More on the Homestays

So this morning I had class, and there was this really really interesting speaker. He was talking about how Namibia has the largest inequality between rich and poor in the world, and then talked about some of the reasons for that and solutions to the problem. Aside from the obvious legacy of apartheid, was the fact that Namibia gained independence in 1990, as the Soviet Union was falling and Reganomics was the name of the game. So, private property became sacred in the constitution, so any redistribution became impossible, which only hindered redevelopment.  Further, the prevailing idea of Black economic empowerment didn't do all that much structurally, as this speaker said it only changed the CEO from Mr Schultz to Mr Okavonga. This man was working on a project called the Basic Income Grant, which would provide every Namibian under the age of 60 regardless of any other factors with N$100 a month unconditionally. The rich people would give the money back via taxes, and any conditional program necessarily leave people out, so it seems like a pretty decent idea. He also had this theory that was interesting in which African countries would refuse to export raw materials, to force production to stay in the country creating jobs and bringing in business. Also seems like a pretty cool idea. Anwyas, that was just an interesting experience that I wanted to share.
And one more before I start talking about the homestay in earnest. Last night I went to services for the second night of Rosh Hashannah (Caitlin and I went the first night too, which was really nice, but didn't go in the morning b/c we had class) The service itself was unremarkable, but these two black-hats from Joburg who had come up for the Holidays invited us back to the place that they were staying. Pretty awesome to be having Rosh Hashannah dinner with 8 Jews in Windhoek. But on the walk over Caitlin noticed that one of the other girls was wearing a Boston University shirt, and she asked where she was from, and turns out she's from Missouri, which is crazy since Caitlin is from St Louis. But that's still not the crazy part. So we asked why she's in the area, and she was studying dance for the semester at the U of Cape Town and taking her "spring" break backpacking and hitchhicking by herself through southern Africa. She'd been in Zambia the previous day and gotten a ride to the border with a diamond smuggler and then taken a bus to Windhoek.  Also crazy, still not the craziest part. So we kept talking and it turns out that she goes to U of I, and is best friends with a friend of Ethan and Adrienne. I know this guy too, and she knows Ethan and Adrienne!! Small world, huh? (especially among us Jews)
So. On to the homestay..
I'm living with Oscar Shikeva, his wife Hllma, his three kids Mathheus (17) Anna-Marie (15) and Saraphina (12) and Hilma's niece Lilly (5) who's really cute but a bundle of energy. It's just been a really really interesting experience. As I've described, they are quite poor, so the inequalities we've been talking about in class are really self-evident--or just when you think about how our house has 4 people and 3 stories, and they're 6 people crammed into this little house. But the community is pretty tight. I was over at Kevin's host fmaily's house (he lives just across the street) and they were serving dinner, and I said that I didn't need any, I was just visiting, but the mother said "There's always enough, even for the guests." Which really struck me, because it's totally not a sentiment that you'd usually hear in the U.S, where we have so much more--so that's something to think about.
I'm glad I've been living close to a couple of other kids, because that means we see eachother some times and get to talk about the experience, which I think is really important. I think that that's where the learning and growing really happens. Kevin, Alissa, and I talked the other day about what to do with this experience when we get home. Is it enough to just be more aware of how different people live, and the systems that cause those problems? We decided that it probably wasn't really enough, but we didn't really get at what would be. But that discussion still helped me feel better about the experience as a whole. As did seeing some cultural things, like a wedding last saturday, and that party afterwards. Both of my parents sang in the choir which was pretty cool. They also had a Boyz-2-Men style R&B band, which was fun. There was also a party later that afternoon, and I've never seen that much food. It just kept coming! We hung out in a room with my parents' choir friends which was cool, since there was a lot of singing. The next day was hard, though, despite cultural experience. We went to regular chucrh, which was like two and a half hours, none of which was in English, so I ended up making silly faces with the toddler sitting in front of me, since neither of us knew what was going on, that was pretty okay. But later we went to what was supposed to be a baptism party out in the informal settlements. It was supposed to start at 3, but ended up not really starting til 5, and even when it did start nothing really happened .So it was a lot of me sitting around an extremely impoverished neighborhood with the music too loud for me to talk to anyone outside of a one-room tin shack. So that was pretty tough on me.
They also don't do all that much, so being at their house is a little bit boring. While I've had some good conversations, especially with my father, and occasionally play cards with the kids (I taught the son Casino!) or help them with math, which I'll get to in a sec. But really, they spend most of their time in front of the TV. Not that this is any product of poverty or Namibian-ness, it's just an observation. They also don't seem to have many books in the house, so I bought them each a book as a gift, including Bartholomew Cubbins and the 500 Hats! 
So the education system seems to be really floundering here despite the fact that apparently the Namibian gov't  spends more per student on education than any other African country. Apparently throwing money at problems is not the only solution. But yeah, my 17 year old host brother is struggling really hard with even very very simple mental math. I learned at my internship the other day that the school day consists only of 4 45-minute classes, which just doesn't seem like enough to educate anyone properly. And of course the quality of education still reflects old Apartheid ways. You have great education in the fancy, formerly all-white, now mostly white, expensive private schools in Windhoek. Then the schools in nice neighborhoods in town, again, mostly white, and now white and neavuau-riche black, and then the township schools, like the ones in Katutura, and then out in the bush. When unemployment is through the roof, and people are starving, a good education is one of the only ways out, and if people aren't getting that, things won't get better. They also don't seem to get any education about non-Christian religions (although I don't know if its all that relevant that they do) since my brother seemed very confused about being Jewish meant.
People do seem to have ways of making ends meet. Aside from both parents working, they also sell cell phone minutes out of their house ( a relatively common practice, nobody has plans here, they just buy prepaid minute cards) and Oscar has a meat saw in the (tin) garage, and HIlma makes extra food most days that both of them sell at work. It's encouraging that people have the initiative to do what needs to be done, but disappointing that that needs to happen.
They do seem to live pretty happily though, although one of the daughters has epilepsy, and between yesterday and this morning she had a number of small seizures and was taken to the hospital this morning, but she's doing okay. I can't even imagine being in that financial situation and having to deal with a chronic condition like that.
Anyways, those are my major impressions so far. If you have any questions about my experience at all, don't hesitate to ask, and I'm sure I'll think of something to add later.
Not sure what the homestay plans are for this weekend, although I've got some homework i should do while I'm there. And we come home Sunday afternoon. Which is mostly exciting, but I am having a good, although definitely tough, experience in Katutura.