The Gift of Host Families

I am blessed to have four different host families in Namibia. Out of all the people in Namibia, PCVs, villagers, co-workers, etc., I feel the closest with my host families. Two of my host families are from training in Okahandja. The third host family is the one I currently live with in the village. The fourth host family lives in Rundu.

My Okahandja host mother, Ma

The two families in Okahandja are relatives of each other. My host mother, whom I will refer to as Ma, is the mother of the husband in my second host family. I spent a lot of time at both places. Ma is a quiet, introverted lady who is extremely generous. It is difficult to have a sustained conversation with her, but she is such a good mother! She always has a snack or some food for me. She helped me with my laundry when I was in PST (Pre-Service Training). The way we spent time together was usually just sitting while she watched TV and while I was on my computer. She has a beautiful house, built by her late husband. One of the bonuses is that, when I was in PST, I was the only trainee who had internet in the host family house. It was quite a luxury. Ma has a grandson who lives with her, as well as the grandson’s girlfriend. The girlfriend is very kind and enjoyable to talk to. I didn’t talk to the son a whole lot during PST, but he is a pretty cool guy. Now, he works a long hour job in Okahandja. (My 21-year-old host brother is missing from the picture.)

My second host family consists of a mother, father, two children, and two young adult family members who live with them. This family could not be more opposite from Ma. They are extremely outgoing and extroverted. There is always conversation going on in the house, as well as somewhat bawdy jokes. The mother is one of my favorite people in Namibia. She is always up for a good conversation and I find myself enjoying our conversations immensely. The father is hilarious and energetic. He loves to tease me and make me feel uncomfortable. The son is a pre-teen who is growing up fast. He is fun to play with, and he likes video games. The daughter is a really fun pre-teen who could be classified as a diva. She is outgoing and loves to be at the center of attention. She loves to dance and model. There is a young adult woman who is very nice and fun to talk to. We always have a great time joking around. She is very kind. The other guy is my host brother’s age, around 20, and is a typical young guy. He likes video games, girls, and going out with his boys. I am so thankful for this family. They have always let me come over to their house, even though it was another PCV’s host family. They have fed me countless times as well as let me hang out in their place all day. (My stepparents children are missing fromthis pictures. The other people are PCVs.)

My Okahandja host mother, step host mother, and father. The one in purple and the guy in jeans are the step parents!

My third host family is the one I live with now, in the village. It is hard to keep track of who is a part of my family here because it changes ALL the time. I will describe the core group. There is the Head Lady who is my host mother. The number of host brother’s fluctuates so I’m not sure of the number. However, there is a core group of five host brothers. One is a driver; the other is my brother BH, whom I have mentioned before. Two brothers are between nine and 11 years old. The last host brother is about 4-6 years old. I have two host sisters who are around 15 years old. That is the core of my family. But there are always more than that number of people at my homestead. Brothers, cousins, aunts, uncles, fathers, sisters, etc. are always coming and going. One interesting thing is that someone is considered a brother if they are the child of an aunt (I may be wrong on this because it’s been awhile since I had this conversation). My village host family is extremely generous. It is amazing how they can be so giving. My host mother is very kind and always worrying about me. My host sisters are shy, and don’t speak much English. The older host brothers are really cool and speak English very well. The two 9-11 year olds are very active and love to play UNO. Finally, the little host brother is a huge trouble maker, and honestly, its somewhat challenging. I sometimes wonder if he has ADHD or if all kids his age are this way. He is constantly in trouble with everyone. One of the hardest things to deal with is he terrorizes everyone, but when they fight back he screams bloody murder and cries. For example, I have a picture of him in action taking a burning stick and burning the other kids with it. One of the kids hit him and he started crying. (I do not have pictures of one of my older host brothers.)

Two Mpora host brothers, the one immediately to my left and the third one over from me

Me and my Mpora host mother

The two tall ones are my Mpora host sisters. Another host brother is crouching on the ground

Mpora host brother

My fourth and final host family is in Rundu. It consists of a father, mother, three sons, two daughters, and niece. The father is an engineer, in charge of one of the car dealerships in Rundu. The mother and daughter (20 years old) work at a local grocery store. The other daughter is a pre-teen. The niece is going into grade 11. The oldest son is 20 years old and goes to the University of Namibia to learn to be a teacher. The next son is 14 years old and is in secondary school. Finally, the youngest son is about two years old. I spend nearly every weekend with this family. I love them and enjoy being with them so much. They are all extremely generous. They let me stay with them, feed me, take me places, etc. For example, I was craving chocolate two weekends ago, and was bored out of my mind. My host mother brought out a special bag of chocolates and let me dig in and eat my fill. My father also transported a mini-fridge I bought from Windhoek back to my village (a seven hour trip). The older daughter is very kind and a really good cook. The niece is sweet and a hard worker. The youngest daughter is a handful, but I love her. She is extremely intelligent as well energetic and mischievous. She is really generous towards me too, often sharing her candy or special treat with me. She also loves Hello Kitty. The youngest son is adorable, but can be quite a handful. It is really cool, though, when he crawls into my lap or onto me while I am resting. The middle son is sooooo smart. He would do so well in the US. He loves to read, play computer games, and watch TV. He also loves cars. Finally, the oldest son is the one whom I met first, and who introduced me to his family. I wrote a blog about him a while back. He is so considerate, kind, chill, and great to be around in general. We have had some really good talks. (Missing from the following pictures are my 20-year-old and 18-year-old host sisters.)

My host brother and sister in Rundu

My Rundu host mother, father, and sister

Rundu host brother

Three Rundu host brothers

It is strange to me how, when given the choice of hanging with my PCV friends or hanging with my host families, I choose to hang with my host families. I said in an earlier post that I don’t get excited for much these days, but hanging with my host families is one exception to that rule. You can imagine how disappointed I was when I found out my Okahandja families made plans for the few days before this coming Christmas when I was planning to visit them. I think that, besides the personal growth I have experienced here, I am most thankful for my host families. When I am with them, I can be myself. I can relax. Being with them makes me feel safe and at home. Their generosity has given me some wonderful encouragement in difficult times. Thank you to all my host families for being so amazing!