,

maybe two other small shops ... that's it) and

went to the store to buy the kids some bread

and peanut butter for some sandwiches. We

killed about an hour getting that sorted and then

headed out to the lodge.

The lodge that we went to is situated along the

Okavango River. There are about 6 lodges along

a strip of about 15 kilometers.

We arrived, met the owners and were given

the first basic once over and shown where the

kids could get ready.

It was about 45 minutes before they were to per-

form. The owners wanted the group to arrive

a few minutes earlier to be able to get acquainted

with the layout. Seeing as it was our first time there.

Finally at 6:45 p.m. the kids began.

There were approximately 30 people from Germany,

England and the Netherlands there to watch.

I have seen the kids do their songs many, many times

and I have to say that this time the kids were on.

It kind of amazed me as it was their first time ever

at any lodge or in front of a group that wasn't San.

These kids are ages from 9 to 16 so to me it was

even more amazing how well they just went about

dancing.

But I must say that they took about 4 songs before

they started to interact with the crowd.

It started in the animal dance when the girl that was

impersonating the monkey went up to an older man

and emulated picking bugs out of his hair.

Man, that was funny and he turned red and his wife

had a good laugh.

The picture above shows the group during their

second song.

All in all it was a great night and a great memory.

On the way back home we saw a bunch of animals

such as elans, buffalo, kudu and elephants. So

even till the end it was eventful.

Also, the kids were excited and sang in the back

of the truck all the way home. Usually they sing

for about 5 minutes after leaving and 5 minutes

before arriving. So they were animated.

Another big point was that the group was the first

San group to ever perform at any one of those

lodges.

So maybe we have opened the door for other San

groups.

The owner told David that he thinks that we'll be

back again and as for me, after a year of trying

to get this to go ... I am content.

Yeah, sometimes this volunteer gig has it's good

moments.

The upcoming big event (for us) is still

on track. As anyone who has ever worked

as a volunteer can tell you ... nothing is sure

until you've arrived back after the plan went

off.

But, I am especially concerned about the trip

to the lodge coming out somewhat successful.

Basically, if we go, that's success. It is the

simple criteria we are striving for.

The main reason being is that last year the kids

were promised that would have the chance to go

to Botswana. They were to attend the 'Kuru Festival'.

A big cultural event that attracts many groups.

They had money to go to the event donated by

an NGO that works with indigenous minorities. The

kids were pumped and another organization that

promised to supply the transport, didn't even show.

The kids were just plain ... well ... best said ... their

little hearts were ripped out.

As a result, they lost confidence, interest and

... so ... if one wants a group together for reasons

as to develop or help or support, things like

disappointment is not going to bring any kind of

good results.

So, what we've done is confirmed, confirmed,

confirmed, confirmed and re-confirmed. But still

doesn't mean that we're going to be in business.

But, this time, it seems that it could actually happen.

The guy providing transport is the best we can find.

The lodge is really top notch. The owners are quality

and have an interest in supporting the San within the

National Park.

So, with a week to go all the stars are lined up and

hopefully they stay that way.

On the kids side, as you can see in the picture they

were lining up to do their routine a second time.

The kids are working hard.

It surprised me as I have been involved with that

group for over a year an a half and I have never seen

them this way. I am impressed with their effort.

Back to the picture ... on the left in the red shirt is

David the group's leader. He's been involved with

the cultural group project since 2005.

These kids are what you could call of the second

generation.

This is a good project and it keeps young kids

occupied (especially out here in the bush) and it

has had a positive affect as all the kids in the group

are attending school.

They are really just a great group of kids.

Yesterday, they put on a show during their practice

sessions. David told them that with a week left

it was time to buckle down, get serious and try

their best.

They also motivated a few elders to come and

participate.

The elders have the knowledge that's not getting

passed out due to the different way of life.

One of the goals with this group is to do just that.

Try and keep the 'Old Ways' alive by handing down

the knowledge, just as it used to be.

Again, the elders just talked about participating

and if the old saying goes ... if I had a dollar for

every time ... then we'd be pretty much set.

But this volunteer thing is a lot of time hoping and

praying that things will work out.

Stars, stars ... don't move at least until 7:00 p.m. next

Saturday night.

This way their little hearts won't be broken again..

It has been oh ... let me think ... something like

a year since I've talked to the lodge owner about

our Young San Cultural Group going to his lodge

to perform. I mentioned a bit about this being a

possibility in the prior blog post. In fact, if they

go they will be the first San group to have performed

at any of those lodges along the Namibia side

of the Okavango River.

Since posting that article we've been working on

making it come to fruition. The main problem we

had was transportation as the lodge is about 75 km

or 50 miles away.

We've received a promise of being transported by

the village school's assistant principal. He's about the

most reliable person in the joint, so, if it don't go with

him ... then ... it's about impossible to get that sorted.

So that is good, then we have an agreement with the

lodge owner who is noted as a reputable man so the

two biggest issues are ... on paper, solved.

It ought to be pretty interesting and the kids are going

to basically get thrown out of the boat and have to

tread water. Sounds bad, huh? What I mean by that

is it will be the first time for the kids to perform at any

lodge. Plus, the owner wanted them to show up on the

5th of November because he's having a full house and

supposedly they are going to be important guests.

Man, got to admit, I really don't know how the kids are

as far as anxiety about it goes but, I got a little. Well anxiety

seems to be kind of a negative thing, I guess. I really have

concern or more like, I am really hoping that it goes so

well.

Right now the kids are going nuts practicing which is the

goal of it all is to keep them engaged in activity. As it has

been said: " Idle mind is the devil's playground". Really

holds true out here in the bush.

We have to nail down a 45 minute program and the group

has a mixture of traditional songs and some new ones of

their own.

As for my work goal in all this ... it's to really get the group

to get their first plunge into a new world.

The other day I thought back to my time in El Salvador and

how we did the 'plunge' only with girls soccer. In the campo

(word for bush, rural area) it was unheard of. It took 14

months of cajoling, pleading, begging and finally just plain

demanding. But we had one game and we were ... out there ...

pushing the envelope so to speak. But two years later I

received an email from the volunteer that replaced me and

in it was a picture of a girls soccer team with full uniforms.

I felt pretty ok when I saw it.

So, I guess it is getting easier because this time it was only

12 months to get the activity happening. But I do hope that

at least, if they never go again to another lodge to perform,

that they will have had one good experience that they'll

never forget. Or, I'll get an email with a picture of them

tearing it up with the crowd going crazy, can lightning

strike same place twice?

Oops, almost forgot, in my enthusiasm I am leaning towards,

this is all going to work out and we will go. But, through

experience it is better to think of the glass as half empty.

This way if there is a let down, there's not too far to fall.

But, we will get there ... this time ... for sure ... again.

The other day we received our first rain of

the upcoming rainy season.

It is really remarkable how the plants spring

to life with little humidity. They are what survives

and thrives in these conditions.

In the picture is one of those plants that flower

after receiving it's first watering/rain. The picture

is kind of bleached out and my first thought

was to shade it a bit to make it look a little prettier,

but I decided to leave it the way it is. The reason

being is I feel that it gives a good example of the

light and ambiance at this time of year out in the bush.This volunteer work is something at times and it

really is simply, working with people and not much

more complicated than that. The simple and logical

way to put it is ... if the people want to, then it will go

and the chance of it being actually anywhere close

to sustainable, may happen.

This is the intro to an update concerning the work with

the San Young Cultural Group. I've mentioned it prior

blog entries that one of the underlying goals is to get

the kids out of the village and give them the opportunity

to see and experience some new things. The purpose

is to combat the tendencies of the youth to drink alcohol

out of what they call 'boredom'.

So, to get them out and about will hopefully open their

minds and give alternative visions as to which direction

they may want their lives to head to.

A year ago I met one of two owners of a lodge 80 km

or 50 miles from here.

At that time I mentioned to him that we had this San

Culture Group and is there was any way that they may

have the chance to go to his lodge and perform. He said

that he was trying to encourage San groups to come to

his lodge but hadn't had much success.

I returned to the village and told our group's leader what

I was told. Well, nothing happened and despite probably

bugging the leader once every two weeks, it took the

leader's per chance meeting of the lodge's owner to

look like ... the show may actually hit the road. As men-

tioned above ... if they want to, it will probably work out.

We have to begin to work out the details this week and

trying to keep the 'glass half full' mantra ... am hoping

that it finally will be

.

I added on one more year here and one of my main

goals before I finish is to at least ... once ... see the

kids have (as of now) probably the biggest experience

of their lives.

It could open the door to a fantastic opportunity to have

an ongoing working relationship with the lodge. If not,

it will be a life skill experience and it is a no lose

situation.It is kind of funny but after one lives in a place for a while

we seem to get the feeling as how things are flowing.

In this village there have been some problems like

anywhere else, I guess.

Mainly alcohol, a confusion in leadership and throw in

a few tricky people ... and ... it all just adds up to a

situation that holds everything and everybody back.

This has been the circumstance almost ever since I've

arrived here but the crazy thing is ... that over the last few

weeks some of the people are beginning to stand up

and take back some control.

The place actually feels different. Maybe there is more

than one change of season going on.

As the Dalai Lama said; "the true development is the

development of the character".

I found this to be so true, as if the people have good

intentions then things work out fine. Maybe they will

even make better life choices.This is good for me as people are coming up to me to

help them write reports, proposals and even add two

cents of my opinion to it all.It only took two and a half years for this energy to come

to life.I have 8 months left and I know that the rainy season is

sure to come. I just hope that the motivational season

has also just started and lasts till I am finished.

Our Young San Cultural Group uses as

their clothing, skins, just like in the old way.

The San cannot hunt anymore as was their

cultural/ancestral way. So to get skins it's not

like the way it used to be where the hunters

would go out and of course bring them back.

Now, how one gets a hold of skins is to

request it from the local game farms or

from the game hunters.

There is game hunting allowed and it is done

in a controlled manner so as to not deplete

the animal population.

Our cultural group has grown a little and we

were in need of a few articles of clothes for

the boys.

In the picture you can see one of the managers

of the group sewing a skin into a piece of

clothing.There were a few things that happened this

week. One actually happened and the other is

a promise for something to happen.

First, the promise of what may happen. That is,

that we may get the opportunity to take the

cultural group kids to a game park. This will

be accomplished with the help of one of the

Lodges which are along the Okavango river.

The owners are from South Africa and they

are interested in working and supporting the

San people.

They have promised to provide two game

watching vehicles and the kids ought to be

looking pretty important riding in those. None

of the kids have seen many of the game animals

and this should be a huge treat. Here it is a

bit different as there isn't much transport

available for these types of activities.

To say the least, this will be big.

As a way of saying thank you to the Lodge

owners we are hoping to go to the place

itself and perform an appreciation program.

This will also get the kids to see this Lodge

which is a really nice one.

So, as it goes time and time again. This is a

promise and nothing has happened and

seeing is believing but this one seems a

little more sure than usual.The thing that did happen was on the 7th it

was National HIV testing day. Man, there was

at least 150 people that showed up. The other

years there were like 15 tops. Don't know

what happened but it was crazy.

Knowing one's status really is the only way to

plan.

If one is negative they can continue to protect

themselves, or, if they were just plain lucky, then,

they can think seriously about protecting

themselves.

For those who have contracted HIV, then, they

can be monitored until or if, they may need to

start taking ARVs.

But to have that many people come out is

close to a miracle.

It was a good week and really pretty satisfying.

In the picture is what is for dessert

today.

The weather in the southern hemisphere

is starting to change and the sun is

beginning to get a bit stronger day by

day.

This gives us the opportunity to get more

creative with our solar oven menu as we

have more heat to work with.

What me and my site mate made were

these rolls. There are two types thanks

to a care package. We have blueberry

and raisin.

With the limited supplies we have out

in the bush it takes a little creativeness

to put anything other than rice and sardines

in our plates.

It is a simple recipe and if anyone is interested

here it is ...-1 and half cups of flour

-1 package of cinnamon oatmeal

half teaspoon of salt

-1 to 1 and a half tablespoon(s) of yeast

- over room temperature of water or warm to touchknead that together and let sit in warm place for

about half an hour.Then the key to this is to roll it out using an old

ketchup bottle into a semi thin sheet. (The

bottle is the only thing we had to roll the

dough out). Just joking and anything to roll

out is obviously ok.Next ingredients are ...

- cinnamon

- sugar

- blueberries

- raisinsSprinkle a generous amount of cinnamon and

sugar on the top. Then add the raisins and

blueberries. Roll them up them cut them into

pieces like in the photo.We put them in the solar oven for a few hours

but now the sun is overhead and the oven

is really hot. So don't know how that would

translate into a regular oven temperature.But it came out great, it is a little treat and

despite being out here in the middle of nowhere,

with a bunch of sun, it can be done.

In the picture on the left are two bicyclists.

They are from France and have been cycling

down the west coast of Africa.They've been on the road exactly one year

when they dropped in to stay overnight here

in the village. At the end of one year they have

accumulated 11,000 kilometers.For me it was interesting and I can speak the

French language. They were surprised and

of course they observed and mentioned that

I speak the Quebec / Canadian French. But

actually I really speak the Le Senegal village

French. I can speak well enough to not be

able to go hungry in any Francophone country.

But it was good nonetheless to be able to use

the language again.Also in the picture on the right is the guy from

Romania and his wife and child.We are located in the middle of a national

park and there isn't much for miles or

kilometers at a time. So, for cyclists our

location is actually advantageous.So far we've had a couple from New Zealand

and the United States stay here about a month

back.This is actually a pretty fun thing to be able to

have people drop by and if they are cycling

through Africa they are apt to be interesting.As far as activities in the village ... it has been

a little slow. The work with the cultural group

has been sidetracked due to a church taking

the group and using them as a choir. It is ok

except for the fact that the church has practice

on Friday and then has services later on

Saturday. So, they cut into the time that was

used as cultural group time.I really don't know how this will pan out but I am

hoping that the cultural group will be able to

get back together. But this one I am not too

sure of.This seems to be a typical scenario. It goes

like this ... whenever it is too good to be true,

it is.So, it is placing a little more emphasis now

on the small business sector or ... working

with the guy who is working to develop his

beekeeping.So, seeing as plan A is sidetracked, it's time

to go to plan B.Now it is out tomorrow to look for a plan C.

I found that a volunteer always needs to have

one plan in the bank, just in case.

In the picture is a traditional piece used

by the village's San cultural group.The skirt is tied around the waist and

the beaded area is worn over the behind.

When the girls are dancing the beads

move and it adds kind of maracas sound

to the songs.The one in the picture is actually a mixture.

The yellow pieces are reeds and are

actually traditional for the Mbukushu people.

They are a Bantu language speaking tribe.

The other pieces are porcupine quills.The San (Khwe) people are Khoesan

speaking and their traditional pieces

are the porcupine quills.For the Young San Traditional Dance

Group we have about 6 of those at this

time. We are in the process of trying to

change the reeds to the quills.To get the quills is not easy and it is more

about people happening to find them. So,

it is going to be a process to outfit the 6

skirts with the quills.It will take time. Things move slow out here

in the bush.

I have been back in the village for over

a month and it is always a little struggle

to get momentum going again.

But ... things are starting to move. Right

now the majority of the people in the

village are out in the bush collecting what

they call ... devil's claw. .

They dig it up, sell it and it is then exported

to somewhere in Europe where I've been

told they process it for some natural remedy

or drink. I really don't know for sure.

We have been continuing with the Young San

(Khwe) Cultural Group project. In the picture

is an old metal shelf from a locker that we'll

try and make a nice sign out of. The kids

have gotten a little entrepreneurial and have

gone out to the road and are trying to attract

tourist to watch them dance and hopefully

leave an offering.

What happens is that we are the first village

that anyone comes too after driving 60 km

or about 42 miles. So by the time they come

up upon the village they are going pretty fast.

The kids have found that they need a decent

sign that is at least 500 meters or yards

ahead of where they are so the people have

time to stop or not jam on the brakes and

create an accident.

So, me and the Romanian guy have volunteered

to try and make a good sign that will be easy

to read for people who are traveling at 130 kph

or 80 miles per hour.

We also made a music CD of the songs that

the group performs. I took the audio off the

video clips that we took of their practices. The

group played it last night. I wasn't there but

I guess they had a little speaker system and

the neighbors all came over thinking that they were

performing. The kids danced to the CD and also

decided that they wanted to do a few of the songs

over and also add to the 12 songs on the disc.

We are trying to also take the kids out to the

game park to see some of the animals. This

is always an exercise in patience and the ability

to face rejection and being let down. We have

talked with an organization about transportation

but we would be going in a few weeks during

their school break. A few weeks is a long time

when it comes to planning things out here. So,

that's on the drawing board and we'll just try our

level best to make it work for the kids.

I've had a discussion with David the head of the

cultural group and a person who works with

cultural issues and so forth.

The point is that with the change in the traditional

ways of the San that the knowledge of the those

ways have a chance of vanishing with the passing

of the elders. I brought back a small Flip Video

camera and the thought is to try and film interviews

with the elders and hopefully get them to demonstrate

the traditional skills and tell us of the old ways.

The thought is that if we can document some or all

of it that it would be available for future generations

if need be. I am not sure if this has been done before

for this San (Khwe) people but no one seems to

remember anything like it.

The plan is to create a small digital library . But like

all the ideas and plans, it seems great and we are

ambitious about it. The real thing is ... can we do it.

This will take participation and if the elders agree

then we are in business.

We have one man who lived the old ways until he

was in his early 20's, so he would have gone

through all the traditional ways such as hunting a

springbok on foot. This would have proven that

he was capable of being a provider. We will

start with him and he is a good man with an

open mind and he understands what we are

trying to do.

I am excited about this as I should have a

tremendous chance to learn of the old ways. Of

course they will talk in the San language of

Khwedam so I will understand not too much.

David will fill me in afterwards.

Right now the majority of the work is cultural related

and in my mind it is more important than what it

seems to be. A people have lost their traditional

ways and are struggling to find another identity

or way. Sometimes it is better to take what you've

learned and then go back to the beginning or

basics. In this case the basics are the old societal

ways.

Now, the societal ways are somewhat confused and

many of the ways such as only elders could drink

alcohol, respect for adults and expectation of young

men providing for their families are on the way to

being lost. These are just a few examples.

By keeping in touch with the old way's expectations

from the society and adapting it to today's life, I

think that the San could work they way out of the

marginalized life that many are experiencing now.

All this sounds good on paper but it is a challenge

at the least. That's why I came back for a third year.

It has been a while since I've posted to

this blog. In the meantime I've been back

home to the States for a month's leave. I arrived back in the village last weekend

and have begun my third year here. It takes a few days to get back in the swing

of things for the obvious reason that the life

in the States as compared to here is very

different. It takes energy to grasp a hold of

the 'now' and the wheels in the brain were

spinning continuously marking the differences

from here and there. But it is back and it is time to get back to

business. I went to the cultural group's practice yesterday

and they were highly motivated and it was

really fun and the energy was proverbially off

the charts. We've gotten a new skin to replace

the one on the second new drum. That was

the one that the kids destroyed within the first

week. It is a duiker skin and should be a few

times stronger than a goat skin. They said that

the duiker skin should last at least three years.

All we have to do is get the man who made the

drums to do the process of treating the skin and

make it fit. We did a little home improvement as you can

see in the picture. With electricity at what is best

described as 'sometimes' we have to always

have the candle back ups. We made four of these wall mounted candle holders

out of some wood that was laying around. One person

mentioned that we are getting the old castle lighting

scheme going. They may call it that but I call it mood lighting. In fact,

it's really kind of nice at night and has a peaceful and

tranquil effect which is a good way to end anyone's

day. So, it is back in the saddle again and as things get

moving, I will be posting more entries. One more year and more ahead.

In the picture you can see four of the

kids who are part of the Young San

Cultural Group.In their hands are from left to right ...

can on a stick with some beans in it.

The girl on the left has the 'kaworoworo'.

I had a past blog article about it and

if you put kaworoworo in the search

field in the above right it should search

it out, if your interested.

The only thing I can add to my knowledge

of the kaworoworo is that by trying to

play it, I've found that as simple as it looks,

it takes some practice. So far, it appears

that I need a bit.The next one is one of the new drums. In

fact, it is the big bass drum and you

can see in the middle of the drum's head

a black substance. That's from bees wax

and they put that on there to increase the

bass sound.To the right the young girl has the '|'guru'

and again, there is a prior blog article

concerning it. Again, what I can add to my

knowledge of the |'guru is through my playing

it. This one is easier and you can see in the

girl's right hand what looks like a melon

skin. That has a little hole on the side of it

and there is a little piece of some type of

membrane over it. It plays best on the bare

stomach and it seems that it is something

that's played while someone is singing.There are about two to three other instruments

that we need to get, plus also need to learn

how to play.The second new drum's skin is already

destroyed. It only took a week so we have to

look for a new goat skin again. This time the

kids are going to pay for it. They have a little

fund they acquired from dancing for a few

tourists.So the group's leader told them, you broke it,

you fix it.The leader of the group is doing a good job

and is not only concerned with dancing and

performing but also the development of the

members character. Out here in the bush and

in this village, it is just so important.But one thing I can say about the kids screwing

up the new drum ... well ... kids are kids no

matter where they are in the world.