We approach a settlement with three small homes and a
larger one for the holy fire. The homes are usually built from mopane branches
stacked like a tent, which are pasted with cattle manure, creating a solid
orange-red home, dry even during the rainy season.
Greeting a young Himba girl in the native tongue, we
ask her for the chief. She points off into the distance and calls out. Sometime
later, a young man approaches, wearing a blue mesh shirt, red print cloth and
shoes cleverly fashioned from a discarded tire. After the traditional exchange
of greetings, we ask him if we could enter their settlement and visit.
Agreeing, we make an offer of a 10kg bag of mealie maize, the staple of their
diet. One must never enter a Himba settlement without first talking to the
chief or the chief of the holy fire (if one exists).
Life is simple in the settlement, though entails hard
work. Their worth is dictated wholly by the size of their cattle herd, some
amounting to as many as 200. Walking great distances (up to 50km a day), they
must walk far to gather water or round up their herd.
Calvin & Sharon
photo: Janin Klemenčič
photo: Janin Klemenčič
(to be
continued)
