Training, Tourists, and Witchcraft

It is now squarely the middle of the second term of the school year. I am almost 8 months into my service, which is sort of mind-blowing when I think about it. I have not been able to describe a lot of things that have happened recently. Two months ago I finished my first term and then went to the Peace Corps “Reconnect” conference, which is basically them asking “Are you ok? Still alive? Why don't you come into town for some training and a clean room and free food?” Once you're a Peace Corps Volunteer it's pretty difficult to pass that sort of thing up. By the end of the week I was well fed and somewhat trained and realized that there was not a lot left that the Peace Corps can give me, except to keep the quarterly paychecks coming. Which actually they forgot to do last time and I ended up stranded at a friend's house house with about $5 in my pocket for a week.

After the conference I had about a month of vacation. I went on a 10 day tour of Namibia with some other volunteers and a few random tourists. It was awesome! Namibia is such a beautiful country. We saw a whirlwind's worth of Namibia: The famous Etosha game park, the Namib desert and dunes, the ocean, rock paintings, and even had a face-to-face encounter with the elusive Desert Elephant which has to go days without water as it walks from oasis to oasis. I wish I had pictures to show you! But I dropped my camera in a sand dune and now it is broken. It was really interesting to tour with the other tourists, fresh from the 1st world. I guess it is a mark of how far I have come. They were hesitant where I am now confident. They easily fell for the crap that they hawk to tourists on the streets of Windhoek. The dynamic of encountering Namibians as servants to a mostly white elite was very strange. Lastly, it was comforting to sink into the role of a tourist and not be “The eccentric American teacher from Kahenge.”

It is now winter in Namibia. I didn't realize that it could actually get cold over here, but it is maybe 40 degrees in the mornings. The learners still come to school at sunrise but since we switched for daylight's savings they are now an hour early. They like to make small fires to keep warm. They don't have enough gloves to go around so friends will each wear one glove to write with, the other hand is jammed into their pocket. It hasn't rained since March. At morning the sky is mostly clear but by nighttime the dust from the trucks is 10 feet high. The dust makes for some great sunsets. Lastly, the leaves on the trees fall off over here too! I know this is a small detail but I did not at all expect it.

Cultural Note: Witchcraft
Witchcraft in Namibia is serious business. Even though I approach the subject with skepticism or even in jest, I would say that most Namibians I have met legitimately believe in the existence of witches and the power of their magic. There are good and bad witches, although most have sinister motives. The power of witches are diverse, they can do everything from healing or cursing people, they can enlarge or diminish the size of sexual organs. They can cast a spell so that when you shake your boss's hand you will be promoted the next day. People are very forthcoming with 'evidence'. There is the story (myth?) of the witch who was shoplifting food from the OK Foods Supermarket. When the police shot at her leg to stop her, the leg turned into a snake and she ran away! She eventually escaped.

It is really interesting to discuss these topics with Namibians, actually it is difficult to keep a straight face. They will admit of course that the witch's power lies in your own admittance of belief, but many fully believe, Christian or not. Of course there are many traditional healers that similarly use magic. It seems reasonable to me that people might actually be healed by these people through the power of belief. Although, most healers are also able to cure HIV/AIDS.

The power of witches comes from incantations that require material components. The power of the component correlates with it's life force. For example, if your goal is to enlarge a client's penis, then plant materials might be sufficient. Anything more powerful and you will require animal flesh. The most powerful spells require human blood or organs. There is a word in Rukwangali, Kakorora, meaning “Cutter of Body Parts” A Kakorora is a type of mercenary that will wait in the forest and capture and kill a hapless victim, then sell the body parts to a witch. I was very concerned about this at first because I frequently walk in the forest. But, rest assured, white-person body parts are useless to the witches. Whew! There was recently a story in the newspaper about a man who was arrested by the police while serenely walking down the road. A briefcase he was carrying was full of severed human limbs!!

Well, that's about all from over here. Please, keep those letter coming! Actually they have stopped coming in recent days. I promise to be a faithful, diligent, and prodigious pen-pal. Please, your letters make my day.

Love,

Ben