Red Tape and Trashcans

There are parts of this post that aren't great for kids.

Friday the 13^th in a country that is really superstitious isn’t as fun as I thought it would be.  To many Namibians, an owl is a witch and snake is an agent Satan.  People here are killed by snakes sometimes, so I can understand the origins of that superstition.  But owls I don’t get.  They eat snakes, so they act as a sort of protector of the people.  I’ve had this conversation a few times here, but I’ve given up on trying to get Namibians to love owls.  I have, however, been having some success with punctuality.  I’m now working with 7 different aspiring entrepreneurs.  Most of my consultees’ business plans are coming along nicely and two of them have managed to get meetings with Bank Windhoek to discuss loans (at 30% interest).  Something that they’ve all learned is to show up on time.  You have no idea what a significant accomplishment that is.   

Two Fridays ago, I was sitting in my office when one of my counterparts entered and asked that I judge a debate between 7 schools on gender based violence.  I said ‘yes’ not knowing exactly what I was agreeing to.  If we had a debate team in my high school, I wasn’t aware of it.  I have never been to a debate and I had no idea what they entailed.  The next Monday, after a somewhat typical nothing-occurring-as-planned-scramble, which included a venue change and the event coordinator vanishing (he unceremoniously reappeared two days later, thank goodness), and two hours of chaos later, the debate started.  Since we were so far behind schedule, none of the judges were introduced.  I was shown my seat on the stage, given a stack of debate scoring forms, and a pencil.  My mother is hopelessly nice, and part of that has rubbed off on me when it comes to situations like this.  I gave each team better scores than I probably should have, but I figured as long as I was being consistent, it was still fair.  Each team selected one person from their team to speak about the issue of gender based violence, give examples, discuss whether they feel it is more of a social issue or a government issue to address, and finally their suggestion for steps that should be taken to address it.  Many used very recent newspaper articles as examples (no shortage of these).  Some even spoke about violence they’d witnessed.  Gender based violence is a big problem here.  News stories about girlfriends being murdered by jealous boyfriends are common.  TV ads are run to bring attention to the issue, as well as various other types of awareness campaigns. 

Another big issue here is teen pregnancy (70% teen pregnancy rate in the Kavango region).  The Namibian government and other volunteer organizations have been particularly focused on this problem recently.  Wednesday was “World Population Day” which is meant to promote the “Universal Access to Reproductive Health Services”.   The day started with a march.  I met the roughly 100 marchers at a local gas station.  The march was supposed to begin at 8:00AM.  I was not surprised when the March didn’t start on time.  I got to spend the 1.5 hour delay wading through the sea of learns, taking photos, and begging them to let me get a least a few shots free of gang signs (they learn that crap from American rappers, gang activity isn’t an issue in Rundu).  It turned out to be a fun day.  Here are some shots:

Getting ready to march

The Youth Center's traditional dance group performing for the Minister of Youth and other officials

The Youth Center's traditional dance group

In other news, my trashcan got stolen.  I got in a heated debate with the agency that handles Rundu garbage pickup when they told me I’d have visit their office in person after filing a police report if I wanted a replacement (it’s a trashcan).  I gave my housemate Gio the project as I hadn’t made a strong first impression with the Ministry of Red Tape and Trashcans.  I hoped that, for Gio’s sake, they wouldn’t mistake him for me.  I thought to warn him, but then figured ignorance is bliss.  We were almost through the two-week process of getting a replacement when, yesterday, somebody returned our stolen trashcan.  In Africa, random inexplicable things occur every single day. 

I often find myself thinking about what I was doing this time last year.  A year ago yesterday, I did my first half ironman (and, to date, last).  It was a nasty 90-degree day in the New York state wine region.  The race started on the north end of the enormous Seneca Lake.  A steady morning breeze had turned the lake treacherous, so the first 30 minutes of the event was spent swimming through 1 to 2 foot waves with the roughly 50 others that were in my heat.  The bike ride took us east to the shore of Cayuga Lake and then back again to Seneca.  The half marathon took us west out of Geneva into the vineyard covered hills.  After the event, I staggered back to my truck, drove back to Watkins Glen and spent the next 24 hours in bed except for trips to the bathroom.  So much has occurred in my life since then that it's hard to believe it was only one year ago.  I don't know why I'm even mentioning this.  It's just on my mind.  

My Google searches have gotten a bit strange thanks to my new responsibilities.  I’m currently researching how many eggs and chicks can be expected from 20 hens and 3 cocks in a 6 month period, market prices for dolf, cherry, and teak wood, quotes for lumber cutting machines, how many t-shirts can be produced from a $N635 printing cartridge.    I also had a conversation last week with the Bible Society of Namibia to get a price on a Rukwangali Bible (About $10 American if you were wondering.  Stocking stuffer?). 

Yes, this is a weak post.  The next few weeks will be busy for me as I’m finally getting traction on my next workshop (workshop for young out-of-school females who are interested in starting their own business).  I’m also working on some smaller side projects involving Rundu residents with disabilities and also on a project to construct much needed pit latrines and boreholes at some of the more remote schools in the region (this final project is currently in pipe-dream status, but I hope that some meetings this week will promote it to long-shot status). 

I hope you are all well.  Thanks for reading.  I'll leave you with a sunset photo near the Kavango river.