24 hours in a Himba Villageby Margie
We met our guide, Elia, mid morning in Opuwo which is a small town in the north west of Namibia. We collected some supplies and packed our donkey cart. He asked, ‘Did you bring a tent?’ We hadn’t… but he assured us this would be no problem. We had organised to spend a day and a night with a Himba family who still lived in a traditional way. As we mounted the donkey cart there was nervous excitement for all of 4 of us (some more on the nervous side – some more just excited)
Our cart was made from the back of an old Chevy ute and was pulled by 4 donkeys. We had a guide who spoke English and a driver who didn’t. We were out of town and off the tar in about 10 minutes, but it took more than an hour to get to the village. The next 20 minutes along dirt road, then off between the trees on a sand road that turned soon into a track, and then we were in a valley which appeared untouched by the 20th century.
We passed some traditional homesteads and maize fields and goats and a few cattle, then we saw the maize fields of the family we would be staying with… then their huts as we pull up the cart under a tree. “RRRRRRRRRRRR, RRRRRRRRRR” from the driver and the donkeys stop… and here we are.
The first thing we did was to greet the elders. There were 2 elderly ladies sitting under a shelter made of wood. They had absolutely no English (and we had no Otjhiherero) so Elia translated the greetings. The eldest lady’s husband had died so she is now the elder of the village. And the other lady was her sister-in-law.
As we sat and ‘chatted’, people started to arrive and join under the shelter. Some coming back from the fields, others from inside their huts and the children from every where. The children are usually not allowed to be around near the elders, but they were given special permission for today if they behaved themselves. I start to notice the different place children are given in this community.
This first bit of conversation is quite slow and awkward. It is hot and we are doing our best to look comfortable sitting on a skinny log. So when our guide says “OK we can go and have lunch now,” I was feeling quite relieved. As we got up one of the girls, about Maddie’s age, beckoned for us to follow her and we got our first real bit of warmth and enthusiasm. She wanted to show us in her hut. She was one of the twins who turn out to be the most outgoing people in the village. She happily put on a ladies’ skirt to show us a little dancing and bits of jewellery, and the red ochre they use on their skin. After a few minutes we all need some air. Inside the hut the perfume and just the distinct smell of the Himba is a bit over powering. So we head back to the cart for our lunch.
This was another awkward time. No one else on the village eats in the middle of the day and our guide had made us a tuna salad, but it was made a little easier by the Himba tradition of never watching other people eat, so they all stay at a distance.
We had a bit of a chat to the guide about the sort of questions we should ask to help the conversation and when we go back to join them in the shade. I am feeling much more relaxed and there are more people there now. I was given a small baby for a cuddle (no nappies in sight, not to sure how that works!! They don’t have a lot of water so maybe it isn’t so much of an issue???) Then we ask if we can have a photo of the baby and the whole photo thing lightens the mood as they get to see themselves in the little screen. After that everyone wanted their photo taken! Then we pulled out the video camera and they again are very keen to be on so they can watch themselves. Many of the children have never left the village, so they have never seen white people or TV… let alone themselves on a screen.
So we filled the afternoon watching the ladies making their jewellery and having stilted conversations about culture. The conversation highlight was when one of the ladies asked how it was possible for us to only have two children.
I said, “There are medicines that you can take.”
She said, “Can we have this medicine?”
Then Simon said that he had actually had an operation so that we wouldn’t have more children. It took Elia the next 20 minutes to convince the elder that even though she had a sharp knife she really shouldn’t attempt to do the operation herself!!! (She thought it sounded quite straight forward and was keen to get started!)
One of the women took me to see her sister with a brand new baby (maybe 2 weeks old). She asked (through signing) if I could give them a blanket for the baby. Noah taught the kids how to play ‘Fly’ and they all had fun running through the dirt. The ‘teenage’ girls showed us some of their traditional dancing so that they could all be on the video.
As the sun started to drop, the women all scattered to get their fires going. The men began to trickle back into the village from the fields and the young boys came back on their donkeys with barrels of water. This was the first time we saw people drink all day (apparently they live on 1-2 cups of liquid a day) and the women start up a fire in front of each hut.
Culturally they only eat together on special occasions, so each mother made her own pot of corn porridge. The children played around, until dinner was cooked (no baths to be had!). I took the opportunity to go and sit with the mum of the new baby. I tried to ask her name which proved very difficult, even my best signing was not working, so she sent her son to find a young lady who had just arrived back to the village from school. She is doing year 12 living with her grandmother in town, the only child in the village to have ever gone to school. She interpreted for us. The young mum wanted to know how I could sit and talk to her, why didn’t I have to cook? They both thought it was very funny that I have a man, Elia, cooking for me. Cooking is a woman’s job! We got to talking about what we are doing in Namibia, so I asked Tracey (Kutjeuavi) if she had heard of Jesus. “Yes, I want to be Christian but I am not.”
Wow! And so we have a very stilted conversation about grace.
She said “Do you have a Bible?”
“Yes I have an English one.”
“I would like to have a Bible.”
“If you will read it you may have mine.”
“Oh yes, I will read”
As we were packing for the village Simon had his Bible with all his markings in and I just felt we should take my travel one that is more easily replaceable, just in case!, God really is with us every step!! We don’t really have any way to be in contact with Tracey again, but Elia is a Christian and he knows Tracey and her family. Please pray that, as the one person in the village who is able to read, Tracey will be used mightily by God to share his grace with the others.
By this time it was dark and we left the young mum to feed her family. Her husband was off with the cattle and won’t be back tonight. At our camp fire Elia was cooking up a feast. It looked and smelt great but we were feeling very awkward about eating lamb chops and pumpkin when all around are eating plain corn porridge. We ask about sharing but he said there wasn’t enough. He had gone to a lot of trouble to prepare this for us, his guests! Thankfully it was dark and most of the people were in their huts by the time it was ready. So we ate our ‘feast’ and then the 4 of us climbed into our 2 man tent. (Elia had brought 2 small tents and was going to put us in one and the kids in the other and then sleep under the stars with our driver. We couldn’t cope with that so gave them a tent (in reality we found that all the young men slept outside!).
So we snuggled down, all 4 in a row in the tent and … well lay there listening to the sounds of a village (donkeys, goats, hyena etc.) until the sun came up. (oh Maddie slept like a baby!). Our tent had just netting on the top so we could lie and watch the stars moving across the sky and keep watch for shooting stars.
The next morning we were up before the sun and saw people slowly emerge from their huts. We had a cup of rooibos tea and a chocolate biscuit!! Unusual but fun! Then the twins took us to their hut again, this time we had our guide so we learnt about all the different things hanging around the walls. They sleep on cow hides, and make their skirts from cow hide that has been cut and
stretched to look very elaborate. Then Maddie and I had our arms ochred!! One of the ladies had promised to be in ‘full dress’ for photos in the morning. We bought some traditional jewellery from them to take home and show people in Australia. The prices are crazy, we know we are being ‘ripped off’ but how can it be a bad thing to be generous to these people who have so little.
Now all we had to do on the 4 Donkey Drive on the way home was to reflect. A week later we are still trying to process what we have experienced. They have so little compared to us in the western world, but for the most part they are happy and content. We who have so much, are often not satisfied with our plenty.
Please pray that we would learn contentment, and that many in that village would have the same desire, to know more of God, that Tracey has.
