Hey guys, yes, I know it’s been ages since I updated my blog and I am really sorry about that. It’s not that I have not wanted to – more that it has been near impossible to get to a decent internet café where it does not take forever to upload photos or publish.
Anyway, how are you all? Hope good and all excited to see in 2009. Hope you had fun over the holidays. Me, well, it’s been a crazy, crazy time since I last wrote. There is so much to tell you and it is difficult to know where to begin! I now have a mountain of writing to do. Heaps and heaps has happened and I want to share as much as I can!
A rude interruption:
So, let’s get right to the heart of Namibia, a place that got to the heart of me pretty damn quickly and a place that I belong in (more about this in future blogs). I have already told you about base camp and set the scene regarding the harshness of the environment in which I found myself. If I recall correctly (and how could I possibly forget), my storytelling was rudely interrupted by the sting of a scorpion!!! Ummmh, I then had to distract myself from that by jumping out of a plane flying at 10,000feet! Yeah, that was fun!
Having told you about the crazy stuff, I now need to fill you in on the intense stuff:
- 2-month’s worth of working as a volunteer for EHRA (my whole reason for being in Namibia),
- other extra-curricular weekend activities (uuumh….and you know what they say about curiosity….)
- plus the 3.5 weeks of travels around the country before leaving that gorgeous land.
Get yourselves comfortable for a long read! Comfy? Tea/coffee and muffin to hand? Good.
EHRA – Elephant Human Relations Aid. A project and NGO that was started around 5 years ago by Jo (Johannes Haasbroek) to help alleviate the contention for water between the local subsistence farmers and the desert-adapted elephants. The project is based in Damaraland, an arid desert region, starting about 200km north of Swakupmund, near the Brandberg mountain.
Well, what exactly is the problem that we are trying to resolve? It’s simple really. In a land that is one of the oldest deserts in the world,
where the rains come barely once a year, where the rivers are dry for 10 months out of 12, water is the focal point for survival. It is scarce and precious. All life in the desert depends on a system of underground rivers that flow to create the water table.
EHRA Project Activities:
2) Tracking the migration paths of the elephants. Not much was known about desert-adapted elephants, their numbers or their migration paths. EHRA spends 150 days a year in the field and, by collating accurate information about the herds, provides invaluable information to better educate the local population as well as provide base data for the Ministry of Environment and Tourism. The desert-adapted elephants are unique to Namibia an
d their presence brings in tourists who indirectly benefit the local communit
ies and the country as a whole.
**below, the reward of patience on patrol
3) Education. EHRA is involved not just in educating the local farmers and conservancies (regional administrative staff) about the elephants, but is actively involved in sponsoring the local school and kindergarten. To ensure the long-term survival of the desert-adapted elephants, education is key and we had 1st hand experience of how this is beginning to reap benefits (more in later blogs).
The results: with the amazing work done initially by Save the Rhino Trust and, subsequently, by the formation of EHRA, the numbers of desert-adapted elephants is slowly recovering. Currently, there are approximately 300 desert-adapted elephants through Damaraland and the Kuene Region, when once there used to be less than 100. Ofcourse, there is far more to it than just this, especially considering the education aspect. I will eloborate more whereever I can.
Project structure
Given these activities, the project work is structured in 2-week cycles:
Week 1 – building a wall (each wall takes 2 weeks from laying the foundations to completion, so 1 wall is built in 1 calendar month elapsed time)
Weekend – at base camp
Week 2 – going on patrol to track/monitor elephant behaviour
Weekend – in Swakopmund to chill out, get supplies, drop off/pick up volunteers
You can volunteer on this project for a minimum of 2 weeks and maximum of 3 months. The majority of volunteers during my time there came on the project for 2 weeks (using up part of their annual vacation time). There were some volunteers there for 1 month, fewer came for 6 weeks. I was there for 2 months and one other volunteer was there for 2.5 months.
So, now you have the background and an idea of what the volunteer project is all about, I hope to provide some colour around the experiences I shared with other volunteers and project staff together with everything else that made my stay in Namibia really exceptional. Watch this space for the details, including some cool photos.
I will try and catch up on lost time on these blogs as quickly as I can. Apologies again for the radio silence for the last 2.5 months. Thanks for sticking with me on this. It´s good to know at least someone is reading this stuff (otherwise it would be like talking to yourself - no fun!!!!).
lots of hugs,
P x
Anyway, how are you all? Hope good and all excited to see in 2009. Hope you had fun over the holidays. Me, well, it’s been a crazy, crazy time since I last wrote. There is so much to tell you and it is difficult to know where to begin! I now have a mountain of writing to do. Heaps and heaps has happened and I want to share as much as I can!
A rude interruption:
So, let’s get right to the heart of Namibia, a place that got to the heart of me pretty damn quickly and a place that I belong in (more about this in future blogs). I have already told you about base camp and set the scene regarding the harshness of the environment in which I found myself. If I recall correctly (and how could I possibly forget), my storytelling was rudely interrupted by the sting of a scorpion!!! Ummmh, I then had to distract myself from that by jumping out of a plane flying at 10,000feet! Yeah, that was fun!
Having told you about the crazy stuff, I now need to fill you in on the intense stuff:
- 2-month’s worth of working as a volunteer for EHRA (my whole reason for being in Namibia),
- other extra-curricular weekend activities (uuumh….and you know what they say about curiosity….)
- plus the 3.5 weeks of travels around the country before leaving that gorgeous land.
Get yourselves comfortable for a long read! Comfy? Tea/coffee and muffin to hand? Good.
EHRA – Elephant Human Relations Aid. A project and NGO that was started around 5 years ago by Jo (Johannes Haasbroek) to help alleviate the contention for water between the local subsistence farmers and the desert-adapted elephants. The project is based in Damaraland, an arid desert region, starting about 200km north of Swakupmund, near the Brandberg mountain.Well, what exactly is the problem that we are trying to resolve? It’s simple really. In a land that is one of the oldest deserts in the world,
where the rains come barely once a year, where the rivers are dry for 10 months out of 12, water is the focal point for survival. It is scarce and precious. All life in the desert depends on a system of underground rivers that flow to create the water table. ** trees grow near the underground river, all else is desert
The humans: this water is tapped into by humans via boreholes. The government digs boreholes at specific points where the water table can sustain the drain on its supply. The local subsistence 
farmers (who previously led a nomadic life) now rely on these water points for their cattle and themselves and have set up small huts/homes near them. These farmers are poor and have hardly anything to show for their life’s toil bar the number of goats, cows, donkeys and horses they own. They live within an extended family circle, where they share out the farm work. It’s hardly an easy life, but the only one most people know. Some of the younger family members try to make their living from finding work in local towns or larger cities and then sending money back home, but jobs like these are hard to come by. So, without this water, the farmers would have no means of income or livelihood.
farmers (who previously led a nomadic life) now rely on these water points for their cattle and themselves and have set up small huts/homes near them. These farmers are poor and have hardly anything to show for their life’s toil bar the number of goats, cows, donkeys and horses they own. They live within an extended family circle, where they share out the farm work. It’s hardly an easy life, but the only one most people know. Some of the younger family members try to make their living from finding work in local towns or larger cities and then sending money back home, but jobs like these are hard to come by. So, without this water, the farmers would have no means of income or livelihood.** above - a small farm house/hut
** subsistence farmers watering their livestock
The elephants: they used to migrate from the Etosha pan, north-east of Namibia, down to the 
west coast and back as part their natural route to find food and water. However, as the farmers began to settle through Damaraland and fence off their farmlands, some of the elephant herds were marginalized and separated from the main herds, unable to migrate back. Through general survival instinct and evolution, these elephants (stranded in the desert region) adapted to their new, harsher environment, being able to walk long distances without water, and able to find water even if in an underground strea
m close to the surface. Initially, their numbers declined dramatically through their inability to survive without water. This, together with the fact that the local farmers would shoot them through fear and because they often destroyed the water pumps in their quest to get to the scarce water supply, resulted in these desert-adapted elephants coming close to extinction only about 15-20 years ago.
west coast and back as part their natural route to find food and water. However, as the farmers began to settle through Damaraland and fence off their farmlands, some of the elephant herds were marginalized and separated from the main herds, unable to migrate back. Through general survival instinct and evolution, these elephants (stranded in the desert region) adapted to their new, harsher environment, being able to walk long distances without water, and able to find water even if in an underground strea
m close to the surface. Initially, their numbers declined dramatically through their inability to survive without water. This, together with the fact that the local farmers would shoot them through fear and because they often destroyed the water pumps in their quest to get to the scarce water supply, resulted in these desert-adapted elephants coming close to extinction only about 15-20 years ago.**above left, elephants and cattle sharing the same space
** left, elephants at a water pump and dam** below, damage caused to farm property by elephants walkng to water points/dams
EHRA Project Activities:
The project has one specific objective – to resolve the water contention issues between humans and elephants. This is done through 3 key activities:
1) Building walls around the water pumps to stop their destruction by
elephants. Basically, when elephants smell water and they are thirsty, they make a bee-line for the wells, sometimes destroying the actual pumps that provide the water from the water table. This destruction means that both the farmers and elephants suffer. The pumps belong to the government who are not exactly prompt at getting them fixed. We came across one farmer who has been waiting 2 years to get his water pump fixed! By saving the water pumps from destruction, both the elephants and the farmers benefit. A simple idea that works wonders!
** right, EHRA wall built around a water pump1) Building walls around the water pumps to stop their destruction by
elephants. Basically, when elephants smell water and they are thirsty, they make a bee-line for the wells, sometimes destroying the actual pumps that provide the water from the water table. This destruction means that both the farmers and elephants suffer. The pumps belong to the government who are not exactly prompt at getting them fixed. We came across one farmer who has been waiting 2 years to get his water pump fixed! By saving the water pumps from destruction, both the elephants and the farmers benefit. A simple idea that works wonders!2) Tracking the migration paths of the elephants. Not much was known about desert-adapted elephants, their numbers or their migration paths. EHRA spends 150 days a year in the field and, by collating accurate information about the herds, provides invaluable information to better educate the local population as well as provide base data for the Ministry of Environment and Tourism. The desert-adapted elephants are unique to Namibia an
d their presence brings in tourists who indirectly benefit the local communit
ies and the country as a whole.** left, EHRA on patrol
** right, Hendrick looking for the elusive elephants**below, the reward of patience on patrol
3) Education. EHRA is involved not just in educating the local farmers and conservancies (regional administrative staff) about the elephants, but is actively involved in sponsoring the local school and kindergarten. To ensure the long-term survival of the desert-adapted elephants, education is key and we had 1st hand experience of how this is beginning to reap benefits (more in later blogs).** children from the school
The results: with the amazing work done initially by Save the Rhino Trust and, subsequently, by the formation of EHRA, the numbers of desert-adapted elephants is slowly recovering. Currently, there are approximately 300 desert-adapted elephants through Damaraland and the Kuene Region, when once there used to be less than 100. Ofcourse, there is far more to it than just this, especially considering the education aspect. I will eloborate more whereever I can.Project structure
Given these activities, the project work is structured in 2-week cycles:
Week 1 – building a wall (each wall takes 2 weeks from laying the foundations to completion, so 1 wall is built in 1 calendar month elapsed time)
Weekend – at base camp
Week 2 – going on patrol to track/monitor elephant behaviour
Weekend – in Swakopmund to chill out, get supplies, drop off/pick up volunteers
You can volunteer on this project for a minimum of 2 weeks and maximum of 3 months. The majority of volunteers during my time there came on the project for 2 weeks (using up part of their annual vacation time). There were some volunteers there for 1 month, fewer came for 6 weeks. I was there for 2 months and one other volunteer was there for 2.5 months.
So, now you have the background and an idea of what the volunteer project is all about, I hope to provide some colour around the experiences I shared with other volunteers and project staff together with everything else that made my stay in Namibia really exceptional. Watch this space for the details, including some cool photos.
I will try and catch up on lost time on these blogs as quickly as I can. Apologies again for the radio silence for the last 2.5 months. Thanks for sticking with me on this. It´s good to know at least someone is reading this stuff (otherwise it would be like talking to yourself - no fun!!!!).
lots of hugs,
P x
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