Two days in Opuwo

We arrived in Opuwo in the afternoon. We stayed at a nice hotel and got to shower! Which I was a bit excited about, I must admit! We had a delicious dinner at our hotel by the pool.

Monday, March 15th we visited a Mobile School. These are government schools that migrate with the people that migrate for cattle and such. They teach their kids in schools underneath the shade of a tree and in a big tent. The teachers live in tents. Many of the kids have no school supplies and write on a broken table on the floor, or on their knees under the tree. It’s a very interesting concept, a school that travels with its students! Most of the students are Himba and some are Demba, indigenous groups in the region.

Then we left for our camp site which was on the Himba’s land. The Himba are indigenous people who have kept their traditional ways. They showed us how they live. Cattle are an essential part of their lives, as well as the family. All that the Himba women wear symbolizes things about their families, like how old they are, how many children they have, and whether or not their father is alive. They also have a Holy Fire which the man must always tend to. It’s very sacred and all important events happen at the fire. No woman is allowed to touch it, unless she has not come of age, which is when she menstruates. The Himba women use okra and cow butter to spread on their skin to protect them from the sun. It gives them a reddish hue. They also braid their hair and then put clay over it to keep them cool. At the end of our presentation the women made a large circle and sold tourist goods to us. It was very intense as the women competed quite energetically to sell their goods. It was fun but pretty high pressure to buy!

That night we camped out under the stars. Unfortunately we did so with the donkeys, cows and dogs who were quite noisy, all night long.

The next morning Tuesday, March 16 we listened to representatives of Medicos del Mundo talk about their work in Namibia. They mostly focus on HIV/AIDS, but also tuberculosis and other diseases in the country. Then we visited the Red Cross and spoke to a Peace Corp volunteer who worked there. He ran a project that partnered with BEN, Bicycle Empowerment Network, which provides people with transportation. His honesty was greatly appreciated and he seemed to be doing good work in Opuwo.

Then Maggie, Kristin, Kate and I went back to the mobile school we had visited and gave the school balls and jump ropes to play with. We had SO much fun! We played soccer, hand ball, volley ball and danced and sang.

We returned to our camp site exhausted from our afternoon with the children in the hot sun. That night, around our fire we told scary ghost stories! It was so fun!

The next morning we packed up and headed off to Etosha National Park!