~ Garden, Storm, Prayers, Hope and Disparity ~

While these may seem like disparate topics, they have been interwoven in my recent experiences at site…

I have not posted photos in a while, so below are some recent ones. The first series are from our community garden project. As you may remember, our village was awarded a U.S. Ambassador Self-Help Grant to expand a garden and open a soup kitchen. Below are photos from the growing and flourishing garden, and my good friend working in the garden:

After working in the garden that day, a huge storm was ushered in. I love this first photo of the rain pouring through the clouds, and then one of the fierce cloud formation. In the almost 2 years that I have lived in Namibia, it has been drought conditions, but finally we are being blessed with abundant rain. This makes the farmers and predominantly agricultural sector in Namibia very happy!

A few weeks ago, the Government of Namibia declared a national prayer day focused on stopped gender-based violence. There has been a plague of so-called “passion-killings” which has ripped through the country in recent years, and has intensified in recent months. Since January of 2014, almost 60 men and women have been killed as a result of jealousy and violence in domestic partnerships. This is tragic. You have the feeling that it is not safe to be involved in a romantic relationship; look at how things end. I have heard many Namibian women express that they feel safer simply being alone. The day of prayer was a national wake-up call to work together and to strive for gender equality and mutual respect between men and women. The services and prayers were held throughout the country. In our village, everyone was invited to the sports field for singing, prayer, and speeches made by religious and church leaders. While I did not understand most of the prayers as they were given in the local languages (Oshiherero, Damara, Afrikaans), the mood of the ceremony was somber and reflective. One hopes that it will make a difference in the hearts and minds of people, and that we can move forward respecting each other and stopping senseless killing.

The final photos were taken during the Basic Information Science (BIS) training that I recently attended. Part of BIS as a subject is fostering a love of reading in students, which naturally includes library management on the part of the schools. (It is common for Peace Corps Volunteers to be involved in the management and improvement of libraries in schools.) During the training, we toured a local high school. What struck me most about the school was the stark disparity between how well it is equipped and the school where I teach. (The school we toured was an all-white school under apartheid Namibia. The school where I teach was an all-black school.) The significant disparity continues. Now all of the schools are supposedly mixed. But I notice a lot of differences. You can barely compare the school below to the school where I teach. Where I teach in the rural Namibian bush, there are holes in the walls and ceilings, most of the windows in the school are broken, and until recently, most of the desks and chairs were in pieces.

Another example of the disparity between the schools, and the legacy of apartheid, where schools were divided between black and white schools was at a track and field meet held earlier this year. The richest, private, nearly all-white school’s athletes flaunted shiny new track spikes and enjoyed the advantage of starting blocks during the sprints…while most of the other (black) kids ran barefoot and probably do not know what starting blocks are. This disparity is shameful, and brings to mind how recently the country was ruled by an apartheid regime.

As an outsider in Namibia, as a visiting, white American, I can feel the racial tension at times. I also know that what I feel is only a fraction of the pain, persecution and oppression faced by marginalized populations all over the world: indigenous communities, women and girls, GLBTQ communities, minorities, those infected with HIV or other diseases, the economically and socially marginalized. The secondary pain, compassionate or ally pain that we feel as human rights workers is an important teaching and learning experience – it allows us to understand (while never fully) and sympathize with those whom we ally with.

It is important to have open and honest discussions about race relations, equality, and the struggles we face in this area both in the U.S. and other countries in the world. Bel Hooks has made a compelling case for this in many of her books. She implores us to be honest and aware of the legacy of oppression and white supremacy. She encourages us to understand the theory behind it, but also to move towards the practice of disassembling it.

I conclude with a hope that Namibia, South Africa, the U.S., and all of the countries in the world, will continue in strides towards true reconciliation. That one day we can all really and truly forgive ourselves and each other for the pain and darkness in the past, and work together to create the peaceful and synergistic reality that we all crave.