Namibia, Southwest Africa

Map of Namibia - 

SA plane from Johannesburg, SA to Namibia, in southwestern Africa Jan. 2006

After arriving to Namibia later in the day - there was no transportation for us to get to town. I think a kind stranger gave us a ride to ...


Room at Schwalbenheim guest house - Windhoek

Windhoek - the CAPITAL OF NAMIBIA - was like "mini-Europe" compared to other parts of Africa. With a sizable German Namibian population, the city of Windhoek was quite a bit more modern and kept up. The difference is stunning.   Though on the outskirts of Windhoek there were much poorer sections.

"Street signs"!  When we first arrived to Ethiopia there was a shocking lack of street signs along with street addresses even in the capital of Addis Ababa. 

 

Road

Evelyn at Nando's Chicken. Nando's is also in America.

Pick and Pay Supermarket - Namibia is famous for "Boerswor" sausages.

Trying to decide which pastries taste good and not - all that sugar... Even the grocery stores in Namibia were quite different from what we had experienced elsewhere. Namibia is considerably more developed than other African countries, though it only had at that time (2007) a population of around 2 million people throughout the whole country!!  In other words, their population is less than the population for the city of Chicago!

 

A favorite delight in Namibia is the fruit salad bar where you can personally select fruit and a topping of either ice cream, yogurt or custard. 
                                                                                                         ATM!!

Evelyn & Daleen UNICEF office - she invited us to attend her church, Potter's House

Wendy K from Potter's House. As in Nigeria and Ethiopia, once again, amidst all the difficulties, we met beautiful people who became our friends and who really blessed us.  We thank each and every one of them for their FRIENDSHIP and their HOSPITALITY!!  Africa is no long a faraway land. It is near and dear to us, for there WE HAVE FAMILY !!!



 Paul & Cynthia from Potter's house



Potter's House family

A friend invited us to attend Emmanuel church. Here we made arrangements to work as house parents in their future project for a home for mothers sick with HIV/AIDS.   The congregation was waiting on the government to give them a temporary home to work out of until they could actually do the building. Months went by with nothing happening. It appeared the government was dragging its feet. It became obvious that we could not wait until the government decided to act. Once again, our "Achilles heel" became trying to work with national African entities - just one of the obstacles in Africa hindering progress and development.  In order to rein in frustration, it is necessary in Africa to count on things taking 2 to 3 TIMES LONGER THAN WHAT YOU THINK!


Emmanuel Church- Pioneer Park, Windhoek

 

Lavender-flowered Jacaranda trees. Africa is loaded with beauty and potential.  It is interesting to note that amidst all the cries about "colonialism" from before, the countries which were colonized the most or the longest are far better off than a country like Ethiopia, which was never really colonized! Looking for excuses, and not dealing with the real issues does a terrible disservice to the people of Africa in order to soothe the pride of an elite few. In general, we were very well received in Africa, with people having a very clear understanding of what AMERICA STOOD FOR. Our presence spoke loud and clear to them that we cared. Sadly, I wish we had had more support from people (including pastors) in America. Ironically, in Namibia we encountered some resentment against America from the white Namibians who felt that America had pushed them aside, laying the groundwork for a declining economy - as what happened in Zimbabwe.

Across the street the church - homes with plants & trees. Namibia is a semi-arid country, but, as what happened to us with Ethiopia, just before we got there it started to rain and just kept raining!  Most of its reservoirs were filled!  Praise God!!!

We took a trip to Namibia's Botanical garden.

Nice view from the botanical garden

Sanlam Bldg downtown Windhoek - offices of UN

From Sanlam Bldg Paul took this picture of the Zoo Park from the UN office.

At the Zoo Park downtown Windhoek within walking distance to Post St. Mall, Town Square.

 

Post St Mall, Windhoek (above)

         By Town Square in Windhoek, main capital where diverse crafts are sold in town on the pavement at the Post St. Mall shopping center.

KATATURA area -- 

OKAHANDJA PARK, Namibia - settlement area outside of Katatura and Windhoek. HOPE INITIATIVE -

  

These are some of the girls to visit us from OKAHANDJA PARK.  We offered lunches.

Approaching the settlement area -OKAHANDJA PARK.  Outside of Windhoek, conditions changed drastically.  Lack of electricity and sanitation.

Filling up water containers at spigot in settlement area. This is a marked change from what Windhoek proper looks like. This appeared to be one of the main areas which God wanted to reach out to.  Not enough is being done in these areas.

Children

From the settlement area, we took the girls and boys swimming at Katatura

There’s Paul swimming with several girls and boys. You can see they didn’t have the proper swim wear, but they had so much fun. 

Staying cool in the shade...

Shalom Center Campsite -Living conditions were expensive in Namibia, so for a time we stayed here and worked for them hauling in material from a river bed to build a stone patio area outside of their kitchen and dining facility.  It was a big job, even moving a railroad wagon behind me to form part of the decor which had not been moved for a long time!

Hauling sand/gravel to complete stone work outside kitchen/dining area.

By the YWAM campsite and a lake. Here you can clearly note the semi-arid conditions of Namibia, which also has desert - the NAMIB DESERT.  There is a lot of land in Africa!   It is sad that America so neglects this continent.   As a result, China has moved in big time in Africa.   Keying in to the CORRUPTION SO CHARACTERISTIC OF AFRICAN GOVERNMENTS, it is gaining inroads in Africa and access to its resources - even its fish which the poor in Africa could so desperately use!   It is sad that countries like America have left the door so wide open for China to come in to exploit the situation for their benefit.   China has moved big time into Namibia we found out.   With all the rhetoric about colonialism from decades ago, it is remarkable that people so AVOID talking about what the Arabs did to northern Africa and to southern Sudan (now independent southern Sudan!), and what China is now doing in Africa.   And because of the self-serving agenda of the mainstream media in America, many people in America are probably very unaware of just what is happening in Africa.   How tragic.   Should be reversed.   There is a lot of potential in Africa, and there are so many poor and needy waiting for the "light" to show up, as by and large African governments care about themselves, often clearly showing ethnic bias and favoritism, while abusing their own people.   For how long do the poor and needy of Africa have to suffer at the neglect of their own government, and at the hands of their own people while China comes in to take their resources?  As an Ethiopian man told me shortly before he died, "Paul, we see the money" (referring to the government's fondness of displaying OVER-SIZED foreign aid checks on government TV).  And then he explained that it never gets to them.  This is the  tragedy of the "FOREIGN AID GAME".  Regular people here "think" the money is getting to the poor, but by and large it is ripped of by corrupt officials, spent on big salaries, consultant fees, office space, equipment, SUV's......    Officials here and elsewhere should be aware of what is going on, but by and large are content to keep the charade going - at the expense of the suffering - as long as the laurels keep coming in about how they are "helping" the poor.   American civil rights leaders look up to and protect tyrannical, abusive African leaders so hypocritically because now the abuse is coming from someone of African descent as opposed to foreign descent!  Thus, they also allow the poor and needy of Africa to continue to suffer.   And the media by and large remains silent, inattentive, and uncaring enough to expose the situation, providing cover for donor countries, corrupt African governments, and hypocritical American civil rights leaders!  The poor and needy are left marginalized, without a voice, their story not being told.   They wait, and wait.  How they must wonder, "Where is America?"   "Why aren't they coming, doing something?"  They understand what America stands for.  Do you?   God willing, I'm going.   Are you behind me? 
paul