About an after-school program

I don't think I told any of you about this so I think I will take time now to do so. Two weeks ago I went with some women (3 others) I met at the International Women's club to an after school program that started at 1pm and ended around 4pm. It is suppose to be for young children maybe 5-7 years old. The program is held at an elementary school in two or three of the class rooms. The idea is that they help children learn the basics necessary for reading, writing, math,etc. Some need to learn to speak English.

The school is in Katatura which is the very poor area of the city of Windhoek. I really did not know what to expect. When we arrived there were 40-50 kids. Their ages ran from 4-14 I would guess. It was very chaotic and the supplies were VERY limited. Very few books, no coloring supplies, scarce pencils or paper, a few matching games, and counting cards. There were a few etch-a-sketch type things but, they did not work very well at all. I have to admit that I was terrified! These kids were all at different levels in their skills. Some had no idea what I was saying because they could not speak English. Others were trying to learn to count or their ABCs. Some were further along and a few were even doing homework. 5-6 kids were gathered around the table I was at and they all needed different help. They all kept saying teacher or pulling on my clothes for my attention. Finally I realized what each of the children wanted, ATTENTION! I have never been sat on, hugged, teased (in a kind way), and held on to so much in my life! We finally split into two rooms and played simple games with the kids. I was in the room with the older ones maybe 8-14.

The kids would beg to sit next to you and even the 2 to 3 older girls eventually ended up next to me and would tap my shoulder and pretend like they hadn't. When I would catch them they would just giggle like little kids. They all wanted to feel my hair as well. Several would call me "mama". They all asked me and the other women if we would come back the next day. There is usually only 1-2 local women who are with the children each day. This is a tiny program. There are others that have hundreds of children who come. They even have to turn many away. It was an amazing experience but, it was heartbreaking as well. A few children had really bad sores that appeared to need medical attention. Most the kids did not have shoes. Their clothing was old and often to small. One of the older girls had on a skirt held together on the side with safety pins all down it. This was not a fashion statement, just a real necessity. Several of the little girls had on dresses and skirts that were way to short because they were too little. I kept wanting to pull it down so you couldn't see their panties. All I could think about was the rape and abuse of young women and girls in that area. I wanted to just bring all the kids home with me.

I plan to go back as soon as I can. The woman I ride with usually goes every Thurs. but, I was sick last week and her daughter is sick now. I hope this week we can go. I guess the hardest part about the whole thing was that the kids just wanted you to notice and talk to them. They really didn't seem to care who I was as long as I was interested in them. All these kids come from very poor families and some of them are in pretty bad situations from what I was told. I was so ashamed of some of the things that I have thrown away in the U.S. These children had on stuff I would use as old rags or just throw out. Me and the other women obviously looked wealthy compared to the children just by our clothes, shoes, and jewelry but, the kids didn't seem to notice. If they did it didn't seem to be an issue. In the U.S. we throw away better things than many people here own. I realize even being homeless in the U.S. is being better off than these people. Think of all the stuff we throw out. If food gets too old then we don't want it anymore. If fruits or veggies get a little brown they are tossed. Restaurants and grocery stores throw out tons of food. Please do not think I am telling you this to make you feel guilty I am just trying to work it out for myself. I really don't know how to put the great wealth I posses next to the great poverty these people endure. I am so rich compared to most in Africa. I am having a hard time witnessing all this. I knew it was going to be hard coming here but, some days it is overwhelming.

The one thing I keep going back to is this: everything I have ever done that was worthwhile was because I just took a step and showed up. Most of the time I had no idea what I was getting into but, that was the beauty of it all. If you just put yourself out there you never know how God will use you in someone else's life. Or maybe how God will have someone else change you. I am certain I did nothing for those children on that Thursday afternoon and I am positive that I do very little for the homeless people who I help out with on Wednesdays at the church. I do know for certain what all of them do for me and that is to be greatly humbled by them. They all remind me of how life could be very different and how embarrassingly rich I am. They can laugh and find joy even though they have almost nothing. I struggle not to pack up and come home so that I don't have to see all this. It is really hard!! I just want to ignore it all sometimes but, I know that is not what I am suppose to do. I have been called to be a witness here for some reason. Why God would want that of me is something I am still trying to figure out. I guess, if nothing else, that I was just willing to show up. I often never know why I was suppose to do something until long after I have finished. Don't ever underestimate what a difference you may make just by showing up to do something. You may find it was all about you getting something wonderful and priceless in return. Thank you for letting me "talk" this out a bit. I am still trying to process this. I hope you are all well. You all are in my prayers. Penny

Life in Windhoek

So I have been promising for several weeks to post to the blog and so far I haven’t done it. So now I have made you wait long enough for the latest adventures of Jeremy and Penny in Namibia. Well that might not be quite right because contrary to popular myth the life of a missionary is not filled every day with what would be considered excitement. When things really start getting down to business is when you have to start living your day to day life, day in and day out in the place you have come to work. I will be honest, some times it is just regular life. But the real essence of working in another country is getting into the lives that the people around you live, building relationships and just living.
This is not to say that we are not busy or that we are not experiencing amazing things. So far there are 60 people who have submitted applications to the clergy training program. We will only be able to take 36-40 depending on the price of the Theological Education by Extension classes and the cost of food and supplies for the program. The cost of living in Windhoek and in many parts of Namibia has been going up for months. There is a lot of excitement about this program and the Selection Committee (the same as a Commission on Ministry) should be able to choose a great group of folks.
Penny and I have been helping out with a ministry here at the Cathedral called Loaves and Fishes. It is a feeding program for the homeless that provides a small amount of food every Wednesday to between 40-60 people. We have been getting to know them and some of their stories are heartbreaking. There is a medical clinic that will treat them, or at least give them a check-up for N$5.00. That is less than $1 US dollar and none of them can afford to go to the clinic. We sent 4 people this past Wednesday for various problems. The folks that run the program have recently made a deal with another nearby clinic to allow us to use vouchers and then pay at the end of the month. It is a great ministry that also provides a hot meal one Saturday a month.
We think we have finally gotten our security situation under a little better control. After the theft, the parish put up a 10 foot high fence with razor wire around the top. This will at least slow people down that are trying to break in. But there is also the issue of street violence. In the past few weeks we have had two young people from our congregation attacked by thieves. One was stabbed in the back, and was sent to the hospital for a cell phone, the other was knocked down and kicked before undercover police stepped in to catch one of the guys. The second incident happened after a Wednesday night confirmation class I have been teaching. The young woman was walking downtown to catch a cab to take her home. When I say cab please don’t think of anything yellow or New York-like. Think 1980 Datsun with a yellow Taxi sign on top and the name of the cab company on the side in plastic peel-off letters. Most people in Windhoek don’t have cars so these taxis are their only means of transport. So the young woman who was assaulted was the niece of one of our priests, Father Samuel. He called me shortly after it happened and asked if we could go and see about her. I called her and she was on her way to the police station. Now when I say police station don’t think of any major or even minor city police stations, think 1950's bungalow converted into a station with the back-porch enclosed in bars and acting as the holding cell. The holding cell which is reached by walking through the kitchen/conference room/interview room. The guys who had assaulted Fr. Samuel’s niece had been caught the previous two nights robbing tourists at knife point, but none of the tourists wanted to make a case so they had to release the guys. It was a wild night at the police station and I am not sure it is important to tell all the details. Let’s just say it was a frustrating and eye-opening experience and that we hope we don’t have to visit again anytime soon.
So this is everyday life in the mission field. We really appreciate you keeping us in your prayers and for all the support you have given us.

New York Times

If you have not seen it I encourage you to go and have a look at the New York Times article about Namibia. It is in the Travel section for August 24th. It has some very interesting information about the country and about the clash of cultures taking place in Namibia. Have a great Saturday. J

...And We're Back

Well the past few weeks have been a series of ups and downs, both literally and metaphorically. So this post will probably be a little long. We will try and make up for it with some photos.

I will begin with something good. The clergy training program is getting started. We have had two discernment days over the past few weeks. Lukas and I met with 11 people from the area around Windhoek and South and then Lukas went to the North this past weekend to meet with another large group. It was great listening to their stories and feeling their ethusiasm. We have really started to get the program together. Towards the beginning of October the selection commitee will meet and choose the postulants for the training program. They will register for their TEE (Theological Education by Extention) materials in November and we will have our orientation week in January. We hope to have 36-40 students in the program. Everything will depend on how far we can make the grant money go. We have a plan, but the changing economic conditions could affect how many students we can accept.

Now for the big downer. On Wednesday, August 6th, The Transfiguration. Penny and I were both invited to lunch with different people. Me with the personal assistant for the Ambassador of Nigeria and Penny with the Dean's wife. She left at 12:30pm, I left at 1pm. She got back at 2pm. I arrived about an hour later and found Penny standing with the Dean at the front of our house. As I walked up the steps she told me that our house had been broken into. She had come into the house to find that the window in our living room had been broken and the security bars pried off. She initially thought that only the computer had been stolen, but after some searching realized that our old and brand new digital cameras had been stolen. After a day or so we also figured out that Penny's purse an my second wallet had been stolen. Betwen the two they got Penny's iPod and both our credit cards. By the time we cancelled the cards on Friday the thieves had charged several thousand dollars. For the next few days we had a guard at night. Since that time the parish has really taken security much more seriously. We have a new temporary security fence in the front and back and a new plan for security of the property.

Over the days that followed the theft we experienced a range of emotions. Sometimes we were angry other times we were sad. Sometimes we felt guilty for having these things in the first place and other times we were frustrated that we lost photos of our family and friends that had not been downloaded or backed-up. When we moved here we did not bring much, mostly clothes and electronics. We had been feeling really homesick anyway and then to have most of what conected us to home taken was hard. At the same time we could look around and see how little most people here have, the high unemployment rate and rising food prices make for a desperate situation. As we takled to people in the parish we realized that most everyone has had a theft of some kind and that in many ways it is a rite of passage. We feel connected in a different way. We know we must remain vigilant about our security, both property and physical, but we cannot lock ourselves away and become disconnected from the people were are here to serve.

Enough bad news lets get to some good stuff. About the same time that were were robbed Penny and I had been considering adopting a cat from the SPCA here in Windhoek. We had actually gone the day before and picked out two cats and they were being spayed at the time. We went and picked them up the Friday after the theft. You can see them in the photo. Since we had been feling homesick we named our new additions after rivers in Alabama. The grey and white cat is named Coosa and the calico/tabby mix is named Sipsey. They are very sweet and affectionate and have brought new life to the house. As you can see they have already started getting comfortable.

So we went and ordered a new computer and had to wait about 2 weeks to get it. The Olympics have been a nice diversion and we have never felt so patriotic. You can tell that you are feeling homesick when you get tears in your eyes during the medal ceremony for womens gymnastics. I realized that this was the first time I have ever heard the Star Spangled Banner from another country.

This past weekend we experienced a highlight of our time here so far. The Dean, Mike and his wife DeeDee and Penny and I took the youth confirmation class on a camping and hiking trip to the Nakluft Mountains. There were 20 kids aged 12-17, from a variety of economic backgrounds.

We left at about 11am on Friday for a 5 hour drive through the bush to the Namib/Nakluft National Park. We took a bus that had seen better days but semed up to the trip. Mike followed in his truck. About 3 hours into the trip we had our first flat tire, on Mike's truck. A very nice Austrian couple on holiday in Namibia stopped to offer assistance. About 30 minutes later our second flat, this time on the bus. This is a part of the world where you must take flat tires very seriously. As you can see from the photos we are out in the middle of nowhere and it can be hours before another car passes.

So we finally arrived at our camp site and got everything together. The kids were split into teams and were each responsible for preparinga meal. It was very cold during our trip. A cold front from the Cape came through and brought temps close to freezing both nights. It did, however, make the 10 mile hike the next day much nicer. Rather than try and narrate the entire hike and the rest of our trip I will download photos and just say a word about each one.

This photo is of our first meal being prepared.

These are our kids along with Mike, DeeDee, myself and our bus driver Jack. Penny is taking the photo.

Next a couple of photos of the amazing scenery. As I said the hike was 17km or about 10.5 miles and reached a hight of 1910 meters (6266 feet) Its 1000 feet higher than Denver. We will post more photos of the trip in our next post.

We will be updating the blog more frequently now that we have our computer back. Thank you for all your prayers and support. We heard that we made the Huntsville Times last Friday. If anyone has a copy please drop it in the mail to Jeremy and Penny Lucas PO Box 65 Windhoek, Namibia, we would love to see it. Blessings and Peace, Jeremy an Penny

Getting Settled

Well it has been a couple of weeks since our last blog post, so much for the weekly update. Sorry to keep y’all waiting. We are still getting settled into our new home and can’t believe that we have only been here for 5 weeks. The past two weeks have been very busy.

Just before Penny and I were to leave on a four day break at the coast, I had my first death in the parish. It was obvious that he was highly respected and loved by everyone who knew him. He was Kwanyama and was the principle at a High School in the North. I visited his home the evening after he died and was invited in to be part of the mourning to read scripture and say prayers for the family and Damien. It was an incredible evening of Kwanyama hymns and offerings of condolence to his widow and children.

On the Saturday after he died we held a memorial service at the Cathedral in the morning. Close to 150 people came as we said prayers and heard remembrances. After the service the family and friends left Windhoek to travel to the North for the full service of the Burial of the Dead. That service can take 4 hours or longer we have heard.

That afternoon Penny and I left and drove across the Namib Desert to the western coast. On the way we were stopped by the police. The officer was checking speed with a radar gun, but I knew we had not been speeding. We had been warned that Namibian police were out in force to catch speeders so we were watching. He pulled us over by stepping into the road and waving us to the side. When we stopped I asked if we were speeding and he said “No”. Then he began asking for something that I could not understand and finally Penny heard the words “Red Triangle”. He finally communicated to us that he needed to see our red triangle. I had absolutely no idea what he was wanting but came to figure out that each car is required to carry a set of red triangles to put on the road in case of an emergency, to alert other cars to your presence. As we were driving the parish car I had no idea if there were red triangles or not. I got out of the car and checked the boot, (the ‘boot’ is what they call the car trunk in Namibia) No triangles. So he told me that he would have to give me a ticket, but that it was only N$100 or about $14 US. I said ok and then he asked if I knew were to go and pay the ticket. I told him I had no idea, and he said we would have to go back to the last town we passed (about 45 minutes ago) and pay it. I told him that we were on our way to the coast and would be coming back on Wednesday, and I asked if we could pay it on our way back. I also told him that we would buy red triangles as soon as we got to Swakopmund. At this he got very confused and said he didn’t know what to do. Finally he decided that he no longer wanted to deal with us and told us that we could just go, which we did.

We stayed for 4 nights in a flat across from the ocean loaned to us by some friends, in a small tourist town called Swakopmund that is sometimes referred to as being more German than Germany. Swakopmund means “mouth of the Swakop” in German and refers to the Swakop river that flows into the Atlantic when there has been significant rainfall. There are all kinds of shops and restaurants that cater to the many German tourists who visit. The architecture also reminds you of a German village as you can see from this photo. We did not take this photo. But we did take others. We got a new camera just before we left the United States and have not had time to download the software to our computer. As soon as we do you will have more photos then you ever wanted from Namibia.

We stayed in Swakopmund until Wednesday and then drove home. It is about a 4 hour drive over paved roads, some of which are in major need of repair. A few times we had to slow down for baboons or warthogs in the road and mainly tried to stay out of the way of the crazy drivers.

This past Sunday I was Celebrant and preacher for both services. The service is from the Anglican Prayer Book of the Province of Southern Africa 1989 and is similar in many ways to the BCP 1979. It follows the same pattern more or less; Ministry of the Word, sermon, Prayers of the People, the Peace, and then the Communion. I think anyone visiting from an Episcopal Church would be able to follow along with very little problem. Our Old Testament reading last Sunday was about Moses being sent by God to the Hebrew people in slavery. So I taught everyone Go Down, Moses in my sermon and we sang together a couple of verses. It was great. Some people really got into it and other now just think I am crazy.

This past week I was really busy with parish administrative issues and working on the Clergy training program. We begin the selection process in 2 weeks with interest meetings in Windhoek and the North and then the Commission on Ministry will select the ordinands in September. Penny and I had our first tutoring session in Oshikwanyama the past Wednesday. We have scheduled regular Wednesday morning classes so hopefully we will know how to say something more than good morning. Penny is doing well and is about to begin exploring where her skills can be most useful.

We also want to say a special thank you to everyone who has sent us mail. It takes at least 2 weeks from the US to get a card and longer for any kind of larger package or box. We will try and let you know when we get your mail so that at least you can know it arrived. We are still looking for people to download SKYPE. It is a very easy way to connect and talk to us. The best times to call us are between 7am-3pm Central Time. We are 6 hours ahead of Alabama. If you want to call the best thing to do is to send us an email and tell us a good time. We have been having a little trouble with our internet connection the last week or so (it goes out for 24 hours at a time with no real explanation, and Telecom who runs the system stops answering the phone) So we have not been able to really say for sure we could be available. So if we make a plan to talk and you can’t get us please know that we have no control over the system so keep trying.

I hope you enjoy reading our updates. Thanks to everyone sending email it is great to hear from you. It helps us to feel not quite as homesick as we are. Blessings and Peace, Jeremy

Understanding Africa

I hope that you have all had a great week and I know that you have anxiously been waiting for our next blog post. Well here it is. This past week has been our opportunity to come face to face with some of the realities of Africa that we did not expect.

When someone says “realities of Africa” many things probably jump into our minds and most of them are bad. Let me just begin with a small statement of common sense, Africa is a huge Continent made up of countries that are as diverse as any you could find anywhere in the world. From predominately Muslim countries in the North, such as Egypt to very diverse countries, in every way possible, such as South Africa. From places of almost constant conflict like Sudan, to places of relative peace like Namibia. All in all there is no way to describe Africa as any one thing. There are specifics of place just like in the U.S.A. If someone asked me to tell them about the U.S. I might say some things about the places I had been or the constitution but, nothing that I could say would ever describe the specifics of places like New York City, or Athens, Alabama. It is just not possible. So it is also not possible to describe Africa, a continent over 3 times the size of the U.S. What you will have before you is one small slice of African life.
This slice of life is from Central Windhoek and this week it included connection to two pieces of technology, a cell phone and T.V. with a satellite hook-up. In addition to our high-speed wifi internet connection we are very connected to technology. Most people in Windhoek have cell phones and I think it could be safely said that it is THE main way people communicate with one another in the city and in the rural areas. Many people, I could not say how many also have TV’s with satellite. There are no TV signals other than satellite so if you have a TV you must have some way to pick up a signal. So it is quite strange for us to be here in Namibia and have many of the things we had at home. I have been reflecting this week on whether or not we SHOULD have these things. Certainly it is possible to get by without them and they represent different things to different people. It would be easy for someone in the U.S. to say, “Well if they can have a cell phone and missionaries can have TV sets why do they need our help?”

What is missed most often coming from a western cultural context is that all the trappings of western consumerism are a very thin veneer here in Namibia and I would guess in most of Africa. While there may be cell phones, there is not always electricity to charge them, while there may be TV’s and satellite connections, rolling blackouts are becoming more and more common. Many people who have these types of “conveniences” don’t have reliable sources of clean water. I guess what I am trying to say is that just because someone has a cell phone or TV does not mean that there is an infrastructure behind it. It is a lot easier to put up a cell phone tower than to provide whole towns with drinking water, and it is a lot easier to get a TV than to prevent the spread of malaria. It is a lot easier to buy western clothes and listen to western music than it is to provide public education to all children. I would say that, just because things might look the same on the surface level, like veneer, doesn’t mean they have the same depth of infrastructure. That is what we, and others, are here for. We are here to work with the Diocese to help develop depth.

July 4th, 2008

Well there it is. (pictured left) Our tribute to America on our first July 4th in Africa. As you might expect this day went by rather uneventfully here in Namibia. Although when we went to change money today the guy at Bank of Windhoek asked how our 4th was going. KFC is the only American fast food chain in Namibia. No Mc. D's, no Burger King, nothing else but KFC. So I waited about 30 minutes in a line to get a three piece originally recipe, mashed potatoes and gravy, and two cans of Coca Cola. They, regrettably did not have biscuits, so we ate it with German white rolls called Brotchen. It was not quite the same but we enjoyed it. We topped it off with some peanut M&M's. Last night we had dinner with some friends who had invited over the outgoing director of USAID for Namibia. They we ending their assignment after 4 years and told us how much we were going to enjoy the country. They were great folks and we are sorry they are leaving so soon after we arrived. They did tell us however that there is a new young couple working for the CDC here in Windhoek that have both recently finished their PhD's in Alabama so hopefully we will meet them soon.

We have been here 10 days and are both starting to feel a little better. We were both sort of thrown into the deep end as soon as we got here last week. We arrived on Wednesday and the following Sunday was the installation service for myself and the Dean at the Cathedral of St. George. It was about a 2 1/2 hour service complete with one of the Wardens passing out and an ambulance being called to take her to the hospital. She is fine now but when I went to see her yesterday she was still very embarrassed. So we have not had a lot of time to just sit back and get our bearings. The only clock we had when we got here was on the computer, so we went and bought a wall clock that kept perfect time for exactly 24 hours then started losing time until it just stopped working all together. Today I went out and got two more clocks, from different shops. Windhoek is a very modern and in some ways cosmopolitan city of about 300,000 people. There are German grocery store chains that sell great bread, meat and beer along with just about anything else you would ever want. There are electronics stores selling everything that you could find in Best Buy in the states. There are shops that sell incredible coffee and locally made crafts. You name it and we have access to it within walking distance of our front door. But this is not the reason we moved to Namibia. It would be extremely easy for anyone who moved here to fall into a very Western lifestyle and miss what is going on just over the next hill or in the North.

Yesterday, while waiting on a meeting, I walked over to the National Art Gallery of Namibia which is about 100 yards from our house. I walked through and saw some great works then I went down to the gift shop to look around. There I met Belinda. She was working in the gift shop to support herself and three kids that live in the old black township of Katatura. She told me how she could just barely afford food on her pay and that her husband had died when oldest child was 1 and that she lived in her mother house and had been broken into twice. She was thankful that at least she had a house to live in, most people who live in Katatura live in shacks in shantytowns. It is thought that over half the population of Windhoek lives in Katatura.

On Monday I have a meeting scheduled with my friend Fr. Lukas Katenda who is now back in Namibia as the Diocesan Secretary/Treasurer. We are meeting to discuss the initial plans for the Clergy Training Program for the Diocese. I found out just before I left the U.S. that the diocese had been approved for a grant from Trinity Church Wall Street to fund a majority of the training program for three years. I also found out before we left that we had received a grant from the St. Luke's Episcopal Church Foundation in Salisbury, NC to help purchase a truck for the program. There is much work to be done if we are going to begin the training program in January so we are hoping to take a quick trip to the North in the next two weeks for a few days. We want to work on the program and take some books and school resources to the Joy to the World kindergarten that so many of you have so thankfully agreed to support. We will hopefully get to meet with Sr. Gertrude and find out how the last year has been.

On July 11th our friend Lindsey Mullen from the Diocese of Alabama's Canterbury Chapel will be coming to stay with us for a week. She has been studying in South Africa since the beginning of June and is taking a special trip over to visit us. It will be fun to see a familiar face.

Speaking of seeing familiar faces I want to encourage all of you who might be interested to download Skype and the call us at jeremy.lucas71. Skype allows you to make free computer to computer calls, including video calls, anywhere in the world. We have been talking to family at home and it really seems to work well. Go to www.Skype.com Well I guess that will about do it for our first real post from Africa. My plan is to try and post at least once a week if possible. Posts will probably range from something like this, to many other matters both serious and sublime. Thanks for reading and keep us in your prayers. Peace, Jeremy