Posts
With our plan to leave Namibia in late June (2010), we ran straight into the World Soccer Cup tournament in South Africa. Already, there are no seats available in or out of Johannesburg (our major transit-airport). We’re reminded of the First Lesson in Travel – “Be flexible!” Our apologies to the environment, as we’re forced to take more airline flights than anticipated in order to bypass the soccer-glut. Already, we are promising to plant lots of trees somewhere along the route, maybe while in Belize.
Many people have asked for our itinerary. Some of our choices may strike you as odd. One factor was that we are trying to maintain an affordable budget by averaging all the costs, meaning that every big splurge has to be countered by cheap nights back-packing or bunking on the floor of friends. (Thanks to all of you who have offered!) Had our budget been higher, we would have included Terre del Fuego (Chile) and New Zealand, but then again, we’ve got to leave something for next time.
Our first six months features nine main stops:
- The ten day Dingle Walk in Western Ireland – 15 miles a day but with good Irish pub-music at night and a B & B at each stop. (The best part is that someone else will transport our luggage from place to place.) www.walkinghikingireland.com
- A wedding in North Carolina and some “legal business” in Washington. More on that below.
- Relaxation in Cape Breton and Quebec, touring with Steinitz relatives from Nova Scotia
- Three months’ volunteer work and learning all about orchids at the Belize Botanic Garden. www.belizebotanic.org
- Three weeks’ one-on-one Spanish lessons in Granada, Nicaragua, including a home-stay. www.1on1tutoring.net
- The tour-of-a-lifetime (aka “the Bribe” to get Bernd to agree to come on this trip) – 17 days to the Antarctic Peninsula, South Georgia Islands, and the Falklands/Malvinas. Penguins and icebergs galore! www.quarkexpeditions.com
- Two weeks in southern Peru and northern Bolivia, operating out of Cuzco, Peru
- Two weeks with cousin Anita Steinitz in and around Quito, Ecuador
- Ten days back in the USA with friends in Arizona, including a hike down and up the Grand Canyon
The Pacific (Australia) and Asia (Cambodia and India) fall to the second six months.
Now for the glitch.
When we landed at Dulles Airport last December 31 for a brief vacation, Bernd and I found ourselves hauled off to a “little dark room” at Immigration because he had broken the rules of his US Permanent Residency by staying out of the country too long. Essentially, Permanent Residents are not allowed to leave the US for more than six months at a time without giving up the privilege, the consequences of which could block Bernd from Medicare and a whole series of other US benefits.
Whoever wrote those rules obviously didn’t understand modern principles of globalization, but the bottom line is that we had to hire an immigration attorney plus pledge that we’ll return to the USA permanently as soon as possible – thus answering the “what next” question for both of us. (So much for my fantasies of another Namibia-like experience in a far-off Shangri-la after the world-tour.)
Fortunately, our round-the-world itinerary calls for another US stopover in July for our friends’ son’s wedding, by which time we hope the worst of our legal problems will be solved. Bernd also plans to take the Graduate Record Exams in July (ha! ha!), just like Elsita did a few months ago -- in his case for a possible Master’s Degree in Philosophy at the University of Maryland starting in August 2011. Hooray for him! Don’t ask me what I will be doing when we eventually return to the US to live because I haven’t a clue, the one advantage being that this leaves me open to any ideas you and others might have.
Of course, under these difficult legal circumstances we were especially delighted by the warm welcome we received last month by friends in Washington and beyond, and we loved walking around on the newfangled aluminum snowshoes that have replaced the Native American tennis-rackets that were used for the same purpose in the past. (See photo. I bet you East-coasters wish you had some now!) You can also imagine how relieved I am that Bernd likes the hundred-year-old colonial row house I bought in his absence eighteen months ago in the Petworth neighborhood of Washington (off North Capitol Street). It’s now under two feet of snow like everything else in the District, but has a lot of storage space and a guest-room downstairs for anticipated visitors. (You, included!)
Despite our efforts to look forward, we know that the hardest thing about leaving Namibia will be saying good-bye to the students we sponsor. Some we’ll miss like second sons and daughters.
Most of the young people are doing extremely well, and we cluck with pride at their achievements. As of December last year, half of them have graduated and are either working or continuing their studies or both. And by this time next year, all but three (out of 14) should have finished their undergraduate degrees. Unfortunately, Catholic AIDS Action’s main donor for the program has “moved on to other things” so they can’t take on new students – which is probably another sign for us to also move on in our lives.
That said, four of the students will stay in our house while we are gone – free rent and a subsidy in return for taking care of our dogs and personal belongings. But it still won’t be easy for them or for us, as we know how much personal turmoil many of these young people face despite our support. Thus, we recently spent about two weeks running interference for one orphaned student who faced a possible diagnosis of cancer (still not completely resolved). Two other students had sisters who died of HIV over the December holidays and left very-young children without proper care. Mostly, I try not to think about the welfare of these newly orphaned babies because it just makes me crazy, knowing how little attention the extended families are giving to their needs.
And the list goes on.
Over Christmas, our beloved Helvi learned that her 91-year-old grandmother (who raised her) had been physically abused by an aunt who wants to inherit the grandmother’s shamba (small land-holding). With this news, we had to move quickly: I made a quick study of will-writing and the laws governing protection in Namibia, and with the help of both the local Headman (the traditional Chief’s appointee) and the Namibian Police, Helvi got a restraining order against the aunt and the Headman endorsed the grandmother’s wish that Helvi should inherit the land instead. But the worry continues, as the aunt left her teenage son behind for the grandmother to care-for – nothing less than an “up-yours” retribution by the aunt for chasing her off the property.
On a completely different issue, the Polytechnic of Namibia recently changed their admissions criteria, which meant that Sofiana (the Angolan refugee who lives with us) didn’t meet the admissions requirements for a second year in a row – even though she would have sailed in under the old rules without any problems. Poor Sofiana has been feeling so hopeless that Bernd and I felt we needed a full-time psychiatrist on-hand, even as we desperately search-out every alternate option we can, in order to avoid her returning to the Refugee Camp with nothing to do.
It’s these situations that make us feel how fortunate our own family has been, to have had so many more opportunities and support-systems available. Within that context, we are glad to report that Elsita and Sergio are fine – both in a holding pattern until Sergio’s Japan-based assignment finishes in six months and Elsita finds out about the graduate schools to which she has applied. Two weekends ago Bernd and I visited Elsita at the Gobabeb research and training center – see photos, including one with Lucas and a Wilwitchia plant, the oldest living plant in the world. And yesterday we took Helvi on a hike over rough terrain in a nearby National Park – practicing for our big trip. The highlight was seeing a herd of 23 oryx (see photo), which has got to be the most beautiful animal ever born.
On a final note, I’m glad to call your attention to the link below for a copy of a book I worked on for two years at Family Health International – my swan song, now that I’m leaving. It has received excellent reviews and we’re hoping it can help many programs worldwide, even in Haiti where so much of the country must be rebuilt. Feel free to download the book and circulate it to others.
http://www.fhi.org/en/HIVAIDS/pub/guide/res_The_Way_We_Care.htm
We wish the snow-diggers along the East Coast all the best, and we’ll stay in touch,
No comments:
Post a Comment