Friday, December 14, 2012
The CEML Hospital/ A Clínica CEML - August / Agosto 2012
Here is our newsletter in English.
Aqui está o nosso boletim em português.
Sunday, October 7, 2012
Spring leaves
Spring is here in Angola! Fresh green and red leaves flutter with the breeze in the dusty countryside.
It hasn’t rained for at least 4 months, and is a hopeful sign of things
to come. Amazing that new growth appears weeks before the rains begin.
Have to say the spring colours remind me of autumn in Canada!
These pictures were taken on our way to Cavango just south
of central Angola.
Many areas have been burned and the new growth is in stark contrast to the blackened earth.
 |
| Coloured trees in the distance, field sprouting green plants |
 |
| Seed pods are huge |
 |
| This insect is the size of a hummingbird, and has red under its wings when flying |
Thursday, May 17, 2012
The Himba people
A Window into Himba culture
During our recent visit to Windhoek, Namibia, I stumbled across an exhibition by Namibian youth, so decided to visit the tents. Two of the tents I found particularly interesting, as they illustrated the life of the Himba people, a group of people in northern Namibia and the Angola border around the Cunene river.
An
articulate young woman really enjoyed telling me about her roots. She showed me
two different crushed rocks that are used in personal care. She explained that
woman do not bathe in water, but every morning and evening, anoint themselves
with a mixture of cow butter and ochre, which is made by crushing a red stone.
She explained that the ochre protects against the rays of the sun and repels
insects. The reddened necklaces on the right of the powdered rock are rubbed with ochre; you'll also notice the ochre rubbed into other items below. Himba women are known for
going topless, and for their beautifully groomed, reddened skin and hair.
They also use a sweet smelling mixture of leaves/herbs, bark and dried
seeds/ fruits that is pulverized. The smoke of this “perfume” is absorbed by
the skin. You can see the items that are used in the bags in the picture. Another visitor was so pleased to see this perfume and mentioned that his grandmother would be interested in getting some--something she was not able to get while living in the city.
Young boys
have a braided mohawk type of hair style, while girls wear their hair in
several tight braids. When young women are married, they may put on a headdress
made of leather. They always wear this, except for funerals. (Though not easy to see, the headdress is in front of the calabash in the picture.)
They sleep
using a pillow made from wood. The rounded top supports the side, not the back
of the head. In the picture below, the wooden pillows are lined up on the left. They make intricate and beautiful baskets from grasses. Two small baskets are on the upper right. Two cow horn containers are in the centre, just below the dolls.
Their
cattle provide much of their sustenance. She showed me the calabash, or large
gourd that holds fresh milk. This milk is left for a few days, then shaken,
until the sour milk becomes the right consistency; then is sipped from a large
wooden spoon. Many objects are made from leather or cow horn. To transform a cow horn into a container
for the ochre, the ends of the horn are closed by cowhide. Then the leather is
wrapped tightly by string around the ends, and left in the sun to dry.
Leather
from cow or goat hides is also used for loin cloths and cases
for handmade metal knives. They make beautiful bracelets from brass, cow horn and plastic
pipe. Necklaces are made from fragrant wood, palm fronds, bits of wire, or a
mixture of beads and seeds. I asked about the significance of the jewelry and
she mentioned that after the first child, a woman wears a bracelet on her
ankle, and adds one for each additional child.
Village
life remains much the same as it has for centuries, and my young friend
explained that she doesn’t wear her city clothes when she goes back to visit relatives.
She now lives in the city, and someday would like to become a nurse. Of
course, I encouraged her!
I asked
about their religion, which seems to be centered around a “holy fire” and the
ancestors. I was fascinated to read a note in the National Museum in Windhoek,
regarding some thoughts from someone in this tribe towards Christianity. “They
say Christianity means that we have to believe and trust somebody whom we
cannot see, and who is not even black as we are and just not known to us. Some say he is the white people’s god. Yet,
there are of our people who say they can live in a relationship with him. They
say he can become our Mukuru and help us. Most of us are not yet sure about
these things. Jesus Christ seems to
demand too many changes from us. There
are many of those who say they are Christians, but we too often see them not
living the way we have been taught by the missionaries.
So we
rather want to live the way we have known.
We have heard that Jesus Christ is the herder of his people. He sees his people as his sheep, which he
cares for as we care for our cattle. But
there are not many of us who understand this yet.”
Friday, April 13, 2012
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
