Namibia has an extremely diverse population due to its history, and there seems to be an underlying value of pride that drives the actions of each of its citizens.
susvlei, to outlooks where we could watch the sun set over the entire city and the adjacent mountain range. While in Sossusvlei, we camped out in the dessert, and enjoyed a typical braai dinner accompanied by a concert from Shishani, an upcoming artist in Namibia who traveled with us. We spent the nights staring at the stars and spent the mornings wondering how it got so cold in the dessert that was nearly 100o the day before.
The first experience that I can recall was our group’s trip to the rural farming villages of Gründorn South and Nico Noord. The citizens of these southern communities primarily spoke the Damara language. Despite the fact that we could not speak any of the language outside of hello and thank you, they still managed to make us smile Another smaller encounter that I will and laugh with their stories and their never never forget was with a local crafts vendor. ending work ethic. As we interviewed each Every weekend, the streets surrounding a of the families and worked with them to local park would be filled with people sellconstruct a waste sorting center in their ing arts and crafts. Each weekend in which community, men, women, and children we did not travel, we would typically spend went out of their way to a couple of hours looking be hospitable and to at all of the goods for sou“…. If there is one thing that I will help us, even though venirs with which to rethey often had so little in always remember about this trip, it is member our trip. One day, terms of material posses- that everyone has a story to tell, and Donal Boyd and myself chances are they want to share sions. were shopping as usual theirs and hear yours.” and met a woman who Secondly, our trip was selling dyed tapestries to Etosha National Park that we could not find anwas filled with great ywhere else. We returned to her several memories, both due to the people and the times throughout our trip, and ended up natural landscape. While there, we saw purchasing way more from her than we evcountless zebra, lion, giraffes, and eleer planned to, in part due to the quality of phants, and even got a rare look at three the goods, but also because of the friendliblack rhinos at the watering hole at night. In ness and pride in her work that she showed addition, we could hear the roar of the lions in the distance as we fell asleep each night to us. On our last trip to her area, we took a picture with her, and she gave each of us a in our tents. While in the park, we enjoyed small gift. I have kept it, a small wooden an Easter meal consisting of several different types of meat as well as some local fa- carving of a cheetah, on my desk at home, as a constant reminder of what true happivorites for desert. ness really is, and just how much of an imAnother memorable trip was our jour- pact such a small act of kindness can have. ney to Sossusvlei. This was one of our best In the end, we were able to meet a trips, because nearly our entire group travlot of amazing people throughout our time eled there, and we did so on a tour with in Namibia, but if there is one thing that I will Winslow. Winslow became a good friend and showed us many different parts of Na- always remember about this trip, it is that everyone has a story to tell, and chances mibia throughout our seven weeks in the country, from well known areas such as Sos- are they want to share theirs and hear yours. Worcester Polytechnic Institute
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