Life on the Farm

By Evan Carr

Following an amazing week with our families in the rural Khorixas area our homestay experiences for the semester are already over! While this is a sad realization I feel incredibly fortunate for the experience this past week, but also to be connected to three great families across the Southern Africa region. A huge thanks to Sarah, our Homestay Coordinator here in Namibia, and all of the staff for making this week a great success!

Returning from a trip into town.

Our schedule in the so-called “Damaraland” area allowed for plenty of time bonding with our families on the farms combined with ample opportunity to continue the learning process with our busy schedule during the day. Our homes for the week did not have plumbing or electricity so we quickly adapted to the local lifestyle of cooking over fire and open-air toilets, but we were also fortunate to experience stunning night skies thanks to zero light pollution. Daily activities on the farm ranged from playing with baby goats and donkey cart rides to games of Owela under the sun and hot cups of Rooibos tea around the campfire. Owela is a local game requiring strategy and wit that was traditionally played between chiefs to settle disputes in the community. Another highlight of my week was the opportunity to develop my Damara language skills. As my host grandmother, the head of my house, did not speak English it was important for me to pick up some phrases in order to connect with her. While mastering the four clicks used in Damara presented a significant challenge, I was able to hold very minimal conversation in Damara by the end of the week about things like how I slept or how hot the weather was. Our week on the farm wrapped up with a big party where all five homesteads on each farm came together to celebrate the week and eat delicious food to our heart’s content. We danced and the sang the night away as we exchanged American and Namibian songs and dances with our families.
 

While we ate breakfast and dinner and spent nights at the farms, we spent our days together as a CGEE family. Some highlights of the program included visits to Cornelius Goreseb High School and the traditional court of Khorixas. The traditional court operates under the jurisdiction of the local Damara clan and mainly deals with domestic issues and theft, while other matters are left to the municipal court. It was valuable to see how people in rural areas integrate their traditional community structures with those of the modern Republic of Namibia. We delved further into Damara culture with a visit to the Damara Living Museum. In order to preserve their culture, people working there run demonstrations on blacksmithing, natural medicine, and jewelry making. Our trip also included a visit to the Twyfelfontein UNESCO World Heritage Site, which is the site of many ancient rock art drawings, and to a petrified forest. These excursions helped us to put into context topics we’ve discussed in our History, Politics, Environment, Religion, and Development classes.



My family for the week. Grandma Christa was the head of the house and the farm.



Following our week on farms in Khorixas we spent two days at Etosha National Park. This visit was capped by the sighting of a leopard that came right up to our van and let us follow it down the road for a few hundred feet. We were incredibly lucky to see such a rare animal (there are only about 600 in Namibia) at such a close range. We also saw lions, rhinos, many giraffes, zebras, springbok, and more! A visit to Etosha is a quintessential Namibian experience and it was great to get out there and see it with our group. I’m looking forward to our Fall Break next week and to catching up with everyone once we return to hear stories of their travels.

 

Week 6 - “Wildlife” and the Harmonious Ideal of Ubuntu

By Michelle Andersen

This cheetah and her sister are tame and used to humans,
when they should have grown up in the wild

The week started out with a trip for Environmental Connections to N/a’an ku sê Wildlife Sanctuary. It was established in 2006 by Dr. Rudie and Marlice van Vuuren to conserve wildlife, preserve landscape, and support local communities, specifically the indigenous San people. Their mission is to promote “conservation through innovation.” The animals there have been orphaned, injured, or otherwise had their safety threatened by humans. In class, we are learning about human-wildlife conflict, which was evident during our visit. The various animals have been saved from humans who shot them, touched them as cubs, or have had their habitats and lives threatened by humans in another manner. While it was incredible to see one of my favorite animals, the cheetah, up close, it was heart-breaking to see them interact with the guide. The cheetah would come right up to the fence and let the guide pet her. You could hear her and her sister purring loudly the whole time. Unfortunately, these animals are here because their mother was killed by a farmer and they could not survive on their own. They have been raised by humans, which makes it dangerous to return them to the wild for themselves and for the humans, whom they no longer fear. They are sentenced to a life imprisonment, due to the actions of humans. While the sanctuary is doing good work in order to save these animals, they are merely trying to compensate for decisions other people have made. Since these animals can no longer be released into the wild, they will never be able to live out their lives as intended.

A night out at a local restaurant

Later in the week, in our religion and social change class we had a speaker named Reverend Godriam join us to discuss the subject of Ubuntu. Ubuntu is defined in the dictionary as “a quality that includes the essential human virtues; compassion and humanity.” In a paper by Faustin Ntamushobora, we read about the role ubuntu has played in African history. The concept was popularized by Archbishop Desmond Tutu and through him, Nelson Mandela, especially when it came to reconciliation. According to the article, reconciliation can be defined as “respect for a person’s dignity, irrespective of what that person has done.” Without ubuntu, one could refuse to forgive their enemies. Using the compassionate care of ubuntu instead, one would be able to create harmonious relationships. In a discussion I had with our professor, Lamont, we discuss how the concept of ubuntu is something to apply in our lives. If everyone cares for one another, then the world would be a happier, safer, more unified place. However, we had doubts about how this could be applied on a larger, macro scale. It is clear that one could apply the concept on a micro level with their inner circle. Yet, beyond that, it is hard to achieve this unity when people are asked to apply it to the whole world. It is impossible for every person to be open and available to other people all the time. However, if people can begin with their close friends to have harmonious and compassionate relationships, then perhaps this can be extended out to everyone they met, who will then also act with ubuntu. However, until that point is reached, it seems like a worthy ideal to strive for so that the world is still a nicer place, even if true ubuntu is never reached.

 

Based on this week’s experiences, I have deeper concepts to ponder and apply to my own life. It can be easy to get swept up into the excitement of an event, such as seeing wild animals at a sanctuary. However, it is important to take a step back and ask questions about how they got there, how they are being treated, and the purpose of the organization. Without this critical thinking, we may miss a chance to not only learn about but to improve a situation. Along with this, we must consider ideals that are above ourselves. Striving for harmonious, compassionate relationships through ubuntu can create a better world for those involved. If we do not try to promote these actions, then we are failing our world and each other. While it may seem impossible, it is not pointless to fight for these ideals, which can raise us to a higher standard.

Even in captivity, one can see the power the lion possesses