On the hill
Last week we went for a visit to Unuhange's village, which is on the hill just outside our town Opuwo. Traditionally after the kids have passed 1 year, they go and live with their grandparent(s) in the village. The same goes for Unuhange (he is the first baby I saw in Opuwo after getting here, just a few days old and already exposed to so many dangers in form of illness and bacteria, living in a hut with no water and only wrapped in a blanket). Anyhow, it was a good visit, despite the sad fact that his new home and grandmother often has little or no food, water, or milk to give the many children who are staying there. The kids are slow and with no energy, and very quiet in comparison to Erik and Gabriel who are all over the place. Xenia, a spanish friend working for an organization in Opuwo, had cooked dinner that we brought, and they all enjoyed the treat.
posted by The Sanders Family Blogg @ 11:19 p.m.
5 comments
5 Comments:
Stupid fucking tradition to throw your baby to into a shit hole worse than yours. Especially at only 1 year old! I could understand it if he was going to a better place with a chance to grow and be nourished, but come on! How is that poor old lady going to feed all those kids? How could any mother drop her kid off like that?
If I was that 1 year old and survived to 18, I'd come back and kick my parents' asses for abandoning me. These people need birth control.
Hello Guri!
This is a great way to prepare us for our trip to Namibia. I have read a lot about the Himba people - I have very mixed feelings about what to do as a tourist concerning the Himba. On the one side I think we should stay a maximum away from them- to preserve them from any european influence... and on the other hand, maybe eco-tourism may save them from complete extinction. I really don't know... it would be a unique experience for us to meet them... What do you think?
(PS: I am sorry about the comment below... seems there are some weird people on the net...)
yes. i agree with Talitha. Everyone should stay away from them so they can embrace "complete extinction".
NO! I don't believe that. These people need to be treated like 3 year olds. Give them want they want (food, water). And like a three year old, if they do something that you don't want (in this case, you want them to learn how to preserve themselves) take it away from them.
That's right. If they keep up their stupid tradition, take away their food. If they don't go to school, take away their food. If they don't use birth control, take away their food. And it's actually not THEIR food, it's food we're giving them because after being on the damn earth for over a thousand years, they still live in a damn dirt cupcake with a trash bag for a roof and can't feed themselves. If you think a culture who's children starve on a daily basis as a result of overstraining an old lady with 9 kids based on 'tradition' is worth "preserving", then you're the 'weirdo'.
Ah, hell. Leave them all alone and let Mother Nature figure it out.
Hello, I don't want to start a discussion about what is right and wrong when it comes down to cultural oppression - and I am certainly not going to defend "american 'civilisation' for all". Mono-culturalism is what Orson Wells was already warning us for, and I am not going to do a better job than he did. The Himba people would have done a nicely if europeans hadn't come to disturb a certain balance - same thing goes for the Aboriginal people in Australia.
You are right however, silavox, to state that we cannot leave them alone anymore - we made them dependant of us. Before the arrival of europeans these people were thriving...
The question is far more complicated than just birth-control and food-donation.
I do want to start a discussion about politeness on the internet - "fucking tradition" and "shit hole" sound very aggressive to me and I don't think the Opuwo-blogspot-author wrote anything to deserve this.
I can understand one getting angry when confronted with people having different views, I cannot understand lack of respect.
But that, of course, is only my point of view.
I am not going to write on this subject anymore.
i don't think the europeans imposed a tradition of drop off your kids for life at the grandparents.
i apologize for my language - it was indeed uncalled for.
i'd like to make a retraction and replace the offensive words 'fucking tradition' and 'shit hole' with 'Habits of Intelligence' and 'great place to visit, but I wouldn't want to live there'.
you are doing the lord's work.
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