Off the map

Well, I didn’t post last week as, after quite a busy week, Friday found my husband and me speeding off to his grandmother’s funeral. If you have a fairly detailed map of Namibia, and if you can find the town of Otjinene on it (about 300km north-east of Windhoek), then let your finger go a bit more easterly (towards the border with Botswana) and that’s about where we were!

The proceedings viewed from behind two ladies in traditional dress

Of course there are a lot of traditions associated with funerals and burials. The men and the women are separate for most of the proceedings, so Jimmy’s elder sister, Rukeeveni, ‘babysat’ me – mostly telling me what to do when (there are certain things that must be done by the “children of the house” (descendants) and their wives). Most of the women were in traditional Herero dress, and many people attended as Jimmy’s family is well-known in the area.

Part of the large crowd who attended

It was extremely hot and very windy (which helped with the heat, but also made things very dusty). So it wasn’t a surprise when a storm rolled in just as we were leaving to drive back to Windhoek on Saturday evening. I must say that it was a surreal experience to be driving through the African bush (very fast, so we wouldn’t get stuck – according to my husband!) on a rutted, sandy track with lightening flashing all around and from every direction! We arrived back to find that Windhoek had received some good rain, and also got showers on Sunday and Monday.

On Sunday afternoon I led a session with the church’s young ladies (ages 11 to 26) about dating and relationships. The idea was to find out their experiences and the issues they have to deal with. It was a bit alarming to see what the youngest group (aged 11 to 13) thought and knew about relationships and sex! As an indication of the lack of female empowerment, about 80% of the 25 girls and women present felt like they had suffered some form of sexual harassment. All these issues have a direct impact on the spread of HIV. But I think some valuable information came up that will help these issues to be addressed through the youth group.

Updates
After School Program was quite a challenge last week, as many of the volunteers are writing or preparing for exams; or busy with assignments and extra classes. Kauna herself finished her exams on Monday this week and so was ‘off’, studying, last week. We had to cut back a lot on the activities as we just didn’t have enough people to handle all the kids. However this week was better. We managed to buy some textbooks with money donated to the Program from the AIM team who worked with the Program for two months in the middle of the year, and so that will be providing more revision opportunities for the kids.

Pray for Kauna – she ‘sms’ed me this afternoon to say she thinks she’s caught chicken pox from her two (younger) sisters…but still had to go to the doctor to make sure.

Our interview on Katutura Community Radio went well on the 14th – we started late, but they gave us over an hour, so we were on the air from about 17:30 until 18:45. We had a good opportunity to talk about what we’re doing as a church for the community, and the challenges and needs we have. We’re happy with how it went, and Mr Kateve, the interviewer/DJ, is keen to do follow-up pieces as well.

This week I finalized funding proposals for EBCAIDS with Russell from SIM’s HOPE for AIDS program that have been approved and submitted to SIM. We need funding fairly desperately, so please pray for these proposals as they are sent to possible donors around the world. Also, on the 5th November Russell is meeting with a church in the U.S. that’s interested in partnering with us as we address HIV/AIDS issues – pray for some positive discussions.

Good Morning Katutura!

Well, Mr Kateve from the radio station came back to us, and he’ll be interviewing Kauna, me and one of the After School Program volunteers on the radio on Sunday. It’s a great opportunity to talk about what we do in the Program and how it’s helping the kids who attend. And we also have a chance to talk about what we need to run the Program – who knows who might be listening? Please pray for us, we’ll be on air from 5pm (3pm GMT) on Sunday.

We’re struggling a bit at the moment as we’ve ‘lost’ two volunteers – Tom got a full-time job and Joël found a 3 month temporary job. But that’s what happens! The volunteers are all studying or unemployed and man cannot live on volunteer work alone…

Joël getting down to the kids’ level

Along with the normal homework this week, I helped Hauta with the rugby on Tuesday. I took the girls while he had the boys. And we had fun! At first the girls were complaining, “I don’t want to play!”, “I don’t know what to do!” and so on but soon they were enthusiastically pointing out forward passes and a few of them put in some good kicks even.

This week I also had a good meeting with Jogbeth and Aline, the two ladies who are the driving force behind starting with a Home Based Care Program. From next week they will begin helping to care for patients at the hospital (under the supervision of the nurses, who are normally short-staffed). This should give opportunities to get to know the patients and follow-up those who need assistance at home once they leave hospital.

On the home front: cold fronts and cold water
We had quite unusual weather this week! Temperatures plunged down to near freezing again at night and we had a couple of really chilly days. Now we’re back to normal, over 30 degrees Celsius during the days. Apparently this happens every 20 to 30 years, but I certainly hadn’t experienced such cool weather in October before.

I’m sure you all missed the squash report last week: Rachel and I each took two games, so it was honours even. A friend pointed out to me (thanks, Gav) that antihistamines are actually used to make Speed – so that could account for Rachel’s enthusiastic playing the week before! Unfortunately she wasn’t well this week, so we didn’t play. And I’ve been avoiding showering at the gym as the whole air conditioning is being replaced and so for the last couple of weeks there’s been no hot water again. This could go on until the end of November…

Lastly, the promised photo of baby Gloria. She looks just like her mum!

AIDS is real!

Last week I was speaking to one of the teenagers from church, and she mentioned that her aunt was visiting. Her aunt lives in a rural area, on the family farm, and so I asked why she was here in Windhoek.

Looking around before she spoke, my friend said quietly, “She has AIDS. She came to see the doctor, but they said it’s too late even for any treatment. There’s nothing they can do for her.”

I was shocked. “But she seems so young – and she looks fine.”

My friend shrugged. “She’s in her 40s. She has three kids and all of them are HIV-positive.” She was quiet for a minute before she spoke again. “AIDS is everywhere in my family, but they don’t want to admit it.” She mentioned the name of her cousin, a girl who also goes to EBC. “Her mother died from AIDS and her younger brother is HIV-positive. But the family doesn’t care for him properly. They bought a plate and cup only for him – no one else is allowed to use them. They’re even scared of touching him sometimes. Someone needs to tell them that you can’t get HIV by touching!”

She looked frustrated as she continued, “My cousin and I have both tried to talk to our family – to tell them about HIV and AIDS. But they don’t want to listen.”

Participants in our Home Based Care Training last year:
Jogbeth is seated with the striped sweater, Kauna (After School Program Coordinator) is standing in the middle with the white t-shirt and I'm standing on the left.

These are the people that EBCAIDS (Evangelical Bible Church HIV/AIDS Ministry) wants to reach. These are the families that we need to help! Please pray for Jogbeth, our Home Based Care Coordinator, as she looks for opportunities to help this family. And please pray for my friend and her cousin.