ATypical day...

It has been a while since I blogged, and I have started receiving complaints about that...so here I am.

It has been a busy couple of weeks... At the initial briefing by AFiD back in London, I was asked to describe a typical day of a volunteer. Well, as typical days go, mine are probably not very usual ones for AFiD volunteers - I do not implement processes, review reports or even impart my all important knowledge on those who I work with. I sell! Never thought I would ever put that down as a description of what I do, but I have realised that most of the time regardless of what we do, this is exactly the activity we spend out time on. We sell products, services, our knowledge, ideas, concepts, ourselves...And the market varies too - it can be a client, colleague, boss, stakeholder or a random stranger who you are trying to impress. I think my typical daily activities include all of the above! I sell the concept of microfinance, and the idea of women empowerment through capability building and creation of employment, I sell the vision of social development through economic activity. Almost like selling a vision of a robust governance structure to an emerging markets company wishing to play with the big boys on the London Stock Exchange! In fact, very similar - I am also asking for money in return for that great vision. Alongside, I sell those who will bring to life these bright future snapshots - the MLF foundation, and myself alongside - seeing I am the one excitedly reciting the pitch in front of those who were unfortunate enough to not be out of the office when I popped up at their door!  Just like when we include the credentials of the team in the proposal for a new bid. This is my take of fundraising. So really, the only difference between working here and in my regular job back in the real world, is the sunshine and blue Namibian sky...Well, almost only that.

So a typical day for my first week would be best described by a famous song from a Russian movie: "A yaaaa idu, shagau po...Winduk, i yaaaaa proyti eshe smoguuu...". It is a good thing there is no sound effect on this blog! ;) For those who just did a double take at the earlier sentence - a lot of walking around the city! Apart from the traditional approach of setting up appointments (how boring!), I decided to just go the offices of the target organisations and try my luck - either see someone on the spot or set up an appointment. That approach went pretty well for the first week - flip flops on my feet and heels in the bag and ready to go. By now I know the city pretty well, and some of the streets which seems reallllyyyy far turned out to be around the corner!!! It does help that Windhoek isn't actually that massive, so most offices are within more or less walking distance. I have also learned to direct taxi drivers to where I need to go if the distance does not permit flip-flopping along - they do not even dare to ask me for N$20 for a trip anymore (all short distance trips cost N$8 dollars, but if you are not local, the price often seems to go up - as in most places).

Glimpse of the city 

German church. It actually is very pretty - the gloomy sky is not the best backdrop.

Another important part of the "typical" day, is walking into Government offices and demanding to see the minister! Well, may be not quite demanding, but gently insisting on the opportunity to have a chat... Secretaries in the Ministry of Youth, National Planning Commission and Ministry of Gender, Women affairs and Equality know me by name now...In fact, I have even managed to get the aforementioned meetings, and these were quite positive..As positive as they can be given that no decision is made on the spot.

Other than that, in the last weeks I have been to/spoken to quite a number of various organisations, from ministries to banks to FMCG conglomerates. I have had 3-5 meetings a day, apart from occasional walk-ins. One thing I have learned, among others, is to call a spade a spade. I am used to trying to avoid any mention of finance in the very beginning of the conversation for fear of scaring people off from the core proposition and the value. I had come up with a number of ways to introduce myself and purpose for call/visit, however it all ends up pretty much the same way - "So you want funding? Let me put you through to Mr X". Yes, I want funding. Show me the money! The system here works differently and everyone understand that everything revolves around money and requests for funds from various non-for-profit are normal and expected. So now this is exactly what I say - I want grants, funding or financial support.  Makes life so much easier! I have also learned that the address books and google in this country do not get updated...African Development Foundation moved out to an unknown location two years ago from the address they are supposed to be according to the local Yellow pages equivalent!

This week I have taken a different approach...just because I am tired of walking and taking taxis! I call and get rejected on the phone rather than in person. I still have about 3 meetings on average set up every day, and in between I find a cozy cafe equipped with the phone book and research results from the night before, and make calls to the organisations to see if I can fix a time to speak to someone or get an email address to send the proposal.

Cozy cafes like this

The second shift of the day involves researching additional organisations that I could approach for funding or partnership, which from my perspective is as important as just the financial relationship. The stronger our offering, the better the chances of securing the funds int he first place, but also the better the support we provide to our women will be. This is where I get overly excited=)

At this point I have a list of 105 leads and 31 out of these are still more or less untouched. I think about 30 of these are very unlikely to even consider parting with any amounts of money, so I am leaving them for later....

Russian connection 2

And of course...Russians are everywhere! So I sit in a lovely cafe, after interviewing our potential Finance manager, when I suddenly hear familiar language...And it is not English!

So Ms N has lived in Namibia for the last 25 years, and he husband is a doctor. This is one of the most common routes - doctors moved to African countries to help improve the health system long time ago. She says that Namibia is a lovely place to live, and the life is easy - and the climate! I have to agree there - I would move for the climate!!. Turns out there is a whole community of Russian speakers (how do I always find them?), and right next door is a restaurant owned by someone from St Petersburg!

Long story short - I am now a member of that restaurant and enjoy amazing fresh juices at a 15% discount! To be continued...

Blending in...

So it has been a week of my life in the city, and I am quite used to it now, I feel a part of it. It has gone from the slightly unsettling feeling induced by all the scary noticed in the lodge, to a pretty comfortable daily routine of cris-crossing the city. I try to blend in! =) You see, that scary notice about the Windhoek experience mainly applies to tourists. Tourists are easy targets for all the obvious reasons: eyes down on the map, casual camping clothes, big backpack and camera on their chest..or something like that. I refuse to get out of my heels regardless of the country I am in, and I have had a few people ask me whether I was Namibian...of course that was before they heard me speak..But still, not bad!=) On a serious note, of course, one needs to be careful in every city, and word of caution never hurt anyone...

Blending in does not always work however...In Katatura, which is like East London of Windhoek, I was getting funny looks...But most probably because not many Windhoek whites go there, let alone foreigners. Another occasion when blending in does not work, is when I start talking to people and they ask me what I am doing here. They do not really comprehend why I would want to come all the way here to work for free and pay for it too! And the part where I am Russian but live in the UK just adds confusion to the mix. Some look at me funny, and do not ask any more questions as they can see that the voice of reason falls on deaf ears. Some get quite interested, and then we have a good discussion, and they welcome me to stay longer. I am now used to confused faces, and repeated questions WHY? But WHY?

As part of my blending in strategy, I have mastered the art of giving directions to the local taxi drivers! Ok, may be not mastered... Local taxi drivers do not actually know the local streets! The also cannot read maps, and so they move around based on the landmarks and main street names. So the way the conversation normally goes is: " I need to get to X". "Ok, will you show me where to go?"...I try! So far I am writing the blog and hence, my directions have been a success...nobody got lost!=)

Hustle and bustle

So I am in Windhoek. The journey on the way here was much less adventurous, interesting nevertheless. I woke up bright and early on a Saturday bracing myself for another bus trip. You see, under normal circumstances, I would have to take a taxi to Oshakati, the next town, find a service station from which the buses towards Windhoek depart (no pick up from my porch this time around was to be expected), get on that bus and wait until the bus gets full so that we can leave. This is also about 8am....Then on to the journey, a sample was described earlier in the blog.

Well, this would be under normal circumstances... I have been extremely lucky with people I meet so far, so instead of this scenario, my friend at the lodge ( I should really give them all names by now - let him be D) knocks on my door: "Can you be ready in 10 mins?". I can learn Chinese overnight if the exam is tomorrow..."Ok, get ready fast - I got you a ride". Yey!!! So no bus, and no angry looking ladies wanting my seat. One of the customers at the lodge was driving to Windhoek that morning, so I could join. So there we set off... My company turned out to be a lovely couple - he works at the Magistrate and she is in the Ministry of Labour. They have made this 8 hour journey 3 times in that week - Ongwediva and back to Windhoek!! So this time the journey was much more more pleasant and educational as we got to talk Namibian history, politics and culture on the way, and I got to take photos...While on the subject - I have to apologize, not many photos will be coming in the next weeks, as my internet connection has a data limit..=(( Boo!

I got to Windhoek much before sunset, and was greeted by this message on the gate of my new lodge: Try the Windhoek experience: Bring a bag into town and get mugged at knife point. Right.....
Needless to say, when I went out to explore the surrounding neighborhood, I somehow managed to stuff the content of my handbag in my pockets...

I went for a promenade in the surrounding area, which turned out to be the centre of the city, not far off from the main street - Independence avenue. This is where most of the offices I will be visited seemed to be, so it would be good to know my way around. Now this time, walking on the streets, it finally hit me...I am in a foreign country that I know not much about, in a foreign city, no longer a village! And I am on my own!! It helps that I know some people, so at least I can call someone  - I have been lucky so far. But! A big but! This is where I got slightly concerned...How am I going to turn up at various offices and organisations in this city with my fundraising campaign? Will I even be able to find these places? May be my friends are right, may be I am crazy......Besides, and this was the most worrying part - this is 6pm on a Saturday and this place is like a ghost town. Where is everybody??!!! Windhoek is supposed to be a busy city with the hustle and bustle...well, by Namibian standards...

After about an hour of wandering around, checking back to my map at every turn, I walked to PwC office!

Now I feel at home ;) Well, I shall visit them later.....

Turns out, most places are open from 9am to 1pm on the weekends, and then people go out in the night, but in a different part of town... Do much for the hustle and bustle!

Russian connection

Someone has mentioned to me recently that there is some kind of Russian theme threading through my blog. I did not actually intend for it to be there, but this is something I have thought about it. In small things. In fact, I seem to find some similarities with Russia in many cultures and countries... My housemate will understand what I mean here ;)

So Namibia, huh! I think the simple explanation for russian interest in Namibia is as it is with many natural resources rich countries - in this instance uranium! But this is very boring, instead I prefer to draw less obvious parallels...

So to start with – food! A very traditional Namibian dish - mahangu porridge with cabbage and meet stew. Cabbage! Previous volunteer had mentioned in her notes that she struggled to describe what mahangu looks and tastes like. Well, for me this one is easy – cold semolina porridge (mannaya kasha) tinted grey! Voila! For my Russian speaking comarades, this would be easy to understand. Many might cringe, but I still like “manka”. My mom was outraged by the comparison though – “Nobody eats it anymore!!” Well, my memories of Russia are 10 years out of date...:)

Next, the ladies’ fashion sense. I am sure many would identify with this one. Now, to put this into perspective – the weather is hot. Very hot. It is 32 degrees with 20% humidity and bright sun. Hot. Yet, most women around wear full colour matching and accessorised outfits, some with full length skirts, sleeves, cardigans, jeans. Heels are pretty much a standard, often on closed and pointy shoes. While queing at an ATM the other day, I saw a lady wearing full length long sleeved woollen (!!!!) camel dress with matching fluffy woollen beret!!!! I suppose camel is the colour of the season.... And she was not the only one wearing a beret to add that “je ne sais quoi” to her outfit in the last few days!

She is wearing boots!!! Thankfully, not the UGGs...

 Is this passion for fashion not what most people note when they meet Russians? Christie, your support is needed here!

Love for the most ridiculous foreign soap operas – I may have mentioned before that there was a soap of unidentified origin that seemed to play everywhere. Well, the mystery has been solved – it is from the great filmmakers of the Phillipines! So Phillipines to Namibia = Brazil to Russia!

Gender roles – men are invariably the head of the household, however the women seem to be the ones bearing most responsibilities and struggling to keep their families afloat. Women here (and in fact in many parts of Africa) are the ones who are considered more entrepreneurial and reliable in money matters, and are often targeted for development programmes. Do not need to look far – most microfinance programmes focus on women for these reasons! Men appear to often choose to drown their sorrows in a bottle when the going gets tough – there are a lot of “bottle stores” here!! Of course, I am generalising, but aren’t Russian women, and particularly from the rural areas, known to be strong, as a quote from a Russian literary piece goes “if needed, to stop a running horse, to enter a burning house...”. This of course has nothing to do with me, entering a burning house would mess up my hair!

And well, of course the key historical aspect – socialist regime that Russia tried to support implementing in Africa...That did not work out that well, but there is always uranium....

Taking stock...

Where does the time go? It has already been a week since I arrived in Ongwediva. And I am leaving this weekend to go back to Windhoek. This week has gone by really quickly!

So what am I taking to Windhoek: two arrangements for partnerships with local NGO's which would bring a lot of additional value to our women groups and their communities, 6 confirmed meetings, few interested unconfirmed contacts, a long list of organisations where I am planning to just turn up uninvited, a recruitment interview and a bunch of proposals already sent out and (would you believe it!!) acknowledged! In fact, quite a few of the speculative emails that I have sent out to various organisations requesting to meet, have not been ignored!!

I am quite used to sending out emails into nowhere, and then hoping that there is a person at the other end who at least clicks on the "Delete" button. In this instance though, people actually bother to respond to me and explain why they cannot consider us at the moment, but would like to see what we have to offer for future consideration! On the phone I have never been passed on to a non-existent number (ok, a couple of answering machines), but there was never a blank "Thanks, but no, thanks". I think this is amazing! I am feeling positive...but then again, let me not get ahead of myself.

I quite enjoyed this first week. It has been quite inspiring, and in looking through the organisation which we might potentially like to work with and just seeing how much is actually being done in the field of development and community work, one can't help but get inspired. It all seems to be a different world from where I normally live, one where people get motivated not by how much they would get from a new deal or how far that deal would take them in their career, but by how many more people they might reach out and support in some way, or by what new skills they can bring into their community and the village where they grew up.

Emilia and Anna - the Loan officers

The girl on the left does not actually work in MLF, but why not join the dreamteam!

In big cities people often try to almost forget where they came from, if that place was a small town or even a rural community. They are proud what they have made of themselves by getting out and reaching out to the bright stars of the fast and noisy urban life. Here, most of those who I have spoken to would love to have stayed where they were born, but acutely realise that the only way for them to have a good chance in life is to move to some place with better education and more jobs. Unsurprusingly, this means bigger towns. Yet, most return to their villages on the weekends, holidays and pretty much any time they can. It makes it that much sadder that the rural life is slowly disappearing, because the village life is not sustainable under current circumstances. But it could be! There are ways to help farmers use more sustainable practices, create jobs, retain youth... However, as with everything, someone very passionate about it has to do it, and someone very rich has to fund it! The combination is scarce in this world..

How did I get to this thought? It was all on the positive side...The sky is still very blue and the sun is scorching... So how is your weather, London? ;)

There is always hope!

I am super excited!! In the pursue of sustainable partnerships, we have just had a meeting with Project Hope, a local NGO that provides health training and support for orphans and vulnerable children. We are now going to work together, so that our communities can benefits from the training, support and assistance and the groups that Project Hope works with can have access to business training and finance if they want to commence their own businesses.

From the discussions it became very obvious, that the partnership would promote self sustainable development of our clients in the longer terms. Project Hope also have an economic development programme of community savings - an equivalent of mutual fund. So if the groups start small with micro loans, while getting the wider benefits of additional training, and then could gradually move on to the longer terms self savings scheme, having a better understanding of how to work with money and plan for the future, they can naturally progress to the more complicated "financial services" model within their own communities.

Yey!!! It is 10.30 am and we have a result!!! Now to the adminy stuff of formalising the proposal, getting the stakeholder buy in etc.... This will definitely help me strengthen the fundraising discussions too. Need to find a few more partners who would give us the support we need in areas of skills development, ongoing business training, women empowerment and may be sustainable energy sources (I had to bring in solar somehow!!;)))

Namibia - who are you?

I am trying to figure this country out. Not that I have completely figured every other place I have been to, but somehow most places are easier to assess.

Is this is a stable developing country, or is this an under-developed, poor country that needs all the help it can get, as is the case with quite a few of its neighbours? Seemingly, things work just fine around here: great infrastructure, availability of services, no poverty on the streets, people appear to have their own homes - even if it is a box sized ones (I doubt the affordable studio flats in Knightsbridge are any bigger!). Everyone speaks 3 or 5 languages - English is a standard, Afrikaans is popular and is a must for Windhoek inhabitants, Portuguese (Angola is a stone throw away), and a few of the local languages, depending on which village or tribe they come from. Literacy is prevalent (as was advised to me by a headmaster of one of the local schools I met at lunch), although education is not free. Health care apparently is great as well, and there is some social welfare available. Safety does not seem to be an issue, there are police posts almost every 10km on the roads. "Staying connected" is easy - a mobile phone is a mandatory accessory to any outfit, however it is more about the convenience rather than the style!

On the other hand, HIV rate is high, and even with free testing and affordable medication, people would rather not face the reality. Domestic violence and women's rights violation is commonplace too. Almost half of the populations survives on subsistence farming. Most people travel back to their villages for the weekend to work on land - farming crops for consumption, mainly mahangu (pearl millet). Resale business is the most widespread choice for entrepreneurs, and shebeens (bars) are on every corner - drinking is a problem here.

Most people have come from villages, which now only have either the elderly, or the very young - in pursue of education many leave the villages to only come back to help with the ploughing, and to see the grandparents, but not to live. I spoke to someone who stays in my b&b - he is on his way to Angola for his business of "doing this and that with some bits and bobs"."What will I do with the land when my mum is not there"? Life is naturally changing, but the traditional lifestyle is strong. When the elderly are no longer there, someone will probably have to put it the land to commercial use, something they have not really done before...

I would love to see the real villages organised in "homesteads" - plots of land with the house - the complete chain - the supply and consumption of produce on one territory. They can easily survive on NAM$50 a month. David, one of the sons of the owner of the b&b I am staying, excitedly described to me the life in the village and childhood memories of chasing a chicken for the feast when the guests come home. People stick together and share everything - if you kill a cow, you share it with your neighbours. If you have a wedding, the entire village comes - there is no need to bother with invitation lists and sitting plans. In fact, you do not need to bother with much planning at all - all weddings happen only in December and you have to warn people a year in advance. The only explanation I have received so far is that it is because December is when everyone returns to the villages for holidays, so everyone is around to celebrate. Imagine the seasonality of the wedding business in Namibia!! Must be so much easier for the husbands to remember their wedding anniversary though=)

So far the theory of my very first taxi driver Sewen has not been confirmed - people do not seem to be that private. In fact, everyone seems to be very open and friendly - that is all I have been relying on at least in the last week. Or may be they are just very bored, and appreciate an opportunity to interact with a new person.

Namibia is still very closely linked with South Africa, and so it is almost its extension. So the two form something that is an African version of the USA - not economically or politically, of course. The make up of the countries is very diverse, the past is patchy and violent. They even share a similar popular culture - kwaito is a popular art and youth movement, which sometimes is called South African rap. In Namibia, it is very popular, in fact the "celebrities" I have mentioned I met before are into this very kwaito - the art and symbol of  the struggle for freedom and equality of the black townships under white oppression and apartheid. And kwaito dancing - seeing a group practice a routine in a club is so amazing to watch! This is not fair, some people are just born to dance.

With all of the above, the unemployment is round about 50%, and even with the mining industry being so developed, only a small percentage are employed by the industry. One of my new acquaintances said that there are jobs, but getting them is a different question. Tribal traditions and differences play a big role in it too...Some tribes are more inclined to work and strive to achieve more, some are content with what they have, even if it is nothing. Some respect the social hierarchy and tradition so much, that if you are poor, the community will not let you get rich - because this is the way things are! Well, of course, if you are rich, the problem you face is slightly less serious - you will have to really try hard to become poor for the same reason. There are probably a lot more dynamics involved in the tribal way of living which have an overall impact. I shall caveat that this is one person's view and no steps have been taken to validate this theory!

Any thoughts?

It is getting intense...

Today has gone past really quickly. After spending last week trying to understand more about the operations and specifics of MLF and its customers, organising my own thoughts, discussing ideas with faith, preparing various subsequent action plans and lists, as well as making initial contact with various organisations which I am trying to target for funding, today, I realised how much could potentially be done. Remaining 4 and a half weeks now seem like such a short time! I can just see how I could be here for 4 months and be busy and very interested every day of those...My main concern now is to deliver within the 4 weeks, not the 4 months...

As I mentioned before, my main objective is to raise funds and build sustainable partnerships, as the bloodline for MLF had been cut off, and the budgets are now running dry, yet the demands are not decreasing. I am feeling the pressure, and more so, when we go out to the meetings with clients.

At the meeting we had this morning, the clients found themselves in a tricky situation - they want to apply for a 3d cycle of loans, however some of their group members had dropped out, so now replacement members need to be found, so that collectively they can qualify for the next loan cycle (there is a minimum requirement for the number of group members). Women were very disappointed as January is a difficult month - with all the holidays money run out much quicker than any other month of the year, but their regular payments must be paid regardless. The group concept has been created to protect them, but also it something that sometimes holds them back - if some of the group members do not play ball. The lead of the group owns a cosmetics resale business, and debt collection agency. Another member imports fish, another one sells fruits. They have now completed second cycle and would like to borrow again, which means we are talking about loans of couple of hunder pounds per person - this is what supports their livelihood and children's education. What happens if they have no access to these loans anymore...

When we get back to the office, I get on the phone. Some success, I have 3 meetings set up for the week I am in Windhoek, and 2 meetings for this week with local organisations - all before 3pm. Not bad :) In my conversation with UN Development programme Leader, we discuss that they are looking for partners to support their targeted projects in 9 areas of Windhoek, and we can provide suitable support. I am keen to get her to talk to me in person, even though we are only present  in 1 of those areas...I just want to get through the door ;) The voice on the other end of the phone line sounds positive. 'Let's talk', she says. I am expected in the UN - I like the sound of it (even if all that means is that I have a half an hour chat in a small local project office, that's just details!). A couple of other development funds and corporate have agreed to listen to what I have to say... I will worry about whether I actually have something to say later..

After lunch I get a call from someone I met over the weekend - he is in the area. He used to work for E&Y and now owns his own construction company - freelancing, as he calls it. It is good to know people - turns out he knows a fellow ex-E&Y who would be a good fit for a position MLF have been trying to staff for a while - Finance manager. He is not a standard candidate or an obvious choice for larger organisations, but sounds like he could be a good shot. I have the CV and an interview set up within the next hour. This guy better be good!

By the time I have looked through other potential grant opportunities, and started a couple of grant applications, it was already end of the day... First shift rather. There are so many things that could be done...There are not enough hours in the day!

Lazy Sunday...

Sunday is a quiet day here...This is the day everyone starts with the church and spends at home with the family..the markets and the malls are almpost deserted, and people only get out if absolutely necessary. Such a stark contrast to London life when the weekend is the only time people can do their shopping, socialising, sunday brunching and mandatory starbucks runs...

My new local friends took me to see the nearest town, Oshakati. It is just a 15 mins drive away from Ongwediva, and the highlights of this "bustling" for local standards township are the local market and the american style mall - manifestations of two extremes of the economic development scale. In these places they sell everything from traditional dresses, to the cultural achievements of the Namibian music stars, to such local delicacies as fried worms! Apparently, the previous volunteer even had the guts to try it...I am sorry, I am a chicken!

The market was very quiet, but I got to see a variety of beans, lentils, grains and spices that the locals survive on. Reminded me of Wholefoods, where you can find such grains and beans that most people have never heard of.

May be they import it from Oshakati? What you do not get to see in Wholefoods, is the raw meat and offals of all sorts laying almost in direct sunlight awaiting its hungry buyers...I think this one can convince me to become a temporary vegetarian!

The start of the weekend is promising....

I take my words back - there is always something to do!

After waking up late and just generally deciding that Saturdays are meant to be for lazying around, I went for a stroll and a brunch in a neighbouring lodge with a promising slogan "African hospitality". There was not a soul in that place, but the TV was shouting out the dialogues from some very annoying soap opera of undefined origin (undefined to me, as I am still unsuccessfully trying to figure out which country produced that gem of cinematography - they actors definitely look Asian, but it is dubbed in English, and their names are pretty Western, so there are no obvious give aways).

I was determined to get fed and eventually found a waitress. The ordering part as always was interesting as they did not have half the stuff I wanted, so we settled on the most expensive dish on the menu, which, of course, they had in stock! Well, I achieved something in the day: meal - done!

When I got back to my lodge there was a lot of life and noise - this is new! A corporate function was taking place where some new joiners were being welcomed. Turns out this lodge is quite a popular place for such events, it is just it is not quite season yet. Well, given I have not seen anyone apart from about 7 staff members duly cleaning out rooms in which seemingly nobody lived, this was a good change.

I spent my afternoon Skyping with past/other volunteers working for MLF (this is work related part, in case everyone thinks I only holiday all the time). By the time I was done, the weather got much better, and the sun came back again, and the sky was getting blue-er (yey!). What shall I do now? I started chatting with the guys who work in the lodge, who coincidentally happen to be the owner's sons...I was asking what they do around here on weekends, to which I received reassuring "nothing"...

Previous volunteers told me that dvd's were an absolute necessity as there is indeed not much to do after you have sampled the cuisine in the available few restaurants and visited Oshakati. There is a club that everyone seems to mention, which has a swimming pool and a restaurant and some greenery, and it is not too far. Sounds good! I asked one of the guys whether it was easy to get to, and after giving me a long explanation featuring a lot of "turn" somewhere, he said that actually he will take me there by car.

When he knocked on my door to go to the club, turned out that his friend was also going there and so would show me around. Excellent, now I have company.

The club is lovely! It is like an oasis, very green, with palm trees and peacocks everywhere (photos to come, bear with my slow internet connection). There is a mini zoo with a couple of monkeys too. This club, Bennie's is a hang out place by day, with cafe and restaurant and has a night club. My chaperone turned out to be an aspiring celebrity from Windhoek, where performs as part of a dance group, and even had the honour to perform in front of the two presidents of Namibia (first and current). Now I am in a company of celebrities too! I learned a lot of quite interesting information about the life of Namibians, which contributed to my attempt to understand this country..I have still not figured it out... This discussion will come at a later date......

I can't figure out if I am indoors or outdoors...it is raining in my room!!

Universe, seriously??!

I did not sign up for this! Namibia is in Africa, and Africa is supposed to be hot and very sunny! Very sunny! And all that talk about the deserts expanding? Someone tell Namibian sky! Yes, the sky I thought was eternally blue...

Thanks, rainy season for ruining my weekend plans. So much for the National park and the Skeleton Coast....

some kind of white car party going on...foam is missing...=)

What do you do in a place where there is nothing to do?=)

Talking business!

Enough with the adventure, now to work!

This is MLF!

MLF office is located in the middle of some sort of a town centre, and is basically one room with a few desks.

MLF office is located in the middle of some sort of a town centre, and is basically one room with a few desks. Faith and I went over my remit, and discussed a few ideas that we could look into.


Faith - the Project Director

 Here are the loan officers, Emily and Anna working hard!

On a typical day, Anna and Emily go out to meet the clients - groups of women-entrepreneurs. I tagged along with Anna to go and see one of the groups.

There were 9 women in the group, and their businesses range from fruit and vegetable resale to tailoring and clothes making. When Anna and I arrived, some of them were already sitting under a tree, which must be their equivalent of a meeting room ;) Each came with their own chair and a set of jokes - I did not understand any of them, but everyone laughed, so they must have been funny!

The meeting went on for about an hour, during which the ladies passed on their repayments and savings money to the Treasurer, who would then deposit it in the bank. This is a process that takes places every 2 weeks  - the loans are given out for 4 months and repayments should be made fortnightly.

While the meeting was in progress, I watched the women. Obviously, I had no clue what they were saying, I was much more interested in watching the dynamics within the group, and how the character of each of them came through. It is so true that verbal communication, and specifically language only accounts for a small percentage of how we communicate and understand each other. One girl, who had introduced herself as "the boss of all of them", kept jumping up and down, and pretend-argue with the rest. It was more playful than angry, as smile never left her face.  When I asked for permission to take photos, she got very excited, made me promise that I would send her the photos, removed her shoes and jumped right into the shallow waters at the back of the " meeting room"! I am still not sure why that was such an exciting place to be photographed at, but she was happy! Who am I to judge!?


On the way back from the meeting, we jumped into another taxi, and - surprise-surprise - were stopped by a policeman at one of the checkpoints (there are a lot of these on the roads, as a result of which the roads are fairly safe!). The policeman looked inside the car, and immediately requested my passport. He then asked me whether I was the one he stopped a few days ago and told about the veterinarians speaking my language!! I am not sure how many blonde Russians roam around this side of the Namib desert.. or blondes full stop...so it must have been me!=) He seemed very pleased with himself for recognising me (was my passport photo so memorable?) and said that now he will definitely remember my name!!  The world is a tiny place.....



The basic needs.

Faith picked me up from the station to take me to my new home (at least for the next week). This is it!

After being showed two absolutely identical rooms and getting a warning that some people get a skin rash because they react to the hay roof, I picked a room (second one on the right). Later, I realised that my room number was 13...of course, what else could it be!

The lodge is very nice, clean and cozy. The swimming pool is deceptive, I would not risk going for a swim there, even though the pool boy happily informed me that they clean it every two days! The place is close to the office, and local amenities, such as Spar supermarket, open market and a couple of smaller restaurants. There is also a Fish Consumption centre, which is where I had my first meal in Ongwediva! Voila!

The rest of the day was dedicated to settling in, trying to get my mind in working mode and regaining some strength. Faith came by later to drop off the dongle for the internet with her entire family (of husband and three kids)!!! I asked if they were heading out for dinner, but she said that they came to say hi!! I thought it was really sweet, especially given that Faith is on holiday until Friday and yet she spent half her day trying to sort me out.

Day 2...A long road to Ongwediva

My purpose of coming to Namibia is to work with the MicroLoan Foundation (MLF), an organisation providing small loans to women entrepreneurs in rural areas of North of Namibia, Ongwediva. I have been initially asked to support the MLF team in implementation and strengthening of their financial and operational processes, as they had only been established a year ago. Two volunteers before me had put a lot of these in place and now MLF wanted to make sure that operations run smoothly while they are trying to recruit a Finance manager. Subsequently, the priorities changed, and I have been asked to assist with fundraising as well as financial management aspects of the operations.

In order to be able to do this I will need to split my time between Windhoek, where most of the funding leads are and Ongwediva, which is where the operations are. I will need to familiarise myself with how MLF operates, meet some of the women who MLF lend the money to and support Faith, the project manager based in Ongwediva, in any of the initiatives that take place here in the villages.

So with this in mind, I am setting off to a 10 hour bus journey to Ongwediva... I had been warned that these buses are quite an experience, and I would be travelling with chickens!! Well, there were no chickens!! The bus driver picked me up at 4am and for the next 2 hours we were driving around Windhoek, picking people up...Most of that was a blur as it was dark, rainy and uninteresting, so I fell asleep. When I woke up, we were standing at some petrol station, and everyone was talking very loudly, particularly one lady wearing a very bright knitted poncho. She seemed to look at me every now in then, while saying something, which was clearly not an expression of her happiness! I asked a lady sitting next to me what was happening and she whispered that the big orange lady would like to have my seat next to the window, because she needs to have some fresh air! The lady then whispered "No need to move, first come first serve basis. I don't want to sit at the back!" I was not going to argue with that - I had an advantage anyway - I did not understand what the orange poncho lady was saying and hence, technically nobody asked me to move anywhere.

This must have been probably the most exciting event throughout the whole of the 10 hour trip. May be if there were chickens, it would have been much more fun!! Reading a book on small bus shaking from side to side was not an option. In a word, I was very grateful for Blackberry Messenger and the fact that I was almost in the same timezone as most of my contacts!!

What amazed me was that the road was really good! I know it may sound strange, but this was a road across the entire country leading to small villages, and nobody along the way. All signage was in place and there was not a single pot hole!! And the road was long....

Along the way, once in a while we would see some box-like brick structures...These would be shops, or bars, or generally some sort of hang out places. Like this one...

Or this....

No comments required...

Cows and goats would also cross the road once in a while adding some life and movement to the landscape...Surprisingly, they knew where they were going even though there was nobody accompanying them.

The bus stopped fairly frequently to drop off some passengers, pick some new ones, or just for the driver to pick something up from boys appearing from the bushes along the road!!! How they ever knew their whereabouts was beyond me... " Meet you by the 156th bush from the BP service station in the middle of nowhere...?"

Something more reassuring was the fact that there were police posts every hour or so. Once the bus slows down, they would look at the passengers with very serious expressions on their faces, exchange a couple of phrases with the bus driver and wave us along. This was until we got to the Ondangwa, one of the larger towns. We stopped at the check post, and the policeman did the customary circle around the car....Until he saw me (damn that window!). He asked me where I was from and when I responded that I was Russian, he asked for my passport. This did not happen at any of the 24 check points we had passed! I gave him my passport anticipating lots of questions on why and where and who....The policeman looked at my passport, smiled and said: " We have lots of veterinarians speaking your language!" And with that he returned my passport.... Good to know! I was just about to ask him where I could find these people to practice my Russian, when he waved the bus to move, and our driver happily pressed the gas. Learn something new every day!

Just when I was already about to give up on ever getting to Ongwediva, the driver informed me that it was 10 mins away! At 2.30 pm, after leaving Windhoek at 4am, and having sat in the same seat (by the window!) for the entire time, hope was still alive. As agreed with Faith, I was dropped off at the service station, where she found me trying to hide away from the sun, and offers to go back to Ondangwa from the local taxi drivers - "So you must be Marina!"

Day 1...Windhoek

So where shall I begin..? My journey to Namibia may be =) I actually started my trip from Lagos, Nigeria, where I went on holiday. I know, your typical holiday destination. The immigration officers in the airports seemed to be of a different opinion... "LAGOS???????" seemed to be a common reaction...But this is a different story ;) I flew with South African Airlines via Johannesburg, and after quite an adventure during the snow storms in London and Heathrow closures just two weeks before, I wasn't looking forward to another flight. This was such a nice flight, I even got to sleep, which does not happen often as I am not a big fan of planes in general.

My travels rarely go without adventure, and I am very conscious that I call most of it upon myself. I had had a very hectic month before my departure, having spent 2 weeks working in Mongolia, ill from the day one, then having spent two days on the floor of Brussels airport, where we were diverted to as an emergency landing due to snow in Heathrow. I finally got home 4 days before I was due to set off on my 6 week African adventure. I am using all of these as an excuse for turning up at the airport in Windhoek without a residence address to put down on the immigration form and any idea how I was going to get to the address in Windhoek, even if I got one! (DO NOT TRY THIS AT HOME! or abroad....) Do not get me wrong, I have been provided with the contact person and details for the stay in Ongwediva (Faith, MLF Project coordinator), however as I was going to stay in Windhoek for the night before setting off on the journey up north to Ongwediva, it somehow did not pass my mind to book something in advance. It only dawned on me on the plane, by which time Internet access was somewhat limited...

Namibia is one of the few countries in the world, where us, lucky owners of red passports with Cyrillic font, are lucky enough to not require a visa. Even though this is the first thing I ever check before planning a trip abroad, every time I approach immigration desk, I get anxious that my sources may have failed me, and I indeed could not be so lucky as to just walk straight through. We landed at about midday and were welcomed by the blazing sunshine.

Welcome to Namibia!

So here I am at the immigration desk, preparing myself for frowny stares and formal questions aimed at catching me out on some sort of immigration fraud (UK Border Agency has prepared me well!). Instead, the officer kindly suggested that he sent a text message to Faith to ask for the address in Ongwediva where I would be staying!!! While he was awaiting for the response I was allowed into the country!! to collect my luggage. He then found me inside the arrival hall and returned my passport with a smile and a note with the address which Faith had provided to him, and wished me good luck with my stay! In which other country would this happen?

So once the first challenge was passed, I then had to figure out that all important issue of accommodation for the night. The plan was to stay in Windhoek, catch some breath from all the travelling, and then take a bus up north to Ongwediva, which as I had been advised might be quite an adventure lasting for about 8 hours. So I decided to just take one step at a time. Priorities! I headed to the phone shop to get a local sim card. While John, the shop assistant, was helping me through a very complicated (for me!) process of loading up credit onto my phone, I asked whether he knew where I could find out anything about accommodation options. John started naming some guest houses in Windhoek, and streets where they could be found, but from the expression on my face, he must have realised that I was hopeless, and called a driver, called Sewen (and no, not a number Seven, as I initially thought!) who after a brief discussion with John in Afrikaans, said he knows a few places. After quietly reconfirming with John whether this was a safe option, I handed my luggage to Sewen and obediently followed him to the car.

On the way to Windhoek, Sewen gave me a brief introduction to Namibia, Windhoek, and life there in general. While we were driving I could not get over how blue the sky was and how amazing the road was!

This was definitely a very nice welcome! While landing, I was amazed at the view from the window of the plane - completely flat land with small green dots and shadows from the clouds, and bright blue sky with fluffy white cotton-like clouds. And now we were driving past these vast lands with funny green blobs of trees and bushes which I saw from above and not a soul for miles...Namibia is one of the least densely populated countries in the world with the total population of around 2m people (may need to google this one for accuracy), and as Sewen explained, Namibians are very private people and live quite far from one another. Ok then...

The lodge where Sewen brought me was a lovely place on a quiet street (in fact most streets are quiet in Windhoek!) We looked at the room, which must have been the size of my entire apartment back in London! I could manage for one night, I thought. I had talked to Sewen about my plans of movements for the next few days and so he said that he would find out for me when would be best to take a bus to Ongwediva and would give me a call later to tell me what I should do, and how to get to the bus station. As was explained to me earlier by previous volunteers, the buses leave from the central bus station and there is no fixed timetable - they leave when they are full! Later, Sewen called to inform that he had arranged for the bus to come and pick me up at my lodge the next night so I did not need to go anywhere to catch it. He gave me the phone number of the bus driver, so that I could text him my address. Thankfully, Sewen also told me the range of the price I should be paying for the journey, so when the bus driver confidently quoted me double of that, I was prepared! The only problem was that the bus was coming to get me at 4 am....well, it will be a long journey after all.

Once I settled in the b&b, I decided to venture out to check out the surroundings...It would be nice to know which direction to walk in once I get out of the gate! I found someone in the office behind the reception, and asked if he had a map I could use or could provide some directions to the town centre. When I told Tim, whose partner's sister owned the hotel, who I was and what I was doing there, gave me a puzzled look and told me I was mad. Thanks! However, he quickly made up for it by suggesting that he could take me around town as he had nothing to do anyway. He introduced me to his lovely other half, Giddy, who suggested that we all should go out for a drink later that night. Some people are just too nice!!  Tim is from the UK, Durham, and Giddy is Austrian, and over the years they have spent a lot of time in Namibia, having chosen it as their new home/holiday destination.

Tim took me around Windhoek, showing me the local sightseeing spots, such as a beautiful Catholic church, green blossoming parks, and of course, the most important of all - a huge Russian embassy ( I am biased!). Not sure why Russians need such a big embassy there, but if that means I do not need a visa to enter the country, I do not want to know!.

Many people told me that when I get to Windhoek,  I would find that it is a very European city which could be anywhere in the world. May be I have not seen enough of Europe (and admittedly I have not), but the wide roads, the vast space divided up in a grid, the malls and the traffic lights hung right above the road rather than on a side, made me think of North America, rather than Europe. But then it's just me... On the other hand, as stereotypical as it may sound, you would not think that this city is in Africa. There were only a few cars on the roads, and not too many people on the streets going about their business.

After the drive, and his view on the life in Namibia, Tim dropped me back at the B&B. Later than day, I decided to hunt for dinner, and went for a wander around. I have been given some instructions as to where I could go, so I headed towards the nearest somewhat busy looking corner. I had lost my sunglasses in Lagos, so now, in 35 degree heat and blazing sun, I thought that it might be a good idea to find a replacement. I found something more or less wearable in a Pharmacy, and went to pay. The girls working at the checkout started asking me what I was doing in Windhoek, and found it a bit difficult to get their heads around the fact that I was Russian, living in London who for some reason decided to come to Namibia. And yes, that I did not speak Afrikaans too! They were being really nice, took my phone number and said that when I am back in Windhoek, we must definitely go out! They also gave me a few survival tips for Windhoek, and to further make sure that I am safe one of them, Tatum, suggested that she shows me to town once she is done with work in half an hour. Well, it has been 5 hours in town and I already made some friends - not a bad start methinks =) Tatum and I later went to the main local site of attraction - the mall - where she introduced me to her friends where she used work before. We then went to a very Namibian (not!) steak house Spur! I am yet to find Namibian food in Namibia... One interesting thing about getting around in Namibia - taxi share! You literally flag down a taxi which may already carry three passengers, and join the party! The charge is per person, rather than per kilometer travelled. I am not sure I would be as comfortable to do this if I were not with Tatum.

When I eventually got back to the b&b, it turned out that Tim and Giddy had been waiting for me and already left to go out. Giddy's sister suggested that she calls a taxi for me to go and join them anyway... The place where they were having drinks was a small old German castle - very beautiful and cozy. However, the most amazing thing about it was the view! It had got dark by then, and the stunning panorama of the city opened up in front of us. This looked nothing like the city I saw during the day - lots of bunches of bright lights on the pitch black background, and lightning brightening up the sky every 3 mins (it is the rainy season here). [Insert photo] - to follow shortly... Tim, Giddy and I sat on the terrace of the castle for a few hours, chatting about Namibia, and how it has come to be what it is and what might potentially happen when they start getting serious about the oil that they have recently discovered there....But this is a very different story....
After a quick visit to the mall for a late pizza dinner for Tim and Giddy, we returned back to the lodge at about 11pm. This was a very long and eventful day, and I had to wake up at 3am to to get on the bus, to continue my journeys and go to Ongwediva to meet the MLF team and finally start my assignment. Windhoek, I shall be back!

Introductions...

So here we go...I am in Namibia! For those of you who already know me, this might not be a surprise at all...I am sort of used to receiving messages that end in "...wherever you are in the world...". However, I myself am still trying to get used to the idea of being here, as this experience is quite different to my other (not as numerous as some may think!) travels...

As we have all been taught in university, structure is everything! So let me begin with the basics - I shall introduce myself to you. I originally come from Russia, St Petersburg, however I have spent my last 10 years in the UK. I have been with PwC for the just over the last 5 of those. I mainly work with companies from emerging markets - Africa, Central Asia and Eastern Europe, and have been fortunate to visit some of the countries in the regions, such as Nigeria, Sudan, Mongolia and Russia (it does count if you go to Sakhalin! Now look it up on the map ;) ).

Fuelled by my business trips, I have become very interested in the emerging economies and international development. I started thinking how I could understand a bit more about what this "development" actually might entail, and came across an organisation called AFID - Accounting for International development. They work with qualified accountants in finding a suitable volunteering placement in the organisations across Africa and South East Asia. Placements typically focus on the financial management side of the NGO's operations, which is often overlooked by the mainstream charity and volunteering work. Long story short - AFID linked me up with the MicroLoan Foundation (MLF), who were looking for a volunteer to support their new office in the North of Namibia, Ongwediva. In my preparation and research I had spoken to someone from Namibia, but living in the UK, who told me that Namibia is considered introduction to Africa. Well, I spent 4 months in Nigeria...Namibia won't scare me I thought. And so, here I am....

It has actually been a couple of days since I arrived in Namibia, but I only just now managed to access Internet. I have never written a blog, or anything with mass audience for that matter, but coming to think of it, it is much easier then repeating myself in the emails to different people! Minimum effort, maximum result =)

Once I figure out how to use available technology to download photos, I will provide illustrations to the story...After all, most people only look at pictures.....;)