The East Wind!

From yesterday:

Another day, another great concert with Mascato. Tonight our time together ended with a great talk. Lots of Kokopelli and Mascato members articulated the sense of connection we feel. We heard from some of our (self-appointed) tour elders as well, who are proud of both choirs and the performances we’ve had. We’re coming to the end of our stay in Swakop. It has been a very pleasant start to the tour, with a fairly relaxing schedule; lots of time to get over our jet lag, to get used to the differences between our cultures, to get to know our host families and our Mascato friends. It’s rare to be able to cross an ocean and to feel at home in a strange place, but that’s the gift we have found in Mascato!

And, today:

This morning we went out to a primary school on the outskirts of town, near the township (what we would call a 'shantytown' in North America) called Mondessa. It was a reality check to drive through the township -- we've been living in the resort-like oasis of Swakopmund but we were reminded that not everyone is so privileged simply by driving by these tiny houses and lean-tos. One of the Mascato members, an American who is visiting Namibia as well, told us a bit about the living conditions in the township. There are about 2 running water taps per block, and one toilet. One house often holds many many family members. Amazingly, this township is actually much better off than many of the townships we will see in South Africa.

The primary school has about 200 children in six grades. This is the school we prepared the school kits for -- due to time restrictions on the part of those assembling the kits, we only got about 130 kits here, but the staff have said they will split up the kits and make sure all the parts go to children in need -- which is pretty much every child at this school. Without running water at home, it's challenging to teach the small children about personal hygiene or cleaning clothes, but this is a big part of the curriculum in the younger grades.

Our concert was great and the children were quite attentive. They laughed at our cowboys hamming it up in Blood on the Saddle, and a few of them got a chance to conduct the choir through Shumayela and Singabo Yo Singaba. Near the end of the concert, the two school choirs sang for us, which is always fun to hear.

It was hot and windy when we woke up early today, and we were all warned by our hosts that today would be a day of the east winds -- the very hot and dry wind that whips in over the dunes towards the ocean, kicking up sand and dust in its wake. We were almost done our concert at the primary school when the winds picked up and we were suddenly blasted with a sandstorm -- sand in our hair, teeth, on our faces and in our ears! We didn't get to properly finish the concert because everyone had to run out of the open courtyard where we were assembling. We scattered to various classrooms and took some time to visit with the children and observe the classes being taught. With so many teachers and education students among us, we really enjoyed the chance to see how much African children sing, even in a lesson about brushing their teeth! There was a song for everything!

When we left, there were hugs for everyone, or solemn handshakes and words of, "goodbye miss," and "goodbye sir." Any girl with long blonde hair was a big hit! A few of the children burst into tears or clung to legs, which was hard to watch. These kids wanted to know that we'd be back, but it's a promise we couldn't make. With one of the highest prevalence rates of HIV in the entire world, disadvantaged Namibian children know too much about loss and saying goodbye. The first grade teacher told us, in fact, that the school has already lost 3 children to AIDS since the school year began. It's heart-wrenching and impossible to comprehend. We felt privileged to be able to bring a little joy and excitement into this one morning.



A glimpse of Mondessa, on our way to the primary school at DRC.



A few kids join Thulani to help lead Shumayela. Many of the kids in the audience were dancing along with us!



Ruth with a few of the primary school kids.

We had planned to visit Spitzkoppe today, but decided against it due to the crazy sandstorms. We're weathering the east winds here in town where it's much calmer, taking a lazy day to check e-mail and visit the beach.