Ah Africa...
5/15/2006
Ah Africa…this is the phrase that was repeated several times at dinner last night…mostly in response to the dire and complex condition most countries here find themselves in…my dinner companions consisted of Drs. Hudson and Mutebe from Uganda representing the WHO, Dr. Oke from Nigeria who is the head of WHO Namibia’s HIV/AIDS initiative, and Iggy (Zimbabwe) and Alexinah (Namibia) from ITECH Namibia…I am always in awe over how passionately many of my African friends speak of politics and wish I felt more informed to be able to really understand the complexity of things here… Ah Africa…how does she manage to replace colonialism with local dictators through "free and fair" elections…Ah Africa, how is it that things have gotten to the place that they are…even though her capacity and resources are enormous…Ah Africa, how can such a beautiful and culturally rich place exist alongside such rampant poverty, illness, and war…Ah Africa…
I arrived in Okahandja yesterday evening and am enjoying the break from the city feel of Windhoek. We are in a lodge just outside of town (a small town) and I would not be shocked one bit if a giraffe was hanging outside my back window in the morning. It is really peaceful here, and aside from the large quantities of birds, it is fairly quiet. A few of us went on a long walk along one of the side roads and enjoyed another beautiful African sunset… there are few things that can compare with the orange and red backlit scrub trees of the African bush.
Over the weekend I was able to explore a great deal of Windhoek and managed to walk around the entire downtown area of the city. My colleagues recommended going to the Namibian Craft Centre which has several local artisans and their reps who sell traditional Namibian items (and a few not so traditional). I was impressed with the variety and quality of crafts and managed to purchase quite a few souvenirs. Sunday I also did a lot of walking. Not far from my hotel was a large Dutch Reform Church and since it was very difficult logistally to go to my church, I walked up the hill and listened outside to the hymns, read for a while, and then followed a group of German tourists around to the Parliament buildings.
There is also the national museum of Namibia which I went and walked through…it is small, but very interesting. Namibia is still a very young country and is working to overcome the effects of apartheid. The museum focused on the struggle of Namibians to gain their independence starting with colonialism and then from South Africa…there was a lot of memorabilia from the independence movement of the 70’s and 80’s and documents and images from the first free elections held here. Part of the museum was also dedicated to the rock art which is found all over the country. The San/Himba people (Bushmen) make up a large part of the population here and so you can find all sorts of things relating to their history (including ample copies of "The Gods Must be Crazy" in several languages).
Around lunchtime I made my way to the Grand Canyon Spur, (one of the few restaurants open), which is about the South African equivalent of a Chile’s…only more meat and less variety. When I was in South Africa, we ate there a lot and each franchise has a different US State or landmark…hence, I think I’ve been to the Utah Spur, the Indiana Spur, and now the Grand Canyon! I sat near the kid’s play room and there were kids running everywhere who had all come out for Mother’s day. At one point I was watching the kid’s room monitors trying to keep kids from severely injuring one another on the trampoline, with a really terrible Musak version of "The Rose" playing in the background and the group of servers started in on an African drum accompanied version of their happy birthday song and I couldn’t help but wonder, "am I really in Africa, and how exactly did this become part of my job?" It really was funny…and an odd juxtaposition to the rest of what I am doing here.
Our meetings went well today. For the first two days, we will be debating policy issued related to the implementation of IMAI, e.g. what type of policy changes need to be made to allow nurses to prescribe HIV drugs and what qualifications/training must those nurses have. There are a lot of divided opinions from stake holders and many of the workgroups worked well after we were officially done for the day. The logistics of rolling out such a huge and complex program is a bit overwhelming, but when we look at the current state of the health care system, there is no question that it is needed. Tomorrow the workgroups will present their recommendations and we will try to come to consensus as a group so we can move forward. It should be an interesting debate. The last three days will be dedicated to making adaptations to the generic curriculum modules to localise them to the Namibian context. Then my real work begins...yikes!
We had a brai (BBQ) for dinner tonight…did I mention that eating meat in Namibia is an artform? The lodge set up the tables outside, which at lunch was very nice, but tonight it was a bit cold and I couldn’t help but laugh at many of the group members who had wrapped themselves in blankets to sit outside and eat their dinner. We have a fun group here and when it comes to work, they are serious and passionate about improving the conditions here, but they also know how to relax and enjoy themselves and laugh a lot. And maybe that is what I appreciate most about Africa…that no matter how serious or how bad things are there is always room for laughter and joy. Ah Africa …
Keep well,
Lisa
Ah Africa…this is the phrase that was repeated several times at dinner last night…mostly in response to the dire and complex condition most countries here find themselves in…my dinner companions consisted of Drs. Hudson and Mutebe from Uganda representing the WHO, Dr. Oke from Nigeria who is the head of WHO Namibia’s HIV/AIDS initiative, and Iggy (Zimbabwe) and Alexinah (Namibia) from ITECH Namibia…I am always in awe over how passionately many of my African friends speak of politics and wish I felt more informed to be able to really understand the complexity of things here… Ah Africa…how does she manage to replace colonialism with local dictators through "free and fair" elections…Ah Africa, how is it that things have gotten to the place that they are…even though her capacity and resources are enormous…Ah Africa, how can such a beautiful and culturally rich place exist alongside such rampant poverty, illness, and war…Ah Africa…
I arrived in Okahandja yesterday evening and am enjoying the break from the city feel of Windhoek. We are in a lodge just outside of town (a small town) and I would not be shocked one bit if a giraffe was hanging outside my back window in the morning. It is really peaceful here, and aside from the large quantities of birds, it is fairly quiet. A few of us went on a long walk along one of the side roads and enjoyed another beautiful African sunset… there are few things that can compare with the orange and red backlit scrub trees of the African bush.
Over the weekend I was able to explore a great deal of Windhoek and managed to walk around the entire downtown area of the city. My colleagues recommended going to the Namibian Craft Centre which has several local artisans and their reps who sell traditional Namibian items (and a few not so traditional). I was impressed with the variety and quality of crafts and managed to purchase quite a few souvenirs. Sunday I also did a lot of walking. Not far from my hotel was a large Dutch Reform Church and since it was very difficult logistally to go to my church, I walked up the hill and listened outside to the hymns, read for a while, and then followed a group of German tourists around to the Parliament buildings.
There is also the national museum of Namibia which I went and walked through…it is small, but very interesting. Namibia is still a very young country and is working to overcome the effects of apartheid. The museum focused on the struggle of Namibians to gain their independence starting with colonialism and then from South Africa…there was a lot of memorabilia from the independence movement of the 70’s and 80’s and documents and images from the first free elections held here. Part of the museum was also dedicated to the rock art which is found all over the country. The San/Himba people (Bushmen) make up a large part of the population here and so you can find all sorts of things relating to their history (including ample copies of "The Gods Must be Crazy" in several languages).
Around lunchtime I made my way to the Grand Canyon Spur, (one of the few restaurants open), which is about the South African equivalent of a Chile’s…only more meat and less variety. When I was in South Africa, we ate there a lot and each franchise has a different US State or landmark…hence, I think I’ve been to the Utah Spur, the Indiana Spur, and now the Grand Canyon! I sat near the kid’s play room and there were kids running everywhere who had all come out for Mother’s day. At one point I was watching the kid’s room monitors trying to keep kids from severely injuring one another on the trampoline, with a really terrible Musak version of "The Rose" playing in the background and the group of servers started in on an African drum accompanied version of their happy birthday song and I couldn’t help but wonder, "am I really in Africa, and how exactly did this become part of my job?" It really was funny…and an odd juxtaposition to the rest of what I am doing here.
Our meetings went well today. For the first two days, we will be debating policy issued related to the implementation of IMAI, e.g. what type of policy changes need to be made to allow nurses to prescribe HIV drugs and what qualifications/training must those nurses have. There are a lot of divided opinions from stake holders and many of the workgroups worked well after we were officially done for the day. The logistics of rolling out such a huge and complex program is a bit overwhelming, but when we look at the current state of the health care system, there is no question that it is needed. Tomorrow the workgroups will present their recommendations and we will try to come to consensus as a group so we can move forward. It should be an interesting debate. The last three days will be dedicated to making adaptations to the generic curriculum modules to localise them to the Namibian context. Then my real work begins...yikes!
We had a brai (BBQ) for dinner tonight…did I mention that eating meat in Namibia is an artform? The lodge set up the tables outside, which at lunch was very nice, but tonight it was a bit cold and I couldn’t help but laugh at many of the group members who had wrapped themselves in blankets to sit outside and eat their dinner. We have a fun group here and when it comes to work, they are serious and passionate about improving the conditions here, but they also know how to relax and enjoy themselves and laugh a lot. And maybe that is what I appreciate most about Africa…that no matter how serious or how bad things are there is always room for laughter and joy. Ah Africa …
Keep well,
Lisa
posted by jacob at 3:06 PM
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