a little about the culture

Greetings from Namibia. I started a blog entry several days ago & I thought I saved it to finish later, but now I can’t find it. It was a good one, too!

My intent was to tell you about some of the Namibian culture that might give you a little insight into the people here. I think we have begun to take some of these “differences” as the status quo, so before we become totally acclimated, I will try to share these with you.

When someone hands something to us, they always use their right hand (the left would be a sign of disrespect) and touch their right elbow with their left hand. It isn’t important for us to do the same to someone younger or of equal or less social /professional status, but we make an effort to do it when we want to show respect to someone older (that’s a joke!--there aren’t too many older than us) or a school official. Women usually do a little curtsy, also.

They often use what I consider to be an Italian greeting: grasp each others’ shoulders or arms in sort of a hug, & touch right cheeks, then left cheeks. That is most often with people you know fairly well.

They use a greeting that we find very hard to get used to, but if one does not greet in the right way, he is considered very rude & they mught refuse to help you. We did not make a good first impression here because we failed to greet properly. In fact, at our last staff briefing, we got an “indirect” lecture on how to greet, I’m sure because we just are not good at it.
Desmond: Good morning, Ms. Helen?
Helen : yes.
Desmond: Are you fine?
Helen: Yes, and how are you?
Desmond: yes
Helen: Are you fine?
Desmond: yes
It can continue …
Helen: Is your wife well?
Desmond: Yes, Is your husband well?
Helen: yes. Was your weekend fine?
Desmond: yes
And it can go on & on.
And every person has to greet every person. So when we walk into the staff room, we have to go through this ritual with every person there, preferably along with an African handshake (3 part--I’m sure you have seen African-Americans do it, mostly the young “hip” ones. Here, it is traditional. Men almost always use it, and women frequently do, but I notice that men don’t always use it with women--at least not me. It can be awkward for me ‘cause I’m never sure which way they are going to shake my hand). Then, as others come into the room, they go around & do the same thing. It is very time consuming & irritating for me esp. if I am trying to get some work done & keep being interrupted. Our Filipino colleague entered the staff room one morning & said “good morning, everybody”--she was informed that is not acceptable. And just because you greeted someone in the morning doesn’t mean your obligation is complete. See them later & it’s the same song & dance.

I referred to our “indirect” lecture. It is difficult to understand what people are saying, because they don’t always say what they mean. The principal might say “some people are not turning in their lesson plans. I don’t know, maybe there is a problem with the copier, or maybe they forget.” He will not talk to the person/s who don’t turn them in, and he will offer some sort of an “excuse” for them. When we ask questions, we rarely get a straight-forward answer. They will say “maybe it is this way, I don’t know.” and they might tack on “ maybe someone knows.”==but we’re not asking for an explanation for the theory of relativity, we just want to know when we are able to use the computer lab, or do the learners have school tomorrow, or is there a parent meeting Wed.

Our Head of Department is getting married in August. We had a meeting to discuss what we are going to do for her. No one would offer a suggestion. I made the mistake of suggesting that people contribute whatever amount they wanted, then a present could be purchased accordingly. Oh, no, we must all give the same amount. Finally, it was asked what was done for the last wedding, & they came up with N$50 ($7US), but could women contribute less since they have to buy a dress. I nearly flipped my wig--we all have to wear the same outfit! That discussion lasted an inordinate amount of time. I was told a few days later that the outfit has been designed & the seamstress will get together with me “sometime”. I should have an interesting report on the wedding. I do know that if they live in a village, the bride has to leave her village & live in her husband’s parents’ home until he is able to build for them.

Many people live in villages, but if they have a job in town, they might stay in town during the week & go to the village on weekends. I find it rather amazing how they float from one style of living to another. In the village they may very well not have running water (except they run to the nearest water supply & haul it back). Maybe no electricity, mud floors, round mud huts w/ thatched roofs & no windows. No kitchen as we know it, no bathroom…& then they come back to town where people live a more modern life. But I see in their culture far more flexibility than we have. Because they rarely plan anything ahead, they are ready to “go with the flow”--wherever, whenever, however it happens to be.

Time means little to them. While the principal admonishes us to be on time for meetings & classes, he is usually late. Shops close promptly, but opening is another matter. Today there was a meeting with Grade 10 parents at 1:00. At 1:00, teachers headed to the hall to set up for the meeting. This is AIDS awareness week. Today is Tuesday, there is no school tomorrow, but Friday we will have “something” in the hall, so teachers should have their learners do “something” for the “something” Friday. “Maybe ‘some people’ could hang condoms all around the school.”--I kid you not, that was said at our briefing & it was not meant to be a joke. Yea, we are pre-grade (kindergarten) through Grade 10.

Men wear western clothing. Women wear professional clothes if needed for their work. But older women usually wear traditional tribal dress. Here the majority of the people are Owambo (Ovambo) and the dress is very practical. The yoke of the dress fits the woman, is a simple round neckline, sleeves are a little puffed & can be short or a bit longer. The full dress then is gathered at the yoke & is usually about mid-calf in length. Made of cotton, they are comfortable & cool. They often take length of matching fabric (or clashing, if that suits them) & wrap it around their heads. The Ovambo fabric is various shaded of pink stripes. They can wear the fabric as a skirt (full) with a western blouse or as a full dress. Another tribe here, but by far in the minority, is the Herero. They are herders & their lives revolve around their cattle & goats. The women wear several (like 8!) layers of dresses and a headdress that is reminiscent of the horns of their cattle. I wrote of the Himbas before. We rarely see them in our region, but Jim saw one recently, but she had a blanket around her--it was “cold” by their standards.

They are very open in their expressions of their faith. Conversations are peppered with references to Jesus & “my Lord”, prayers are frequent, cel phone rings are often religious songs or a preacher quoting a Scripture passage. Any music played in the Staff Room is religious, (I made the mistake of taking our CD player one day to play the Mamas & the Papas & was drowned out by Gospel music). The music in the taxis is always blaring “church” music (or rap, the lyrics of which I would be too embarrassed to quote).

Unemployment is very high, some estimates run up to 50%. No surprise that theft is a way of life. We had burglar bars put on our door (they are standard on windows) & we have an armed guard at night & our campus is surrounded by chain-link fence w/ barbed wire on top. Any home that has any value at all is walled in w/ barbed or razor wire on top & electric wire along with it. Women keep their cel phones in their bras, men wear their money under their shirts or in their front pants pocket. Computers are concealed in another bag, maybe a grocery bag, or they will be ripped out of your hand. We are constantly being warned to be careful as we are sitting ducks. We don’t stand out as American, however. We are often asked if we are Norwegian, or we will be asked where we are from. They know we are not Afrikkans--we can identify them, now--but can’t pinpoint our country of origin. It surprises me--I thought that certainly we would be recognized as American. Maybe we aren’t the center of the universe, after all!
Well, that’s more than enough. Jim & I ended buying 160 dictionaries for each of our learners. They wanted to know when they had to return them. Decided they should own them--they just can’t believe it.

We need your prayers. We are seriously considering staying for a second year. We have applied, and we are asking God to block it if it is not what He wants. If accepted, we have until Aug. 31 to make a commitment, so we have time, but we need assurance that to stay would be in the best interest of all concerned. Please pray that we know what to do. Right now we are comfortable with the idea.

So, until next time, may you all take good care of yourselves & know how very blessed you are.

Jim & sharon