Day 8--Namaland to Sesrium

School Children at Bersheba

Last night, we invited the Nama family to join us for dinner. At dinner, we presented them with $1500 Namibian dollars (1 ND is apprixamately $.13 USD) so they could buy three goats. This way, they could begin rebuilding their herd. The money was provided by Wofford faculty members. They gave us $426 to spend helping needy people in Africa. Goats are very important to the these people because the are their source of wealth. When they need money, they sell a goat. This net worth is represented by the size of their goat herd, not by how much money they have saved up.

This morning Dr. Davis shared some of his conversation with Jackson (FYI: Jackson was named for the pop star, Michael Jackson). Dr. Davis told us that he asked Jackson about having a girlfriend and Jackson told him that he didn't have one because of the sickness. That struck me because it shows that AIDS awareness and education in Africa is improving. Later that day when we were leaving a local school, there was a mural on the wall that said "AIDS kills us." I found it very potent that it was drawn on a schoolhouse wall. The children are being informed at an early age of the danger of this disease that effects 3 in 5 of them. However, this education is working: in the last five years, the percentage of people infected with STDs had dropped 40%.

When we were in the village of Bersheba, the school children were on recess. They were very excited about seeing us and having their picture taken--especially about seeing their picture on the camera screen. They were all friendly and almost all of them, even the younger ones, spoke some English. It made me smile when the bell for recess' end rang and all the children took off running. Even though the kids were really excited to see us, education came first.

While we were riding to our next campsite, Burger came to a screeching halt (literally) for a moniter lizard. The lizard first ran into a prickly bush to protect itself and then darted for a tree. Once it climbed up the tree, it settled down considerably and we were able to get some pictures. The lizard's defense is its tail; it is strong enough to break a 12 year old's leg!

Sesrium, our next campsite, is much nicer than bush camping. We had running water (showers!), electricity, a restaurant, three pools, a store, and a bar. We were all able to camp comfortably under the shade of two large trees.