The Olympic message goes north

Bright lights in the north: spreading the Olympic message in northern Namibia and learning more about Ovamboland. It is always incredibly uplifting to address a school of young African learners. Pupils have generally walked miles each way to attend classes. They take their studies seriously – and they always have plenty of answers when you ask them questions.  I got a real taste of this when I travelled up to the north of Namibia last week to learn more about the most populated region of the country, where up to 50% of 2m-strong inhabitants live in a concentrated band near the border with Angola. It is a different world to the sparsely populated rest of the country, outside of the central capital Windhoek.

My first call was to Shinime Shiivula Primary School in Ondangwa,where more than 700 young pupils study in crowded class rooms surrounded by sand. A large proportion of the school turned out to listen to me talk about the London 2012 Olympic Games. I started off with some pretty easy questions about where it was taking place: “London” came the quick reply. So I asked if anyone knew where the first Olympics took place: immediately about 20 hands shot up and loud cries of “Greece” rang out. Impressive, I thought. So I hit them with what I thought was my trump card: when did the first Olympics take place: “2,700 years ago” I was told clearly by young lady at the front. So I admitted defeat and told them instead about my pride at the fantastic sports facilities that have been completed in London and delight that so many of their fine sportsmen and women would be taking part. (see UKinNamibia Olympic Fever page) They finally appeared to be impressed themselves when I told them that their own Olympic superstar sprinter Frank Fredericks had helped Sebastian Coe plant the final piece of turf in the main stadium earlier this year. Then they all clapped when they found out that he had attended the One Year to Go party in my house two weeks ago to mark the final 12 month count down to the start of the Games in July 2012. By the end, everyone crossed their fingers and raised small hands high into the air to wish for some Namibian gold next year to keep Frederick’s impressive haul of silver medals company.

Then it was my turn to award gongs, in the form of some great Olympic hooded-tops and pens for prize winners who had captured their own Olympic visions on paper.  The High Commission had suggested an Olympic themed art competition for learners to start imagining what the Greatest Show on Earth would look like next year. The young pupils really rose to the challenge. It was hard to choose winners from amongst a strong field of really vibrant and action-filled pictures. In the end, in true diplomatic fashion, I chose a separate girl and boy winner from the Grade 1-4 first category (aged 6-10) and another girl and boy apiece from a second Grade 5-7 category (aged 10-12). I think you will agree that the pictures are fantastic. All the winners quickly ripped open the packages containing their new thick tops and put them on, despite the blazing African sun. I was hugely relieved to find that they all fitted after a couple of swaps. Runners up got some great Olympic pens, which I had managed to keep hidden from my own three children for the last few weeks! It was a really fun-filled morning and highlighted, once again, what a wonderfully uniting factor sport can be and how much enthusiasm there is amongst children to take part in team events and show pride in their own national sporting excellence.

In the afternoon, I was privileged enough to meet another inspiring group of young Namibians in the shape of volunteers from the HIV/Aidssupport NGO Positive Vibes. My introduction to the group came through British Voluntary Services Overseas worker, Paul Hague. I am always delighted to be informed about Brits on the ground doing volunteer work in rural Namibia and am determined to track as many down as possible: so you have been warned.

Paul hooked me up with a field trip to meet a group of rural women being supported by Positive Vibes to breed pigs outside Ongwediva. We were joined by Michael Anikamadu, an EU Monitoring Specialist, who was evaluating how European Union funding was being spent by the organisation. After driving for miles across the sandy bush, and appearing to navigate only by distinctive palm trees and clusters of simple huts, we spotted a blaze of colour under a tree next to the track. It turned out to be a group of ten local women dressed in wonderful bright pink and red Ovambo skirts and traditional long pink beaded necklaces. The group from Oikango village was typical of the grass roots support groups that Positive Vibes provides livelihood assistance to. The women provided us with a fascinating insight into the daily challenges faced by the rural population. This year’s extensive floods had hit the region particularly hard. As well as dealing with high HIV/Aids infection rates, local people were exposed to malaria and high tuberculosis rates. They told us that growing alcoholism problems amongst the large numbers of local unemployed workers was also putting strain onto the community. It was an eye opening discussion.

The highlight of the afternoon was visiting their pigs. They were a particularly lively bunch of swine. The ladies were proud that they were breeding fast and providing a good livelihood. Michael advised them to increase their access to water. We were both relieved at the end of the visit when we were presented with a bowel of fresh guavas and nothing larger. It was a fascinating introduction to this part of Namibia, which remains well off the tourist track. It also underlined my firmly held belief that you can learn more about a region sitting under a tree chatting to a group of rural African women that you can by spending hours in buried in research papers.

I look forward to many more such Namibian learning experiences over the coming four years here.