Our Two Year Journey in Southern Africa: What is Africa like?

Life here in Keetmanshoop, Namibia is a weird mixture of so many things: modern, old, Western, traditional, English, Afrikaans, Khoekhoegowab, Mercedes-Benz, donkey carts, a mall, dirt roads, restaurants, cooking over a fire, beautiful homes, shacks made of tin. This juxtaposition of culture makes our days quite interesting in our town.

We live in a modern flat that has all of the basic amenities, only lacking a few comforts from home (such as an iron, a microwave, a washer/dryer, internet, T.V., etc.) Otherwise, we enjoy a standard of living similar to what we had back in the U.S. This came to us a surprise.

In our town of approximately 18,000 people, you will see:

· Open fields that stretch for miles, and in them an occasional donkey, horse, or springbok (great places for running with the dog!)

· Paved roads through the main part of town

· Dirt roads throughout the rest of the community

· An upscale neighborhood with tall fences, scary guard dogs, and beautifully landscaped yards

· Locations (this is the name that refers to the other neighborhoods in town – they were formally the settlements where the blacks had to live during the apartheid regime) which include a variety of homes – ranging from a modest modern style house with electricity and running water, to squatters who have built homes of tin/other materials & have no water or electricity, and everything in between

· People: Nama, Coloureds (referring to people of a mixed European/African race), Ovambos (a tribe that largely lives in the north of Namibia, but some have come south for work), White Namibians (usually from German, Dutch, or English decent), Italians (contractors who are working on a multi-million dollar dam project), Irish (working on an affordable housing project), other international volunteers/students, and some other Namibians representing a number or other tribes/ethnic backgrounds. South Africa is often referred to as the “Rainbow Nation,” but I certainly think that term is applicable in Namibia. There is a broad spectrum of races and ethnicities represented in this small town.

· A new mall! And with it, some chain restaurants! (Very un-Austinite of me to appreciate restaurant franchises, but now we have pizza delivery. Can’t argue with that).

One of our grocery stores, how exciting!

· Four public high schools and one private school. Most of the white Namibians attend the private school, so there is definitely still social segregation here.

· Five grocery stores. Not American style, where you have 100 different cereals to choose from, but we are fortunate to only have to walk 10 minutes to do our shopping.

· An Olympic sized public pool!

· The major stores/services that any town would need: police station, care repair, cell phone store, hospital, hotel, etc.

· The best night sky in the world! On clear nights we see the Milky Way from our yard.

So, what is Africa like? Yes, some of my students come to school hungry. Kids run in their bare feet during track meets. Women carry incredible things (truly, truly impressive quantities of items) on their heads through the town. You will hear four part harmony in the songs sung loudly and enthusiastically at local soccer games. But, our town is certainly not the “Africa” that is shown in the commercials in America, asking to donate money with a sad song playing in the background.

Aaron and I do have to walk or ride our bikes everywhere. We usually stay in after dark (nothing by way of entertainment going on really – only two cities in all of Namibia have a movie theater). We hand wash our clothes in our bath tub. But, we aren’t roughin’ it out in the bush, living in a mud hut, fighting cobras and fetching water 5 km away. Oddly, some volunteers in the north of Namibia really do live that life. But we are in an urban setting, and though it has come as an unexpected reality, it is ours. And it is home.