HIV/AIDS is a big problem in Namibia. Here in Owamboland, the official figures say 31% of the population is infected. There are many AIDS orphans. Funeral services are thriving.
The Oshiwambo ‘phrase for the day’ reflects the mortality rate.
‘Omunhu a fila eedi’ means ‘one who is more dead than alive’. Literally, it means ‘one who is too far gone even to chase the flies from him’.

Unemployment is now about 37%. This accounts, we are sure, for the many entrepreneurial roadside ‘businesses’ around, selling anything from dried spinach cakes, to sugar cane, to firewood. David is now going regularly to the market and the people are taking him on as a friend, enjoying teaching him and correcting them. When Oshiwambo people first ask his name, he usually says ‘Shilumbu helayi’ (ignorant whiteman). They love this. The other day someone asked him his surname (by asking who his father (tate) is). He answered with the word he thought meant Afrikaaner (oshimbulu), but their peals of laughter told him otherwise. He said he was Mr Nostril (ombululu)! One of the vendors there sells oshikundu, the drink made from millet. It is stirred in a plastic bucket and served in drunk from a communal jug (after the woman making it has a swig as a polite gesture to say it will not hurt the person drinking it). David says, ‘When in Rome ….’
They encouraged him to eat (another) mopane worm. Then the conversation went to what people eat in other countries. They told him – in horrified voices – of a ‘sea insect’ that the Chinese eat. David drew a picture in the sand of a prawn. ‘Yes! That is the one!’ they cried. ‘But it is delicious …’ he assured them. (One man’s poison …)

Shopping can be a boring – as can cooking, with no fancy ingredients. I went to the meat section the other day in the supermarket and the only things available were: ox tongue, ox lung, tripe and chicken feet. Rather exotic, isn’t it! Caris really wants to try tongue, but dear Étienne nearly passes out at the prospect. David found some German equivalent of Nutella last week. The first time we have found any. The children were thrilled.

Cats are prized in this land of grain. Whereas we may call a cat ‘pussy’, here they are often called ‘kalenga kokomaanda’, which means ‘genius of the granary’ or ‘little guardian of the corn baskets’.

The dictionary I am compiling is coming on well – I am up to 6,000 words. It is very interesting to see how similar words are linked. But often a Kwanyama word has a paragraph in English to explain what it means.
‘Etwatwa’ means a circle of fresh stick/branch used to secure around a grain basket and keep it off the ground.
Or maybe you have always wondered what an ‘oshiva’ is. Well, it is an amulet or charm made of bull’s hide and hung around the neck so as to hang at the breast and keep the wearer immune from attack by the enemy. However, in flight, it is reversed to keep off pursuers. On its end is a small antelope’s horn filled with ‘oumwifo’, a mixture of leaf ash and fat. If the owner of the oshiva wants to ask a favour of someone, it is thought that eating a little of the omuwifo would make the other person more amenable to the request.

There should be a couple of photos up with this of 3 boys with two (identical) toys made out of (oil) cans. I have done a close-up. When the boys run and push them, the bottom tin acts like a wheel and the other two spin in an endearing fashion. Very ingenious.

The meekulu (grandmother) is wearing necklaces of shells. These shells come from the coast and are usually given by the husband at marriage and added to during the marriage then handed on to the daughter-in-law. Women also wear a girdle of shells. I have seen even babies with one. My friends, who wear one (ALL the time), tell me that adult girls wear one until their death. Then it is removed and given to the daughter.

The little boy with the vetkoek (sort of like a savoury doughnut) is 11 months old and is the son of one of the ladies at the market. Caris – with her blonde hair – attracts the attention of the children and young women there. One of them painted Caris’ nails for her. Our hair fascinates people. Someone, touching my hair, asked me if I used relaxer (a common thing here by women who seek to rid themselves of curls) – a bit like me asking her if she had had a perm! I assured her that it came with me like that at birth. A huge blessing here is a hairdresser used to cutting straight hair. Otherwise, David was offering to wield the shears!