Our Home Stay with Zeka and Anitha

Kids playing in Ndama

Most of the people in Rundu do not live in “town” like Mark and I, they live out in the village. There are many villages within the town of Rundu including Sauyemwa (pronounced saw-yay-mwah), Ndama, Kaisosi, Kaisosi Taya Rodi (pronounced Tire Road).The villages consist of homes that are built made of mud, cement, or metal and have thatch or tin roofs. Zeka and Anitha (pronounced Anita) live in Ndama and most people living in their area of Ndama live in mud homes with tin roofs. Ndama village could be a town on its own it is so large. It is also the village closest to the center of town (near all the shops and businesses), so some people even refer to it as “town.” It also is one of the more diverse villages with people living there speaking Ru-kwangali, Lucazi, or Portuguese.

Girls always love playing with hair!

Mark and I began our homestay on Friday January 7^th... but it was short lived because Mark has his first 24-hour stomach bug that began earlier that day and didn't stop until Saturday. He was a trooper trying to muster up the strength to go on our home stay anyways... but he was vomiting and had a fever, and we both feared he would end up with diarrhea and running back and forth to the bush all night in the rain (something we both decided wouldn't be a great first memory of the village!) Zeka and Anita were so sweet getting us a taxi to go home, and we promised we'd return soon.

Mark playing with the kids, Judith, and Anitha

And we did, on Sunday morning the 9^th! Mark and I walked to Ndama EBC Church that morning to meet Zeka and Anitha and begin our home stay. Ndama Church was very welcoming and we enjoyed the service as well. It was great to meet a few of their friends and family too. On our way back to their home from church, we stopped at an open market to buy some fried fish and some Fanta for lunch. We spent most of the afternoon taking turns relaxing under a tree in the shade, playing with the children, or having conversation. Most afternoons during the most intense heat of the day, this is most common in the village. It is almost like a line you don't cross in the sand, an unspoken rule... stay in the shade, not in the sun!

Cooking Pap

That evening was my first experience cooking pap, mutete (dried or fresh sour leaves that are cooked down), fish, and green chicken over the fire. (Green chicken are leaves from a tree in the village- not sure why the name, but Mark and I think it went something like this: “What's for dinner?” “Chicken. Green Chicken”). What is so refreshing in the village that you don't get to experience in town is community, and community to the fullest. Each village has areas where families and extended families live together within close proximity to eachother. Each family has their own mud home and sometimes own cooking hut within close distance to all of their family; meaning by standing at your home, you can see all of your relatives homes. 

It's dinner time!

And what is cool is that as you get to be an older teenager, most build their own one-room mud huts to live in too (likened to your own bedroom in the States). These families within the village care for eachothers children, care for eachother, and eat dinner together each night. Every woman within the family unit cooks what she will contribute for the night, it is all put together and then dished out to all the homes. The coolest thing is that it isn't discussed throughout the day, the fires just start burning... and each woman can see what the other is cooking and how much, and adjusts hers to contribute appropriately. It was awesome to see.

Mark & Zeka enjoying dinner

We then ate dinner together... Mark and I, Zeka and Anitha, and Judith (a relative of Zeka's). It was an awesome dinner- so full of flavor, and of course, fun to eat with our hands! Another thing to note about the village, is that these family members are blood relatives of Zeka. When married, the wife leaves her village and her family and moves in with her husband and his family. That is why there is a “labola.” A labola is a dowry of sorts that when explained here, just helps the wife's family with finances since the woman (not the man), does most work in the village and is significantly missed when she is gone. (By work meaning raising children, cooking all meals, cleaning, laundry, fetching water and firewood. When asked what the duty of a man was in a village – we were told it was to provide for and protect the family. However, sadly since unemployment is over 50% here, most of the men just sit around all day and “protect” their family! It is a very open thing to discuss... and with the younger generations some of these traditional views are slowly changing, but it is very much a respected part of village life).

Our room!

Mark and I then took bucket showers late at night outside under the stars. It's not as romantic as it sounds since Mark showered with Zeka and I showered with Anita! There are so many things you can learn from village life- showering is one of them. It amazed us how clean you can get using just one bucket of water, and how much water you can save doing it that way! We then said goodnight and went off to bed. Our first night sleep was much worse than the second! It was a HOT night and the mosquitoes were out in force! I got 48 bites that night and Mark and I barely slept due to the buzzing in our ears! Our second night sleep was like heaven though, because Zeka lent us their fan which was our protection since mosquitoes cannot fly well in a breeze and we didn't get any bites that night!

Monday was a great day of just hanging out in the village, meeting people, playing with the kids, and relaxing. Mark spent the with Zeka planning and discussing the Bible Study, pushing a dead car through the sand to the street for some guy, and playing with the kids. Anitha and I did the dishes, made an awesome porridge breakfast (tastes like cream of wheat), and relaxed and played with the kids. Of course, Mark and I found some little puppies to play with too...

In the early evening we took a walk with Zeka throughout Ndama and had a great conversation about America, our struggles as a nation and a culture, and how we can all learn from eachother. People in Africa talk about America like the promised land. It is hard to convey the stuggles we have as a nation too. Yes, Africa has severe poverty but America has a different kind of poverty; a spiritual and community poverty. People in America live very solitary lives, just trying to individually strive for the bigger and better, and sadly have fallen into such severe materialism that they don't experience community in the way it was meant to be. This is hard to convey to an Africa in which a sense of community practically runs through their blood. Mark and I are really starting to re-evaluate our lives when we return home. Leaving the African community will be difficult...and hopefully we can learn enough here to bring what we've learned home. :)

Julie & Anitha cooking dinner

Our dinner Monday night was more traditional; the men and women ate dinner separately in different homes. Mark and I were able to have great conversations that night and I was fortunate enough to eat outside in the dark under the stars. :) Mark had a pretty emotion provoking conversation with a few of the men about us being there. They explained that they are one of the “lowly” tribes in the area because not only are they refugees from Angola, they also speak Portuguese (not Lucazi). They couldn't believe that we, “white people,” would take time to come and stay with them and eat with them. They also told Mark that they saw the love of God in us and were happy to get to know us.

Sadly, there are many situations from the past that have caused Namibians to harbor poor self images. There are many refugees from the Angolan war that have struggled to survive in even getting to Namibia, and they are sadly “looked down upon” by many Namibians. Also, Namibia has struggled to overcome a marred self image from many years of being oppressed first by the Germans (it is argued that Namibia had the first ever genocide), and then during the apartheid. Many do not realize that Namibia too was forced into apartheid because at the time of the South African apartheid, Namibia was a territory of South Africa and was affected in the same away South Africa was. Sadly, Namibia didn't have a social hero like the great Nelson Mandella to bring them out of the dark world they were living in... so even today, some Namibians have distorted views of themselves and whites. Mark and I can see how our ministry here for some is simply to tell them that we are all created in the image of our God, and we were all created for a purpose. We are all loved by God, and we are all his children- black and white, and God doesn't favor whites over blacks.

Welcome to the bush!

Tuesday morning was started by taking a trip to the bush. :) Yes, otherwise known as the bathroom! I am only adding this to the blog because questions like where is the bathroom, how do you bathe, how do you cook, etc. are quite common. The bush is across the tar road from the village... and it is just that, the bush. It is a huge area, and designated for only bathroom needs. I must say, it is a great way to keep sanitation needs in check since it is across the road from the village. It was also another “ministry” opportunity for Mark and I, because to be honest... white people don't go to the bush around here. So, for that reason only... we went to the bush. :)

We had an amazing time... and really were able to build our relationships with Zeka and Anitha. We see the value of spending more time in the village and hope to return soon...