Oshana on the move

In the Oshwana region in which I am living, there are no buses or trains; there is little public transport in Namibia as a whole. In the towns, people either own a car or walk or take a taxi. It costs about 60p for a local ride and other people share the taxi with you. When I drive to work I have to be very careful as taxi drivers might suddenly stop in front of you to pick someone up or pull out suddenly in front of you to drop them off. Other people ‘hike’ a free ride with someone.

If you want to travel south to Windhoek, you can take a seat in a minibus. The only scary moment I have had was when I was taking the picture below and a man tried to grab me to get me onto one, as they leave once they are full! Before I was allowed to drive a government vehicle I had to take a driving test. Two government officials sat with me as I drove around the block. I was told I was an excellent driver as I slowed down at the junctions and looked both ways.
The school where I am working is in Ompundja. If you search for Ongwediva on Google maps, then look along the main road west towards Oshakati, just over half way along is a road which goes south. Follow that road and keep going until it ends; that is Ompundja! This photo shows the road – busy isn’t it! I take the right track to get to Kapolo School.

As you can see it is a dirt road. When it is dry and another vehicle comes along you are blinded by a cloud of dust; when it is wet, the dust turns to a slippery, muddy paste and it is like driving on ice. As the principal of the school said ‘Ah, you danced to school this morning.’ Other hazards on country roads are cattle and goats which roam everywhere; we have been advised to never drive at night as we may well hit an animal. Warthogs in particular do a great deal of damage to cars. Some wild animals come out of the bush to sleep on the warm tarmac.

Beyond Ompundja the roads turn into tracks; donkey carts are used to get around or people walk.

The children walk many kilometres from homesteads out in the country to get to school. When I arrived one morning last week, two children who were late were sitting outside the school gate. It had been locked to teach them a lesson. Sometimes Meme Amukana, the inspector with whom I am working, and I pick up children who she knows have walked between 7 and 10 km and take them to school. Some of them are very small.

I do like my new car!

On my way to Ompundja I cross three oshanas (seasonal ponds). Recently boats have been out on one of these practising the rescue of people in case the floods come. This is one of a number of dug out canoes which have been bought from the Kavango region to the north east of us.
It is still very hot here, but there have been some showers and thunderstorms. Everyone is still waiting for the heavy rains to come.

Of course, babies and young children always get a very comfortable ride with their mothers!