ANSA International Program Blog

The first team trip to Namibia began with three members of the team missing their connecting flight.  Frazzled but grateful, they arrived a day later than planned, so we started our team building and local area orientation with Kudu appetizers and beer shandys at the heavily African-themed Joe's Beerhouse.  Sunday provided an opportunity for everyone to shake off their travel weariness while strolling the street markets of downtown Windhoek.  This was the only time we had to prepare ourselves and the team for a complex, though highly productive, visit.

Sadly, Hope Initiatives founder, Patricia Sola, lost her mother eight days before we arrived.  The sudden death meant that Patricia and her husband, John, had to be out of the office unexpectedly for seven days of funeral activities in Zimbabwe.  Funerals are a very big event in Africa, and as the eldest child, Patricia was responsible for hosting all other family members and guests.  She and John arrived at our meeting on Monday morning only minutes before we did, having driven 14 hours overnight.  They were both drastically tired and visibly still grief-stricken. 

Our primary host was supposed to be Mr. Dumasani, a sharp and talented program coordinator.  But within minutes after we arrived, he received a call that his wife had been arrested during the ongoing mayhem in Zimbabwe, accused of not lowering her prices in the hardware store run out of their home.  Mr. Dumasani had to leave immediately and was gone the remainder of our visit. 

Though we had worked out a full itinerary for each day in advance, the absence of Patricia and John the week before meant that staff were a little unprepared and unsure of what to do with us - understandably; they have a tremendous amount of things going on each day even in the best of times.  Anastasia, a very shy but smart coordinator, and Patricia took us under their wing and led us through a series of orientation tours and meetings with staff, community leaders and two different support groups.  In the HIV+ women's support group, ANSA team member Rachel brought pictures of the women she works with in an HIV+ support group in California.  It was beautiful to see the HIV+ women looking at pictures of other HIV+ women halfway around the world.  Before we left the women gave Rachel handmade gifts to take back for the women in her group. 

In the squatter settlements of Okahandje Park there are 33,000 people using 17 different dialects and 13 languages.  With so many tribes and klans represented in one area, trust and communication present significant challenges.  We learned this firsthand, so were grateful for the time the staff and community took to talk with our team, especially knowing how uncomfortable it was for them at times.  

Hope Initiatives hosted a "traditional African meal" for us early in our trip.  Mopane worms were served, along with mahangu pop and mealie meal.  As the head of the US team, I was offered one of the two chicken feet served at the end of the meal.  Mopane worms taste a little like fish.  Chicken feet taste like...well, the feet of a desert chicken.  I kept everything down for 1.5 days, then with a fever and stomach pains raging, I had to give it all up.

On a brighter note, we had a chance to meet with the Director of Nutrition for the country, as well as the country's clinical mentor for HIV and several vital area non-profits, including Catholic AIDS Action and Penduka.  There are no dietetic training programs in Namibia, so it was exciting to talk about the vast opportunities at hand in to increase access to nutrition and health training. 

Outcomes: With the emotional impact of the squatter settlements and jet lag weighing heavily on the team, it was sometimes difficult to recognize the accomplishments of each day.  But in the end, we achieved an enormous amount together and laid the foundation of a very special partnership.  The partners agreed to focus initial efforts on improving nutrition, health and self-sufficiency programs while strengthening organizational systems and infrastructure.  The size and limited geographic focus of Hope Initiatives makes it easy to have a big impact wiith just a little input.  We expect that new successes will happen fairly quickly as new technical assistance and funding are directed where they can do the most good.  And here in these settlements, there's a lot of ways to do good.

Peace to all...Mary