Sea, Sand and Schooling

We are just entering our 6^th week in Walvis Bay. Let me try and give you a brief overview of how this time has been. We are feeling already very settled here and thank God for preparing the way for us in so many ways.

This is the children’s 4^th week at school - 2 weeks of which have been exams for Étienne! In preparation for which, he and I have had a crash course in Geography, History, Science and German to cover what they have done in their syllabus. For instance, in history and geography Étienne and Caris have been learning about Eastern hemisphere countries (China, Japan, etc), whereas Étienne’s class has been doing Southern Africa! But today (10 Aug) is his last exam. (He is in grade 5 and Caris in grade 3.)

They are really enjoying school – new friends and new subjects. They learn Portuguese and Afrikaans as well as German and English! They also go horse riding once a week and Étienne has started piano lessons and his teacher has put him onto Grade 3. As Caris is the only harpist in Namibia, she continues to have her fortnightly Skype lessons with her teacher in South Africa. Caris has been invited to perform 2 pieces at a concert for junior musicians this Friday, so that is exciting.

David has started regular trips to the two prisons. Walvis Bay is Tuesday mornings (5 kms away) and Swakopmund on Fridays ( 35 km). Next term I hope to be able to work with the women in the prisons. He has visited a number of churches and has been invited to preach at one on August 22. The children and I have been attending Walvis Bay Baptist church; it is fairly near and has a good Sunday school (in English!). We have also started taking Étienne’s friend, Robert, with us.

As for me, I am mainly playing taxi at the moment! For instance, today:

7am – take children to school

8am – take David to the prison

10am – pick Étienne up from school after his exam

12pm – collect Caris from school

2pm – take the children to gymnastics

?pm – collect David from prison

We live in the far south of the town which, whilst being quiet and very close to the lagoon (which offers lovely walks and bird life), means we are a fair distance from school, church and shops etc. I don’t know if people import soil to the coast but some homes sport very nice gardens with grass and flowers. We even have a small patch of grass in our back yard! Palm is the predominant tree.

The weather seems never very warm (compared to the North) or overly cold (compared to the Winter minus temperatures of Windhoek). Mornings are often very misty, and moisture drips from roof and branch. Some days, like today, a warm East wind blows – bringing a cloud of sand to coat washing on the line and furniture, and irritate the eyes. Some days there is not a breath of wind … and on others there can be a gale! It is very reminiscent of our years living in Cape Town – though it has not been as windy here. Up North, wind was a rarity and what one put on in the morning one knew would suffice for the day as the temperature barely fluctuated. So, you can say that the weather is more interesting here!

There is a shelter for women and children in town, and a day care for vulnerable children. I think they also do adult literacy and life skills with handicapped people. I have made contact with someone who volunteers there and will go and see where I can be of help. There will probably be Sunday school workshop opportunities, too. I was invited last weekend to speak at a conference in Windhoek, to encourage adults to teach the Bible to children from an early age. It has been postponed. But anyway, Aune will be doing it in my place. She is a very capable young woman and coming along well in her studies. The Gillhams (CMS-NSW) have had her living with them this year, which has been wonderful.

There is a lot to explore in our new environs. We look forward to our weekly day off so that we can have some new adventures!! (We were rather house-bound on our days off up North.)

We have David’s mother flying up from Johannesburg next week for a visit. We look forward to that. (Unfortunately, David’s father has a leg injury that is not healing well so he cannot accompany her.) In the 4 years we have been in Namibia, we have had 4 visitors from Australia, 2 from South Africa and 1 from England. Ongwediva was rather off the beaten track for most of you – but Walvis Bay is just a short flight from Johannesburg so, if you have been thinking of visiting Africa … I will put the kettle on (rooibos tea, of course)!