Caprivi August 2006 -- Part II

27 August 2006

 

Dear friends

 

There is much to report.  The top news items are as follows:

I am in trouble with the intelligence, again.  Maybe I really am a spy.

I had a 'Number 2' haircut.  Maybe that was why they came after me.

M&Ms have arrived in Katima – manufactured in Singapore, I think.

 

The last 10 days have been the toughest part of the fieldwork thus far.   Yesterday I was once again hounded out of West Caprivi by a combination of intimidation by intelligence officers, being stopped by the police, being caught on film (without my permission) by a so-called broadcasting crew, and being shouted at for 40 minutes by an influential headman, accusing me of taking sides, ignoring his ethnic group, bypassing local leaders, dividing people and so on.  I decided enough was enough, packed up my camp in 20 minutes and drove back to Katima in the shortest time yet recorded.  It's a long story, but basically my attempts to interview the 'other' ethnic group in the West Caprivi was met with huge amounts of suspicion and distrust.

 

In addition to all this, the separatist Muyongo, who lead the secession attempt in 1999, is allegedly due to return to Namibia after fleeing for several years to Denmark.  The government is taking this all very seriously, it seems.  There is no official news, but West Caprivi is crawling with police, military, and unlicenced vehicles.  As if all those things weren't enough, the President was in Katima this weekend for Heroes Day, so 99 additional security measures were added to what was already in place.  And of course, all the other local politics going on in the area about leadership, chieftaincies, safari hunting revenues and NGOs just contribute to poor old me being misconstrued yet again.  Or whatever.  Maybe I'm just an easy target.

 

The good news is that they only cut short my work by a day or two (given that I'm due to leave this week for Botswana), and robbed me of only about 3 interviews.  I may have had to run away, which pisses me off entirely, but I got done 99% of what I needed to. 

 

So that's the serious news.  Currently lying low, gathering intelligence of my own, and wanting to spray paint my car and change its number plate!  And hoping my supervisor doesn't have a heart attack when she reads the email I just sent her.

 

On the positive side, I've learnt heaps, AND I know that I could be a better intelligence officer than any of those numbskulls who didn't even have a decent alias when I asked them who they were, and apparently were surprised when I didn't immediately hand over my phone number to them. Dddduuuuuuuhhhh.

 

What else? I've met lots of nice people in between the irritants, shared an outdoor bathroom with a nesting chicken, had my car stuck in the sand at least twice, woken up to hyenas and elephants at night, and learnt how to use my gas stove 'indoors' without igniting my entire tent.  I went to an amazing Khwe healing ceremony about 2 weeks ago, which was a once-in-a-lifetime experience.  It included drumming and singing for 10 hours non-stop throughout the night and into the early morning.

 

I've also learned how to thresh millet like the rural women which, just to remind me what I don't miss about rowing, induced raw skin patches and blisters.  As for the haircut, it's great for camping, and I've wanted to do it for years.  It does however emphasise my pixie ears and chicken neck.  As for the M&Ms, I haven't had chocolate for about 11 days, and I'm on my way to the supermarket shortly.  The hot weather has arrived, but being August there's still a great breeze. 

 

Well, dearies, enough entertainment from me.  On the intelligence issue, you can either a) feel sorry for me and lavish me accordingly with emails, gifts, etc OR b) treat me like a film star – which I may soon be once I appear on Namibian national television.

 

Caprivi lovin'