Easter in Namibia

Greetings to all.

Hoping this finds everyone in good health and enjoying life. Palm Sunday is right around the corner…wasn’t Ash Wednesday just last week??? We were blessed with a Mass last Sunday. The priest was scheduled for another town, but the church was surrounded by water, so he came to us instead. There is a good side to everything. Now don’t laugh, but on Easter Sunday, after Jim reads, I will be proclaiming the Gospel and giving the Homily. Absolutely amazing. And what can I possibly say to these people?? They know suffering, they know deep, deep joy, they fully understand their total dependence on Our Lord, they know what it is to rise with Him. I find it hard to believe that the Namibians are not the true chosen people. I will say one thing for our God, He knows how to humble a person!

It wasn’t that long ago that I wrote, but I see the long list of e-mails waiting for replies & I just can’t get to each. First, thanks for all the b’day & anniversary greetings. It was so nice to be remembered. We didn’t celebrate much. We were in the throws of end-of-term stuff.

We were into the last 2 weeks before term exams when I asked our Head of Department how often was the school septic tank emptied & when was the last time. About 2 hours later, the word spread that we were starting exams the next day. It was only by luck that Jim & I were at least partly ready with our tests. All of our teaching had to be suspended, and there were assessment tasks that both of us needed to do with our classes to calculate their grades. Okay, next day, somewhat ready for exams, we asked for the copies of the exams…oh no, we had no toner. Back to classes. 2 days later, we started exams. I announced to one class that they would not be having Oshindonga (language) tests. About 2 hours later, a teacher brought the exam to the staff room for someone to ‘invigilate” (proctor). All of this mess & confusion was due to their fear of the school septic tank filling up. Did anyone know when it was last emptied? Did anyone know how often it is emptied? Do you really need the answer? Then, this was one of their more ingenious moves…they released the learners 1 hour early one day so that they would not be using the toilets. So we had 400+ kids running around the school, using the toilets, anyway, because their transport was not notified of the early dismissal & they all had to wait for their rides. Then the Executives were informed that we gave exams early with the intent of closing the school if the tank filled. They threw a fit, said there would be no closing, & they found a way to have someone partially empty them. We had use of our own facilities for a while, & now we’re into day 6 with a full tank again & icky brown water backed up into our shower. Off we go, trudging across the yard to the school toilets in the middle of the night, again.

Back to classes…after the kids finished the exams, they didn’t want to settle down for classes again, so, we simply said that they wouldn’t have to come the last 3 days. And do those days need to be made up? The Ministry of Education requires 205 days…well, nobody checks, & all the other schools do it, so no, we don’t need to make up those days. Today, not even half of Grade 8 English was there for my afternoon class. Nothing will happen to those kids, and no one will have heartburn over it, except Jim & I.

This is Friday. Jim & I had a movie party for Grade 7 yesterday, Grade 8 today, & tomorrow will be Grade 6. It’s the reward for the top 10 in each class who completed the most assignments. So, after tomorrow, we have no more work to do, but we still have to sit in the staff room from 8:00 - 12:30 M,T,W because it is a scheduled school day, no learners, but we had to be there. Then report cards will be given Thursday, and we are FREE!!.. We are soooo ready for a break!!

The rains have mostly stopped, the waters are receding, and hopefully in 2-3 weeks things will be back to normal. In order to get off the school property, we have to walk over a very precarious ‘bridge’ made of sandbags, broken pallets, warped planks, roofing materials…and the flood waters have brought numerous snakes. I have been blessed not to have seen a live one, but the kids have seen quite a few.

Twenty-four days ‘til we meet Maureen, Bobby & Dane in Victoria Falls, Zimbabwe. We are so excited. Shortly after their landing, Jim, Bobby & Maureen will be going on a Lion Walk while Dane & I will have a lion cub ‘viewing’--I was so hoping that Dane could walk along with the lions, but they say he is too young. The next day we will view Victoria Falls & then go to Chobe Park in Botswana for an evening game drive or river cruise and a morning game drive. We will have a couple gruelling days of driving, some significant hours over gravel roads, and we will visit the Himbas. Back to Ondangwa for a couple days of classes for the boys. They will have taken in the flavour of Namibia along the way. They will see women carrying large parcels or containers of water on their heads, children herding cattle & goats, people wearing ‘African’ clothes, tin shacks, mud huts with thatched roofs, at least 1 million shabeens (bars), villages, settlements, people walking everywhere, little children walking in the middle of nowhere (where do they come from, where are they going; & don‘t they get lost??)…and very little more than poverty everywhere they turn (however, our accommodations are quite nice, which is actually a shame). They will see people who have learned how to cope without things that we take for granted every day and I truly hope that this will impact their lives to become conscious & concerned for the ways that some other people on our planet live. I truly hope that they will not just be thankful for what they have and think, “oh my, those poor people.”

We are too quickly coming to the end of our time here. We are becoming very conscious of that. There is so much we wanted to do & couldn’t. We see so much that needs to be done here, we see such potential, we understand so much more than we did before, but we are puzzled by far more than what we understand. God has used us to make a difference, and we are grateful for being allowed to know that. We will have a hard time leaving, but we have asked Him to make that time bearable & I believe He is preparing us for that. We are getting tired. We are sometimes crabby. We are more often discouraged, angry at our colleagues for not caring, less patient with those kids who give up too easily. And then, I worry about leaving them…who will Saara tell her “boy” problems to? Who will confront Ombili, Sagaria, Elina, & nearly all the rest of the kids about their incessant lying? Who will encourage them, forgive them, be kind to them…All these things that Jim & I have done, not because we are so wonderful, but because it’s just the right thing to do--all these ways of being are foreign to the teachers here.

I started this ‘book’ April 14 & now it’s the 25th. We made it to Holy Thursday & Good Friday services. Both were in Oshiwambo although I offered to read parts in English, but they only gave me one short reading. We were able to identify some of the parts, but not being a regular Mass, we were just guessing. Good Friday was a dramatisation of the Passion. Like last year, the congregation was laughing at their friends’ acting. I thought we were prepared for that, but we weren’t. When they laughed hysterically at “Mary’s” grief & wailing (which was way over-done) I was ready to leave. But we knew there would be the Veneration of the Cross. There were about 500 people there, after 1 ¼ hours, maybe ¾ of the church had gotten to the one cross & we could not sit any longer. The benches are hard wood, no backs, no kneelers & there was no standing or other movement by the congregation for 3 solid hours. I kept telling myself that if Jesus could hang there for 3 hrs, I could sit. Both Jim & I are painfully much weaker than our Lord.

We then passed on the Easter Vigil as it held no hope for English parts. We could not confirm the 7:15 service Sunday morning ‘til late Sat. afternoon, & then we didn’t know that there would be no Mass until 7:15 that morning. I had a homily prepared, so it was okay, but I was hoping a priest would show up & assume his role. All went well. The Filipino community was mostly there, so we joined them for breakfast. What wonderful people! Gentle, loving, extremely hospitable, very intelligent, the children are unbelievably polite and friendly with no trace of being over-bearing. Today Jim is fishing with them at Ruacana Falls, leaving at 4:30 this morning. There is speculation that there are crocodiles in the area due to the flooding…and some roads are under water…am I worried??? Well, not anymore! He just called. They caught a 6-8 lb catfish as well as a 20 lb & then something that looked like a Northern Pike. He said the catfish looked a bit strange. No crocodiles & the roads are fine.

I have much to do today to be ready for next term, so I guess I better get at it. Hope everyone’s Easter was joyous & Spring is bursting with life.

You are in our prayers,
sharon