Week 5: Home Sweet Home - Living with a Family in Katutura

Post by Kelly Perfect

Well it is week five here in Namibia and as the summer flowers come into full bloom so do we. Of course I can only speak for myself but I feel that in many respects we have become well adjusted to living abroad and all that it entails. In the short time we have been here I feel that I have already learned so much about Namibia and the rich culture of this beautiful country. Much of this knowledge was gained very recently as we completed our urban homestays in Windhoek. I was placed with a lovely family of five with three children: two girls age 11 and 12 and a 4-year-old boy. I came into the situation assuming that the culture of a Namibian family would vastly differ from my own and that I would often be pushed out of my comfort zone, but to my surprise this was not the case in my experience.

With all of our study of traditional culture, history, and development I think we have in a sense been set up to expect all Namibians to strongly abide to these practices, but I found this to be largely untrue of the daily going-ons of my host family. While I did learn a lot about traditional African cooking and tradition and added a few excellent recipes to my repertoire I felt as if most of the week I was just staying with another family in the US. Everyone in my family was very inquisitive and intelligent and as much as I asked them questions about their life they asked about mine. But I think the most valuable lesson I gained was that even when you are on the other side of the world a family is a family.

Every night we ate dinner together and talked about our days, we watched popular TV shows and movies (which were usually American) and slept in on Sunday mornings. All of these things provided a lot of comfort to me and made me realize that all in all we are not so different. In spending time with my host brother and sisters I realized that middle school in Namibia is just as uncomfortable, insecure and awkward as many of us remember and that four-year-old boys have A LOT of energy no matter where you go.

Being in a different country you are conditioned to constantly observe the differences you see between your home culture and the new culture you are living in, but in doing so we often miss many of the similarities that bind us together as human beings. We all care about our families and coming home to a place filled with love and support.  We all want what is best for those we care about and ultimately hope just to be happy. When you really think about it these similarities seem much more important to me than the differences, because aren’t all of these things what are really important anyway?

Week 4: An insightful first week of classes

Post by Buay Tut

Even though this week marked the official start of our first full week of classes, classes have really been in session since the first day we landed in Johannesburg, South Africa. From the Hector Peterson Museum to meeting with Representatives from the ANC and the DA; these museums, historical sites, and lectures have facilitated insightful and motivating discussion among our group.  We constantly had to think critically and analyze the information presented to us in these unofficial classrooms.  It is this kind of critical thinking, inter-active, co- learning community which I have seen take shape in our first week of classes. Our courses utilize lectures, guest speakers, and field trips to help us gain an all-around understanding of the issues and topics covered.

Team building during week 1 also
played an important role in forming our
interactive, co-learning community

Our small class sizes make for great engagement and participation in discussion. I am also very happy with the student-centered approach taken by CGE in which many different types of learning techniques and styles are taken into consideration and utilization. Most of the learning takes place in our very own living room where we meet for most class sessions. I am very happy with this arrangement as classes have felt more like an exchange of ideas and discourse between each other. 

During this first week of classes we covered topics spanning religious identity, yoga philosophy, post-apartheid constitutionalism and an introduction to the traditional people of Namibia.

Wednesday morning we had our first religion course taught by Rev. Dr. Paulus Ndamanomhata. In this initial meeting we each presented on the development and evolution of our own critical analysis of religion and social change. We focused on what we saw the role of religion or spirituality to be in our lives and how it has created change in our communities, country and in the world. During this course we had a discussion pertaining to the role that parents should play in facilitating religious exploration for their children. The overarching question in this discussion was, should parents wait until their children were old enough and let them decide what religion to practice?

I personally felt it was perfectly fine for parents to bring their children up in whatever religious forum they saw fit. The bases for my belief was parents will always want what’s best for their children, and no parent would deprive their child of something they see to be beneficial or they themselves partake in. I also felt parents should be open and honest in facilitating discussion and questions from their children concerning religion.

                                                  

Students gathering in the living room before classes begin

This spirit of discourse continued into our first history course on Thursday where we explored questions such as why we study history, and the many different methods of historical enquiry available. We discussed how history is often told and written favoring the perspective of those in power. 

We concluded the week with Yoga and Political Science. In Politics we discussed the role which constitutions and constitutionalism has played in Africa, focusing on the role which foreign and international parties should have played in the drafting of African Constitutions. We also discussed whether a perfect constitution, which reflects the realities of society and is regarded by all inhabitants of a nation, could ever exist.

This quote by Nelson Mandela best captured my feelings during the first week of classes.

“No single person, no body of opinion, no political doctrine, no religious doctrine can claim a monopoly on truth.” –Nelson Mandela

Week 3: Getting Oriented to Life in Windhoek

Post by Samantha Frisk

We arrived back in Windhoek, refreshed from our time at Etosha, and were ready to settle in and become a little more familiar with our temporary home.  It was a packed week with tours of Windhoek and the start of classes and internships.

After Linda gave us an overall view of Windhoek, its different subdivisions and beautiful landscape, we hit up the local market for some Kapana (meat sliced and barbecued as you order it) and fat cakes!  We admired the hand-made Oshiwambo skirts and took note of some other vendors we might want to visit later. 

The next day, accompanied by a member of Kasie Adventures, we checked out some of what Katatura has to offer.  In this formerly black township, we visited the local radio station, Lutheran church, and an art studio.  We also shopped around for lunch and later in the day calculated how prices compared to those in the U.S., finding that the cost of living is much more than an average salary here and while some things may look inexpensive to us, a person has to work many hours to obtain some very basic items. Our guides offered us an honest perspective of some of the challenges this township still faces and the ways they hope to combat those, specifically by inspiring young students. 

Kasie Adventures was founded by Young Achievers, a youth empowerment group that is run almost entirely by students.  They organize and implement projects and seminars that aim to empower younger students through passing along their leadership skills and encouraging educational goals.  As an initiative to try to become self-sustainable they created Kasie Adventures and now give tours of Katutura on a more intimate level than just driving through or seeing the township from a distance. 

For me, this was a chance to interact a little with the people that live there and I was shocked to find that many of them do not come in contact with white people often.  Though this seemed outrageous to many of us, the reality was that though apartheid laws were not still in place, they still have an effect on the people living here.

Finally, we started some classes and our internships; our language class was particularly interesting.  Damara is the language that our rural home stay families will primarily speak, so we have begun learning greetings and introductions.  This “click” language is particularly difficult for a lot of us because of the new sounds it incorporates, but Sarah (a permanent CGE staff member) taught our first class and was really enthusiastic and encouraging, so we had fun.

The busy, but exciting week, was brought to a fantastic close with our first Yoga class.  The group left feeling rejuvenated and ready for the weekend!

Week 2 - A Wedding in the North

Post by Leah Rosenstiel

On our second morning in Namibia we left for a wedding in the North and a trip to Etosha National Park. Most groups hear about the North before they visit it. We, on the other hand, went there knowing almost nothing and got to learn from what we saw and experienced. From what we saw, the North, everything above Etosha, is a mixture of rural farms, suburban housing and small metropolitan areas. We were staying near the city of Oshakati at the Ongwediva Rural Development Center.

We were told that about 50 percent of Namibians either live in the North or consider the North their home, even if they are living somewhere else for work. The wedding that we attended was between our history professor Romanus and Katarina. I was surprised by the fact that even though both of them live in Windhoek, they still have very strong ties to the North as they opted for a traditional Oshivambo wedding eight hours away from Windhoek so that their communities would recognize the marriage.

Though we only got a small glimpse of life in the North, I noticed a very strong sense of community and tradition. But there were also aspects of the wedding that felt very modern. The wedding took place over the course of two days. The first day was spent in the bride’s village of Okatana. The day began with a Catholic ceremony followed by the wedding reception. The wedding party looked like the wedding parties I have seen in the United States. The bride wore a modern white dress and her bridesmaids also wore very modern dresses. The groom and groomsmen all wore suits. Many of the older women attending the wedding, though, wore traditional Ovambo dresses or skirts. Though the service was not in English, it seemed similar to a Catholic Church service in the US.

The reception afterwards was also a mix of modern and traditional. The bride’s family had to allow the couple to come into the reception. This tradition suggests the important role that family and the community play in weddings. It is not just about the bride and groom but many people in the community have to accept the marriage. They were greeted by a parade of women dressed in traditional clothes, all of whom seemed very excited about the wedding. Once the bride and groom were welcomed in, members of the bride’s family talked about why they approved of the marriage, similar to toasts people might give at weddings in the US.  Then everyone moved into large tents for dinner.

Presentation of the wedding gifts during the reception

The next day there was another reception in the groom’s village. One of the big things I noticed during the receptions was the number of different people that participated. Even the bridal party helped serve drinks and get everyone seated. The participation of all of these people really made the wedding feel like a marriage of two communities and two families. That led me to believe that community is a large part of people’s lives in the North.

Overall, I really enjoyed attending this wedding. I think that many of the traditions we observed will provide a good background for the topics that we will cover in class. I also like that now when someone says that they are from the North, I will have a better idea of what that means. Being at this wedding gave us all a taste of how some people who live modern lives in Windhoek still have strong ties to tradition. I am not sure what other Namibian weddings are like but the combination of these two things seemed harmonious. I was also struck by how similar parts of this wedding seemed to American weddings. Going to Etosha National Park, where you see wild animals that only live in zoos in the United States, it is strange to think that there are so many cultural similarities.

Week 1: A Warm South African Welcome

Post by: Katelyn Stermer

One of the many reasons I chose to come on the CGE Namibia program was for their great incorporation of experiential learning—the largest components of which are the home stays with South African and Namibian families. In total, we will complete three home stays, which will vary in duration and style. We spent our first weekend in Southern Africa on our first home stay with families from SOWETO (South Western Townships) in Johannesburg, South Africa. Our second home stay will last 10 days and begin in about 2 weeks time, when we will be living with a family in Windhoek, Namibia at night and returning to the CGE house during the day for classes and internships. Our third and final home stay will last one week and will be in the rural area Khorixas in the Kunene region of Namibia, located West of Windhoek. We will be taking language classes for this home stay because of the complexity of their language and the non-existence of many English speakers in the area.

As mentioned above, this weekend we had an exciting time with our SOWETO host families. Leah and I had the pleasure of living with the Makhothi family of the Orlando East neighborhood. Five people, the same as my family, live in the Makhothi household; Teboho (father), Mathapo (mother), Tshoanelo or ‘twani’ for short (daughter-18), Manneng (son-14), Ramokhele or ‘Ramu’ for short (brother- 10). Their normal weekend activities consist of watching lots of American and South African TV shows and visiting their extended family throughout SOWETO. We participated in all of these activities, attended church with the family and spent an afternoon walking around Orlando East with Twani’s friends.

The thing about South African families is… they are just like American families. I wasn’t very conscious of my misconceptions until I really experienced a weekend in the Makhothi home. Teboho and Mathapo have the same worries about their children and jobs as my parents have. The children work just as hard at schoolwork as my siblings do. What this home stay taught me more than anything is that we should be conscious of global problems because they affect people who are just like ourselves, only living in a different part of the world. 

This clicked for me when we toured Orlando East with Twani’s friends. The group of 19 and 20 yearold students (once again, same as us) immediately dove into conversation comparing life in South Africa and life in the United States. From pop culture to politics, unemployment rates to health care, the situations in South Africa are almost identical to those issues at the forefront of American minds. It amazes me that with such similarities many Americans are still oblivious to other areas of the world. I have appreciated not only learning about how related our two countries are, but what the people of South Africa think of Americans. Their expressions were generally positive with the caveat that we don’t look outside of our own country enough. I completely agree with their assertions and though trying my hardest to be otherwise, I have been culpable of those arrogant views in the past.

On the last night of our stay the family gathered Leah and I to give us traditional Sesotho names. My name is Lerota, meaning ‘Love’. This was a significant moment for me because I understood that these home stay experiences and my internship will teach me much deeper lessons than I could learn from any book or lecture.  I cannot wait to ask questions, embrace customs, and delve into the traditions of my next two host families.

Fall Semester 2012 - Week 1: Making Sense of Post-apartheid Economics

Post by: James Repp

Eight days in South Africa and hardly one day in Namibia are not enough to gain a full understanding of my new living situation, but it has provided a valuable, if only limited, window into a new cultural experience. Getting used to the winter (read: cold) weather was one thing, but trying to understand a whole new political, economic, and social atmosphere has proven to be a much greater challenge. 

Ever since landing, I’ve been confronted with the economic reality of two countries coping with the lasting effects of an apartheid regime. During our second day in Johannesburg, we had the pleasure of speaking with Dr. Dale McKinley, a political activist and economist, who brought us up to date on the darker side of South Africa’s economic situation. According to McKinley, when the apartheid regime decided to give up power, they struck a deal with Mandela and the African National Congress (ANC), the majority political party that grew out of the liberation struggle. That deal promised to allow South Africa to become the democratic entity that it is today while keeping the economic structure of the regime intact. 

As McKinley said, there has been a huge accumulation of wealth in this country, mostly by the white community, many of whom are invested in the immense mineral resources the country has to offer. With so much money at stake, those in power weren’t about to relinquish their economic advantage because of a popular outcry against a brutal and unjust regime. As has happened throughout history, the regime fell, but those in power didn’t go anywhere, and they kept the country in an apartheid economy, despite the ANC rising to power.

I have seen this reflected in the structure of the cities that we have visited: Johannesburg, Pretoria, and even Windhoek continue to have the ‘rich, white’ north and the ‘poor, black’ south. Having only visited Soweto and Kliptown when I heard McKinley speaking, I found myself shocked when he told us that there had been “a huge accumulation of wealth.” Having just explored the tin shacks, pirated electric lines, and overall poverty of Kliptown, it was hard to believe that there were mansions only a few miles away. 

Not only are the communities still very racially split, but the opportunity to work one’s way out of poverty is not exactly abundant. Poor education and a disenfranchised lower class have resulted in a sustained unofficial unemployment rate of over 40% for the last twenty years. That is worse than the highest unemployment rate during the United States Great Depression. Some poorer neighborhoods that we explored had unemployment rates of up to 90%, reflected by the sheer number of young men lining the streets appearing to be doing virtually nothing. When dealing with the South African economy, one should understand that it has virtually remained in a great depression for over two decades, with no end in sight.

Dr. McKinley emphasized that there is no “silver bullet” to fix South Africa’s economy. The only way to reverse the negative effects of an apartheid system is to invest in the lowest classes. There is no such thing as ‘trickle down’ economics here (or in my opinion, anywhere). McKinley believes that the government has to close the expanding economic inequality by fighting against further privatization and providing short-term jobs to relieve those at the bottom. 

When meeting with representatives of the ANC, the majority party, I asked them what they thought about McKinley’s ideas. They acknowledged that their party needed to more vigorously enforce drastic changes in the South African economy. “Just don’t ask me what it is that we should be doing,” he said. In my opinion, that’s exactly the question we need to be asking.

References:

Dale McKinley lecture to CGE students at St. Peter’s Place, August 14th, 2012.
Thami Hcokwane, ANC party member speaking to CGE students on August 16th, 2012.