A Day in Namibia

A normal day in Namibia looks something like this. 

We get up and around anywhere from six to seven, depending on where we are going that day. Some days we sell in places that are almost an hour and a half away, so we have to leave at eight. Otherwise we leave at nine. We always have to make sandwiches for lunch.

 After breakfast, we make sure we have the Bibles we need, and head out. We usually are set up till about five. Sometimes holding a Bible out to people as they pass by catches their attention and shows them what we are selling. This is what I had been doing, and Kuni decided to try to be like me. :) He is holding up a Bible like I am, and he is wearing my hat, with one string (that I sometimes use to tie the hat on so it won't blow off)  hanging down in front!

 Sometimes we pass out tracts.

 A mother reading the tract one of us gave her.

 A prospective customer.

 These little girls passed by several times. They had the cutest smiles!

One of the many ladies (mostly older ones) wearing these loose, flowing dresses.

 We see many young mothers as well. They carry their babies in carriers on their back, sometimes wrapping a blanket around the baby and the carrier. It seems like that would be very hot! Even though it is winter there, the temperature gets up to about ninety during the day.

 Sometimes people in a vehicle want to see a Bible.

 Another prospective customer looks at Bibles while a donkey cart passes by.

 On the way back to camp, we count the money from the sales. It all goes to pay the Bible Society back.

 We girls help Aunt Hester prepare supper. We usually have some free time while she is just cooking the vegetables. We write in our diaries or talk. Sometimes the tent needs straightened up.

 Of course, after supper, dishes need done and everything needs put away.

 Sometimes there is laundry to do. We usually let the dirty clothes soak all day (or all night) in soapy water. Then we rinse them out and hang them up.  The wash water turns black from all the dirt in our clothes!

So there you have it!Work like this keeps you busy all day!

Bible distribution

The third day of traveling, we stopped for breakfast at a coffee shop.

Then for lunch, we stopped at a restaurant. Being a businessman, Mr. Neels liked to treat us royally!

All us four cousins ordered this warm chicken salad. It was a very big and very good salad!

That evening we arrived in the same campground we camped last year. We greeted each other and sat down for some of Aunt Hester's delicious cooking. Then we set up camp and went to bed.

Visiting in the morning.

The boxes of Oshindonga and Oshikwanyama Bibles. More kinds came a little later.

Starting business.

The first day we had two teams. Then the Bible Society gave us their bus to use, so we split up into three teams.

We were set up by the open market, where there are a lot of vendors like this one.

Where we were, business wasn't good, so we moved across the street. Here are Kuni and Candace.

This is the scene to the right of the picture above: more vendors.

Some of our tents.We were able to use the facilities in the building behind the tents.

Uncle Piet cooking sausage over the coal burner, which Aunt Hester used for cooking.

Making a sign advertising Bibles.

from left: Joe Taylor, Larry Gardner, Ted True. We enjoyed working with them.

This setup might look nice, but the Saturday morning the picture was taken, we only sold three Bibles all morning! The Saturdays we did sell, we took the afternoon off to rest.

Mr. Neels and Joe Taylor.

Someone discovered a stick insect hanging around our camp. Being a photographer, Ezra couldn't resist taking hundreds of shots! (Well, maybe not hundreds, but he took a lot!) To get pictures, he had to put a bucket upside down on a chair, and stand on it. Later he got it to move to a better position, where he wouldn't have to crane his neck to get pictures.

Here is the subject of Ezra's camera.

While Ezra was taking photographs, we girls were making sandwiches for supper. I manned the sandwich toaster.

We don't usually attract this big a crowd, but the first day in Outapi, Namibia, we had a rush at the beginning. We were selling Bibles right and left! On the left in front is Joe Taylor. Beside him are Uncle Piet and Aunt Hester.

One evening, we went to see this huge baobab tree. In front of the fence is my cousin Candace, so you can see how big the tree is.

Inside the tree is this tiny chapel, even with a pulpit!

In the open market, there are several ladies that sell dresses and these baby carriers. This lady is using a treadle machine to sew.

One of the few times we walked around selling Bibles.

Candace and a "new friend". You will have to scroll down to find out her name.

Meet the illustrious CRYSTAL LUCAS! Hopefully no one from Penn View is looking at this! (Ha ha) Like my new look???
Now that you (hopefully) have gotten over your initial shock, let me assure you that my "new look" is not permanent! Candace bought a wig and sunglasses for the purpose of playing a trick on her family when we arrived back in the States. Before we left Namibia, we all took a turn with the wig. I've already showed this picture to a few people. Some of them recognized me and some of them didn't! 

Sightseeing and traveling

After our plane arrived in Johannesburg, South Africa, we were met by businessman Mr. Neels, who deposited us at this guesthouse for the day.

 We were served some traditional rooibos tea, which we came to enjoy last year.

The next day, Mr. Neels' son and wife took us sightseeing. First we visited the Union Buildings, government offices in South Africa.

The Union Buildings behind us.

Flowers at the guesthouse we stayed for two nights.

Another exotic plant.

Sorry, these pictures are a bit mixed up. This is seen from the grounds of the Union Buildings.

A statue of Nelson Mandela.

The Voortrekker monument, built in honor of Dutch pioneers who migrated by covered wagon from Cape Town inland, encountering hostile tribes and winning incredible victories.

Inside the building was a museum. This is one of a series of needlework pictures depicting the journey of the voortrekkers.

We climbed a lot of steps to the top, where we could look down and see the marble block commemorating the battle of Blood River, which the voortrekkers won against incredible odds.

The four of us outside.

This statue gives tribute to the voortrekker women, who solidly supported the men, even loading their muskets during battles.

If you look closely, you can see us above the statue. The picture of us above is a close-up at the same spot.

This was the next day at the Bostwana border, where Mr. Neels discovered that he had brought an expired passport! Two people had been riding with him, but now we all had to pile into the Land Cruiser. Here, Ezra and Joe Taylor are putting some suitcases on top to make room in the back for two people to ride.

We stayed overnight in the middle of Botswana in a hotel. We went across to the restaurant there for supper.

The flowering trees there were beautiful.

One of the buildings with rooms we stayed in.

Loading up the next morning.

Candace and Amaris settling in the back of the Land Cruiser.

Mr. Neels' vehicle had broken down just blocks from his office, where he was headed to get his current passport. Rather than drive back to us like he had been planning, he just flew the next day to Windhoek, Namibia's capital. We met him at the airport, where he rented a car. Then we all drove to the other side of Windhoek, where a friend of Mr. Neels used to operate a lodge. We stayed in these vacated tent "chalets". We think this is where Amaris got bitten by that infamous spider.

I thought this signpost there was cute.

We got one of Joe Taylor's group to take a picture of all of us busily writing in our diaries while waiting for supper. (This was taken on someone else's camera.)

We had one more day of traveling, but I will have pictures of that in the next post.