Namibibibibia

            Does everyone get tongue-tied when they try to say Namibia?

            A couple of months ago Phillip asked us to go there to help prepare for a major Vision Project.  For these "Major Initiatives" they (Humanitarian Department in SLC"), send a Technical Specialist from the US to run the project.  Dr. Kenneth Turley, a retired ophthalmologist from Idaho, along with his wife Sharon will be traveling to Namibia in May to work on this project.  The Church would be donating about $100,000 worth of equipment for hospitals and clinics in Namibia.  

            For most projects like this, when the Specialists come, they bring with them a team of other doctors who teach and do training on the new equipment.  The major goal of this new equipment and training is to be able to improve the procedures and expand the surgical treatment for cataracts.  There would be equipment for about 8 hospitals and clinics in Namibia.

            Normally one of our in-country Humanitarian couples would assist with the development of a project like this. But because there is not a couple in Namibia, we went to do that preparation.  

            Our best contact there turned out to be Sister Womba Nashiwaya, who is the National Public Affairs Director for Namibia. 

            We flew to Windhoek Namibia on Monday, February 8, picked up a car at the airport and drove 30 kilometers into the city.   

Elizabeth and Flashman

Tuesday morning, along with Womba, we met Flashman Anyolo (the overseer for eye care in Namibia) and Elizabeth Mbandeka.  Elizabeth is the Head Ophthalmic Clinical officer at Windhoek Central Hospital.
In the afternoon we met with Dr. Shalongo, the hospital administer, and had a good visit.  Chief surgeon, Dr. Helena Ndume, a recipient of the United Nations Nelson Mandela Award for her humanitarian work, joined us a short time later.  She had been in surgery all day.

Dr. Helene Ndume

           Dr. Ndume took us on a tour through her department, showing us their equipment.

Dr Ndume and Elizabeth 

 At one point we walked into a room where about a dozen doctors and nurses were sitting, resting after a long day’s work.  When Dr. Ndume introduced us, they all stood and even gave us a little applause.  That was kind of embarrassing, but also touching.

Every morning these chairs are filled with people waiting to see the doctors

After we left the hospital we went to the Windhoek Chapel to meet with District President Demus Makuwa and President Johannnes Swartbooi, a member of the Botswana, Namibia Mission Presidency.  We were trying to identify someone to be called as an In-Country Coordinator (ICC) to help the project along in the absence of a Humanitarian couple in the country.

We went out to dinner Tuesday evening with Womba and her husband which was very productive and we learned a lot about the hierarchy involved in dealing with government officials and workers.

President Makuwa had given us the names of two sisters whom he felt could do the job of ICC.   After dinner we picked him up and drove to the home of Sister Amunjela.              

We told Dr. Amunjela and President Makuwa that Phillip Moatlhodi is the person who makes the decisions and calls an In-Country Coordinator, and that our visit was only to explore her availability and interest.

Our trip wasn't all work.  We went to Joe's Beer House (twice) for dinner and had a great time.  The food was good and it was fun to see all of the antiques that were everywhere. 

Joe's Beer House

Where is your restroom?

This basket is used to store their maize (corn)

The guys in this Mini were trying to cross Africa and broke down in Namibia.
The owners liked the area so much, they decided to stay and never completed their journey.

Lots of outdoor seating, family style

Across the street from our hotel was a market with about 20 little 'shops.'  We wandered through there looking something that would be fun to take home from Namibia.  

 We stopped at the first couple of places and Walt was interested in an elephant, so Susan waited while he did his negotiating.  When Susan looked further down the sidewalk, she turned to Walt and said, "did I just see what I thought I just saw?"  Indeed, it was a couple of young women from the Himba tribe in their native clothes (or lack thereof) so we walked on down to see them.

The girl on the left is 20 years old and the other one 
is 19 and married.  They were anxious to pose with us

The girls were very nice and were anxious for us to take their pictures.  They explained to us how they grind up a red stone to make otjize powder which they mix with goat fat to make a paste which they rub all over their bodies. They also coat their hair with it which makes for a very unusual hairdo but really interesting.

Yes, that is their hair at the end.  It almost felt like steel wool.

We ended up buying several necklaces and some bracelets which are made from the cross sections of  African animal horns.  They weren't real cheap but along with our photos, we felt we got a great deal.

As for the rest of the city (Windhoek) there really wasn't that much interesting to see.

This "not too old and not to big" church is probably
 the most famous landmark in Windhoek

THE END