Namibia and Beyond

How are you all doing?

2012-10-24T08:08:00.005+01:00

Dear Readers

It has been a while since I last updated, I know. I have just been so busy with university work and church based stuff, I have barely had time to blog, and I apologise for that. Things are going good in my life, and I have managed to get all of my coursework done now. Which in effects means that I may now focus on my dissertation until exam time, get my one exam out of the way, then focus on my dissertation until February. Which is a good thing.

In terms of church stuff, there has been a change to the weekend away. The plans with the other church fell through, so instead, we will be doing a weekend away to a different place and it will be a smaller scale weekend which it not necessarily a bad thing.

So that is what is happening in my life, Ihope everyone is well

Yours in Christ

Robbie

Good News Everyone

2012-09-30T15:50:00.000+01:00

I am pleased to announce what I teased at a few blog posts back. As of today's church Annual Congregational Meeting, I, Robert Newton, have been elected to serve on the church vestry of Holy Trinity Stirling. What this means in practice is that I will go to some meetings each year, and will get to bring views forward from the congregation, as well as help to make big decisions. I solmenly swear to do my best to represent the views of each congregation member fairly and impartially. This is big news for me, it really touched me, when the vote was cast, to look around and see every hand up. So yes, that is my big news.

Yours sincerley

Robbie Newton

Small Blog

2012-09-26T20:02:00.001+01:00

Dear Readers

Not a big update this week. Just been really hard at work with University related stuff, working hard on my various assignments. But I am making a lot of progress which is very good. I had my first group back at church last Sunday and it was good to see the group again. A lot of good plans are coming in, and plans are rolling. The football team will be starting up as soon as we have planned it all out, and we are meeting another church group soon. There has also been a lot of interest in the weekend away, so everything is coming together.

Yours in Chrsit

Robbie

Friday before Church

2012-09-14T16:31:00.001+01:00

Dear Readers

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Today is Friday, of course. I could link to a song about that, but I sense it would drop my readership considerably. It will be an exciting weekend for me. It will be my first Sunday back at Holy Trinity Episcopal Church Stirling, first day back with my youth group and boy, is this ever exciting. They will be getting a large amount of permission forms this week for the various outings and ventures planned for this coming year. The main one is the weekend away but there will also be visits to other churches over this semester and of course possibly starting up a football team for the children of the community. I have also been arranging guest speakers, and getting quotes from various people, so everything is shaping up to be a great term for them hopefully. Perhaps I should visit the University of Stirling Chaplaincy at some point soon (was in there all the time last year) and see if I can get access to any resources that could help my group.

In other news, I have discovered, this week, the joys of Bran. It is such an amazingly tasty cereal to have, and I can fully recommend it to any of my readers - it has multiple health benefits and you don't need to eat as much of it to feel full. (See Here)

I leave you all with the image of a Cross, as that is one of the main things that will be focussed upon with my youth group this semester.

Yours in Christ

Robbie

Freshers Week at Stirling

2012-09-12T18:38:00.000+01:00

Dear Readers

Well, Freshers Week is halfway done now. I hope it is over soon, I never saw the point. I get that people are having fun, but I should at least be able to go to the library, or god forbid the store on Campus, without a large number of piranhas hassling me to sign up to their club, or go to FUBAR, or whatnot. It is just immoral in that sense, I should be allowed to go about hassle free.

But nevertheless, I have started studying hard. Not only have I been studying for my topics, I have also been prepping some of the youth programme for this upcoming year for Holy Trinity Church, and seeking out guest speakers and suchlike. It should be a very exciting year for the Youth Fellowship at Holy Trinity Church as we build towards the joint weekend with Allan Park South. If you fancy speaking in front of my young people, please leave a comment or interesting reply in the comments section below.

Yours sincerely

Robbie Newton

Back to University

2012-09-09T14:58:00.000+01:00

Dear Readers

I am now back in my accommodation at the University of Stirling, as I enter my fourth and final year. What an exciting prospect. I scarce can believe that it has been four years already, but here I am. Final year. Moving back in was a quick and painless process which was a relief, sometimes it has taken a long time but it was very quick. I would then go out for lunch with my grandparents and update them on what I had done in Namibia, and fill them in on what I am yet to do with Holy Trinity in the months to come. My first lecture is on Wednesday but I will probably do some studying before then. Prep reading for the various essays. The essays attached to my honour sseminar are very good, I could answer any one of them and it is good that they gave us such interesting essays.

Yesterday, I was in heavy correspondence with my counterpart at Allan Park South Church, as well as the minister at my church, as we are trying to discern when the best time to have a joint fundraising music night for the young peoples joint weekend away would be. Pray that we can find an agreeable date that is convenient for all involved parties. Pray also for me, as I am considering doing some more important things at Holy Trinity over the next year, please pray that I can get clarity. I probably cannot say what I am thinking of doing with the church at this stage, but pray for this decision.

Until next time dear Readers

Yours in Christ

Robbie

Last 2 Videos from Namibia

2012-09-07T16:15:00.000+01:00

Dear Readers

Well, here are the final two videos from Namibia

More Duck Duck Goose
Tour of a Church in Windhoek

So all the videos are now uploaded. Everything from my Mission to Namibia is now online in some form or another. It has been such an amazing experience volunteering in Africa over August, very humbling. The people over there have so little, and yet are so very happy (or seem to be). We out West however never seem to grow weary of complaining about our lives, despite the fact that we have more than we could ever ask for. I would also like to thank the celebrities Shawn Michaels and Sophie Griffin for retweeting this blog, as it helped the exposure go up. I can tell you that I ill hopefully be going out to Namibia in a number of years time to do more work, but this time with HCM church (see the church tour video) and learning with their young people. Indeed, I may ambitiously hope to take my young people out there for a joint mission. But that is up in the air, we shall see.

Yours in Christ

Robbie

Namibia Videos Part 2

2012-09-06T17:49:00.001+01:00

Dear Readers

Please find Part 2 of the videos below

Songs at Kindergarten
Interview with a Namibian Kid
More songs from Namibia
Even More Songs
African Sunrise
Sunrise part 2
Namibian Baptism
View from Top of Windhoek

Videos from Namibia

2012-09-05T14:02:00.001+01:00

Dear Blog Readers

Later today, I will start the process of uploading all of my videos from Namibia, and then link them here. There are quite a number of videos, so you should enjoy them hopefully. Check back throughout today and tomorrow to see the vids

Part One will come today, and takes us all the way up to the Kindergarten kids in Namibia playing the popular Scottish children's game from Primary Schools, Duck Duck Goose. As a bonus, we get an interview with young Namibian church goers. It is the last video, but got uploaded first for some reason.

Interview with Namibian Kids

Kindergarten Class Part One

Kindergarten Class Part 2

African Worship Part One

African Worship Part 2

Given Preaches

Duck Duck Goose PArt One

The rest shall come tomorrow. Do be sure to share this blog on Facebook, twitter etc..., let people know.

Yours in Christ

Robbie

Photo Blog (Low bandwith users, use caution on entering)

2012-09-03T17:11:00.000+01:00

Hey Readers

This is basically a blog to collate my photos from Namibia. There are a lot of high quality images here, so the page may take a while to load on machines with slower internet. Please also note that whilst these photos were in an order, the upload process has swapped orders about and what what what. If you want to know more about a photo, leave a comment in the comment section and I will get back to you.

Robbie.

Paralympics and Doctor Who

2012-09-01T18:21:00.000+01:00

Dear Readers

It is interesting, as someone with an intellectual disability (Aspergers Syndrome/ADHD), to see the amount of positive coverage that the Paralympic Games are having. Indeed, it could well be the case that the Paralympians are better than the normal Olympians, as the Paralympians usuallly have to work quite a lot harder to get where they are in their lives. However, they should always carry themselves with dignity.

This was not the case for the Paralympic Cyclist, Jody Cundy yesterday. After some things, he got disqualified. That was not uncommon in the main Olympics. What was different here from my observation was the massive temper tantrum that Mr. Cundy threw afterwards. He may not have agreed with the referee/judge's decision (clearly), but he should have handled himself with dignity and respect. Throwing a temper tantrum is going to look badly on him. Granted he later came and apologised for his conduct, but in a lot of people's minds, he will be forever known as the Paralympian who could not handle authority. It is also interesting to see some people not caring too much about the Paralympics, whilst they did care a lot about the main Olympics. At the same time though, that is somewhat understandable.

After a long time of Olympic coverage, you will feel a bit dull. I do reckon that if the times were reversed, i.e. the Paralympics were first, people would be lethargic about the Olympics. In other Robbie news, it is good that Doctor Who starts again tonight. I was hoping that it would not start until I got back from Namibia, and it will start tonight. Asylum of the Daleks. Doctor Who. BBC One. 7:10pm. Amy Pond and Rory Pond appear, from the series Pond Life, to be having marriage difficulties. That should add an interesting dynamic, and the online series was a good way to keep the viewers interested in the leadup. It should be a good episode tonight.

Until next time dear readers

Robbie Newton

Settling back into the United Kingdom from Namibia

2012-09-01T08:35:00.000+01:00

Dear Readers

Well, my dizziness is all but gone, so that is a very positive sign. Settling back into the UK has presented several other interesting challenges on different fronts however. For one, it is absolutely freezing here in Scotland. I know it is cold most of the time, but my sun sharpened skin is struggling in this cold British Weather. It was also amusing yesterday when I went into town (using my card on the train), and found that I had no UK money on me, luckily I did not need to buy anything so it was not as bad as it could have been, but I have now made sure to put my UK money back into my wallet.

I also had to speak slow in Namibia so that people could understand, so I am now having to adapt again to the fast paced Scottish tone. It is quite the trend over there that people have to speak slowly in order to be understood. I was told this when I was told how popular I was amongst the young people. But these things will come to me. Hard to believe that next Sunday, I go back to Uni for my final year. My blog will be talking about Uni in a wee while, so stay tuned to find out the experiences of a Christian going into Final Year of University.

Yours in Christ Robbie

Back from Namibia

2012-08-31T14:32:00.002+01:00

Dear Readers

I am now safely back from Namibia, arrived at around 1pm GMT yesterday. I would have updated sooner but I was getting settled back into the house. It was a pretty good trip back, the long overnight flight was a lot better, mainly as the person next to me had no complaints about me watching the movies.

So I got to see The Hunger Games twice, as well as Avengers Assemble. Another advantage was that I managed to get a wee bit of sleep. So yeah, the flights were fine. Bit uneasy back in the UK, as my head still feels like it is flying, something to do with fluids in the brain or something like that. I hope that passes within the next few days as it is really disorientating.

I got all the pictures from the trip uploaded onto my Facebook and starting from Monday, I shall start putting a lot of pictures on the blog. I think I will also do a blog post dedicated to pictures, but I will name that one so those on low bandwith can stay away from it.

Yours sincerely Robbie Newton

Around Windhoek

2012-08-28T18:25:00.001+01:00

Dear Readers

Today, I arrived in Windhoek in prep for my flight tomorrow. I done some various things, including getting souvenirs, in the morning, but the real highlight of my trip came in the evening, when I would go out into and around town with a local pastor called JP. He is such an awesome guy, and he has a real heart for youth ministry and growing churches in general. His church is still being built physically, but they have so many people attending each Sunday and indeed throughout the whole week. There are at least 100 young people attending each week of all ages. Furthermore, some of the young guys today were working on building new parts of the church. It was so heartening to see them just so involved in helping with their church.

They also have a Young People’s Soccer Team – Holy Trinity Readers/Leaders, I am hoping to start a Football Team with our young people, please leave comments of interest below. Anyone got any recommendations for a good football? I am thinking this one from Amazon What do you think?

I have now checked in for some of the way, and do the final check in at desks tomorrow. Pray for a safe journey back to the UK for me. Today was such an enlightening experience, found so many good experiences at JPs church.

Yours in Christ

Robbie

African Thunderstorm

2012-08-27T15:22:00.001+01:00

Dear Blog Readers

My goodness. Today I am experiencing something I never have done before. A thunderstorm, without rain. Right above us (based on the time between flash and sound) at Imkerhof is a Thunderstorm. It is the loudest thing I have ever heard and lightning is literally forking down all around. It is so spectacular and yet disturbing, I am not used to a Thunderstorm with no rain. It is especially odd to get a Thunderstorm in Namibia at this time of year, even with no rain, as it is the dry season, and there should not be anything like this. I suppose it has been building to this for a while though. We have had a lot of clouds lately, something rare for where we are in Namibia, and the winds have been really picking up over the past few days.

This morning, I spent a long time gardening the various plants around the Imkerhof site. My hayfever held off for as long as it could but eventually it came on in full force, so I went and done some other chores. It is odd, as I write, I can hear water rushing from somewhere but I cannot see any rain, I hope this is not an ill omen.

Robbie

Final Sunday, and a word to the foul people attempting to comment

2012-08-26T14:34:00.003+01:00

Dear Readers

Today is my final Sunday in this wondrous nation. I have had so many blessed and amazing experiences since arriving here which you can read about in the previous blog entries. Yesterday was a big relaxing day. I felt a lot better as my fever had broken, so I wandered about the farm a bit, and got to really explore the old tool shed. Many amazing items in there. Old gymnastics horses. Old microwaves. Even a fax branded “Game”, which was interesting. I can’t really believe that I fly away from here on Wednesday, the time has flown by so quickly.

During today’s church service, we had a baptism. Full immersion which was a new experience to see. It was interesting and heartening to see everyone supporting the dunked person, and celebrating. The kids in the congregation particularly enjoyed it. Speaking of which, I led Sunday School today. Thanks to the people who commented on my Facebook last week giving me ideas for games. There are some churches I have been too where people are too lethargic to even crane their heads to see a baby being baptised, never mind supporting them (apart from following a script). I then had Warthog Goulash which was absolutely tasty.

Now, a negative word, so please excuse this dear readers. There are some people reading this blog who have tried leaving negative and offensive comments. Stuff about me being a loser (that is the most polite one I could drag) for what I am doing. To all these people, I have but one simple question. I am volunteering in Namibia, doing Christian Work, and am told by the children’s parents that I am giving the children something to smile about. I am helping people move heavy stuff around a farm. So I am making a difference from what I am told. Let me ask you negative people, what the devil have you done lately? To the people leaving positive comments, that is great. I can also accept criticism. But when you have to lace your comments with swearing and personal insults, then you lose any right to a respectable opinion. The best part? None of these people are brave enough to leave their names, they instead comment as "Anonymous". All of this shows you what kind of people these people are.

On Tuesday, I will be going shopping in Windhoek, and picking up souvenirs for people. Here is hoping I can find lots of good ones for the people who have supported me through thick and thin.

Yours in Christ

Robbie

Disappointment

2012-08-23T13:30:00.001+01:00

Dear Readers

Some sad news for me today. I was hoping to help out at a children’s camp in a place called Uitkoms, and indeed that was planned for me. Unfortunately, on Wednesday evening, I started feeling all sorts of physical things. I was going hot and cold simultaneously. I had a sharp pain in my neck, and was feeling quite faint. I also had a whole hoard of other symptoms I will not delight you with. There was not much improvement after a nights sleep and so unfortunately, I am unable to go. That is disappointing as I was looking forward to it. At the same time, I know that not going is the best choic as where I would be going is even further away from any potential medical help than is Imkerhof. So I will just be helping around the farm for my last few days in Namibia. There is not a lot to do so it will be very much a case of do what does need done. Amazing to think that this time next week, I will be back in the United Kingdom. I have learned many things on my trip and when I get back, I will upload all the photos to my Facebook. I will also hope to upload photos here, if Google has the capacity to have all the photos. Same goes with the videos, if I can upload the videos to the blog, I shall post them here. So please pray that I can feel fully recovered soon, as I would hate to be ill on a plane or something, that would not be pretty.

Throughout all this exploration, I have felt like William T Clark, in his expedition to the pacific north west. Seeing all these new sights, sounds and feeling these new experiences. It has been quite the trip. I have also learned some Namibian wisdom. Apparently, according to the natives, anyone who swims in a laguna (sic) is a moron. I have tasted Warthog for the first time and experimented with different recipes to make a new curry (milk and papaya juice based) that was exquisite. Another fun fact I have found talking to a local when I got to Windhoek was that the Virgin Mary is seen in high regard, as a peace symbol, and people will often pray to her, and refer to her as "our lady peace". I wonder how I will settle back in when I go back to the freezing United Kingdom. My skin has taken on a teal.

To again clarify, at night times and in between times, there is not a lot to do around here when not helping out, so in those times, I go on the internet, play my PSP, or read my Kindle. Since getting here, I have finished quite the number of books including "It", and "The Hunger Games".

Yours in Christ

Robbie

Week Two Sum Up

2012-08-22T14:28:00.001+01:00

Dear Readers

Been without internet for a few days, which has not been a bad thing. I have been kept very busy around Imkerhof, doing lots of different activities. I have taken a larger role in the Kindergarten class, and taught the children how to do musical chairs, something they really enjoyed. Today (Wednesday) was their last day for the summer, so we had a movie day which they found pleasant. Yes, I introduced them to Pokemon: The First Movie - they all cried when Ash died.

In the afternoons, I have been doing a lot of moving of various items around site. Yesterday, I moved a massive amount of chairs from the church hall into the tool shed, took me quite a long time and was hard work but was good. I have also been involved in cleaning and moving different items and generally preparing the site for when Udo and Kathleen and everyone else moves out. It is a shame really, they are doing such good work here.

Last night, I took the opportunity to watch a Namibian sunset. It really does happen so fast, the sun takes about 10 minutes or so to set, whereas in Scotland it can take quite a long time. I will be without internet f or a few days, as I go to a different place to help lead a children’s camp, and I will be going sans technology.

Yours in Christ,

Robbie

Spiders and stuff

2012-08-19T07:55:00.003+01:00

Hey Readers

A short blog this time. At the outset, I wish to make it clear that I love all sorts of insects (apart from wasps). But I woke up yesterday to the biggest spider I ever did see (attach pic here when I get home). It had a body literally the size of my fist. It was the first spider I have seen here in Namibia. I would later see a different spider of similar size, and so this has led me to gather that that is the normal size for spiders in Namibia. So it is amusing now to see people complaining about the sizes of spiders in the UK, because they are quite tiny really. There are monstrous spiders in Namibia and people just get on with it with no fuss. As a side note, the internet access has been somewhat beter lately at nights. I mainly go on at night time when there is nothing else to do around the campus.

Yours in Christ,

Robbie

Powercuts, Kindergarten and More

2012-08-17T12:17:00.001+01:00

Dear Readers

Hello and welcome to the blog if this is your first time reading this. I am presently in Namibia, working with children and helping out at a farm. The past few days have been busy with Kindergarten work and I have taken a more active role in teaching the young ones within their classroom. They are picking up so fast. Before I came, they could only count up to 50, but I helped them get all the way to 100, and made sure to praise them for this as praising can help affirm the knowledge and help it stick. We also had a power cut the other night, which was a unique experience considering just how naturally dark Namibia is at night-time. To clarify what I mean here. The UK gets dark, sure, but not as dark as Namibia. Even in a powercut, there are always sources of light in the UK. When the power is on ,you can't see the stars or anything in the UK. But in Namibia, you can see stars, constellations, galaxies due to how pitch black it is.

Yesterday afternoon, I helped move a lot of stuff from the big hall, over to a small room that is being converted into the church meeting room. It felt interesting setting up a church, something I have never really done before. I also got to see the massive tool barn, so many awesome items including an old tractor that is unfortunately broken (or else I would have driven it). It was the biggest tool shed I have ever seen, literally thousands of mechanical items, it was a boy’s dream.

In my spare time at night times, when there is not much else to do, I have been doing a lot of work planning the weekend away for Holy Trinity Episcopal Church Stirling, and Allan Park South Church Stirling (joint weekend). We may be inviting another church along but that is in the works just now. I have managed to get a quote from Hunter’s, which was far lower than I had initially expected and cuts the overall cost per person down by £10, which I am sure we can all agree is excellent news. I have also been coordinating the volunteers for it, I have had a good response so far, but if you are in the Stirling area and fancy helping out at a joint church weekend from the 12^th-14^th April, please let me know either by e-mail or in the comments section (below). I have also been reading Stephen King’s It for the first time, and am presently 37% through it. It is such a fascinating book, and very gripping, as with most of King’s work really. I cannot praise the book highly enough, I love reading it. Next Thursday, I shall be going to another farm for the weekend to help run a children’s camp, not too dissimilar to the stuff that SU Scotland do, so that will be a fascinating experience.

Until next time dear readers

Yours in Christ

Robbie

Kindergarten

2012-08-14T17:08:00.003+01:00

Hey Folks

A short blog today. Today, we finally got a large amount of kids at the kindergarten, praise God. I was quickly introduced to them, and they were all full of massive reserves and supplies of energy, positively brimming with it. Today, they were learning how to count all the way up to 50, which for their ages was very impressive. I then got to teach them Duck Duck Goose, a game they enjoyed so much they did not want to stop either of the times we played it. We also done some art and they made some very impressive watercolours. As for the afternoon, I spent it helping Udo clear out many of the rooms in the farm, and chronicle them using Microsoft Excel, which I am getting more experience with by the day. So yes, that is what happened today. Tonight, I have Warthog Ribs for dinner, it should be excellent.

Robbie

African Church

2012-08-13T16:59:00.005+01:00

Dear Readers

This blog focuses on Sunday/Monday. We start, logically enough, with Sunday, as I went to African Church for the first time. What an amazing experience, especially in comparison to my church experiences in Britain. Everyone was up praying simultaneously, in some of the churches I have been to, you are lucky to get any prayer in the church. Similarly, the worship was very boisterous and enthusiastic, again a stark contrast to some of the churches. The church lasted about 3 hours, and there was a fascinating sermon on the devil and his appearances throughout the bible, such as when he appeared behind Peter. I then went for lunch at Kathleen and Udo’s, and had a lovely lamb freshly killed. Prior to that, I had climbed the water tower to see some fascinating views and exhilarating sights. The rest of the day was spent as a rest due to how hot it was, I did some further youth work for Holy Trinity, and now have a perfect (I hope) spreadsheet to work with.

With the rest of the afternoon, I baked a sponge cake and iced it, and invited Udo and Kathleen over for the evening to try it, it got a thumbs up. It was, I dare say, the best one I have yet made as it tasted proper spongy. So the secret to a good sponge cake is to use Namibian ingredients ;)

Monday was back to work for the farm. I started off doing something I had always hoped to do but had never yet done in my life. I helped Udo cut up a massive warthog (whilst mentally humming Hakuna Matata, I know, I am a complete monster of the highest order). It was a stinky job but fascinating at the same time. At the end of it, for my help, I got some ribs and a warthog chop, and as I write this, the ribs are marinating in the fridge in a makeshift BBQ sauce. I would spend some of the evening cataloguing the amount of chairs that Udo had, and then help clear the field by the water tower. Rather than dump it all to one side as we had previously done, Udo decided that he would burn it carefully to save time, as it would otherwise last many days clearing it all away.

So yes, that is what has happened the past few days. Hopefully we get some Kindergarten kids tomorrow. I checked my e-mail, and found that Hunters Coaches had e-mailed me back about the youth weekend away for next year, and the return cost is £400 cheaper than I anticipated, praise the lord. This means that each young person only has to pay about £50 now instead of £60. This is excellent news.

Yours in Christ,

Robbie

Day Three and Four

2012-08-11T16:47:00.001+01:00

Dear Readers

On the third day in Namibia, I mainly rested in bed for the day. Do not get me wrong, I am not lazy, far from it. I instead had a massive migraine that just would not go away, despite me keeping constantly hydrated since arriving to Namibia. So I rested and felt better by the evening. After dinner (Mac and Cheese), I spent the remainder of the evening working on planning and prep for the Holy Trinity and Allan Park South Weekend Away to Combruith for April 2013. This mainly involved putting together name sheet templates and whatnot, as well as starting an initial cost analysis for the weekend. Using Excel, I was able to set the price for the weekend at an absolute maximum of £60 which should hopefully be agreeable for people, but there will also be lots of fundraisers to help towards the cost.

I had a blissful sleep and when I awoke, I felt very fresh. Saturday is the rest day at the farm (as is Sunday), and I took the opportunity to explore the land. The birds here (the tweet tweet kind) are very beautiful, and very diverse. Makes the UK ones look bland in comparison. There is this one lovely bird with a nice red chest (bright red, not a robin), and another one with blue feathers all around. I also found out that Given (the employed Farm Hand) would be away for some of today, and since Udo was picking up Kathleen in Windhoek, that essentially made me in charge of the farm, as signified by being given the keys. It was not a tough task though, as I relaxed outside and read Stephen King’s “It” on my Kindle, a fascinating book and I am only 13% through. The Wahl’s would soon return with some more groceries for me, so I now have more diversity for cooking. Tonight, I plan to update some things, and do some more planning for the youth weekend away. Next week, I should hopefully be with the Kindergarten full time fingers crossed.

Until next time

Yours in Christ,

Robbie Newton

First Few Days

2012-08-11T16:39:00.003+01:00

Dearest Readers

Greetings to you all. I am writing this blog primarily for the purpose of fully informing everyone that yesterday, I arrived safe and sound in Windhoek as scheduled. The trips were pretty good, though I did not sleep overnight between Frankfurt and Johannesburg, due to a lady in front leaning all the way back whilst the person behind me refused to let me lean at all, poor squashed Robbie. The highlight of the airports was finding Ramen at Frankfurt. I was relatively quickly through the customs part, and before I knew it, I met Udo. I would get a city tour from him, as well as meet some of the former children from the children’s school that he used to run with Imkerhof. Soon after, we would go grocery shopping, for what purpose I was soon to find out, and then we proceeded onto a KFC (there are so many in Windhoek).

Following the KFC, we set out for the three hour drive to Imkerhof Farm. It is amazing to see the vast poverty in the country, where there can be really rich neighbourhoods right next to impoverished streets. Many people beg to cars for money, and it is so saddening that they cannot get the help they need. On the way to Imkerhof, I was told by Udo that I would be staying in a two person flat all to myself, and when I got in (pictures to follow when I get back from Namibia), it was astounding in size. But before that, we drove for miles and miles over a long dirt road, and I saw such creatures as jackals, oryx (silly creature ran out in front of us, we missed it), bunny rabbits that hopped like kangaroos and owls, a wide flotilla. The stars out here are absolutely amazing, you can see them for miles and miles and observe the galaxies and universes in the sky.

Directly getting in, I would unpack, then get a hot shower followed by an instantaneous sleep in the bed. When I awoke, I met the rest of the people here at Imkerhof, lovely people all of them. I was scheduled to work in the Kindergarten in the morning, but unfortunately for various reasons, none of the kids made it, and so I was reassigned to farming help. Yes, I have become a voluntary farmer over here. It was long hard laborious work, clearing messy fields and cleaning them, but it was rewarding as it was doing a good deed. Whilst doing this, I got chatting to a man named Given, whom I will be working with for a Children’s Holiday Club later on in the week. After lunch, I done pretty much the same as the morning, but on a different section. It shall be the same tomorrow as the Kindergarten will be closed for tomorrow. As an interesting point, it is fun to hear people jump to conclusions when I told them about my trip. They assumed that because there was a swimming pool here, it was a lavish place. It is not so, the pool is used for irrigation purposes. I thank you all for the support to get me out here, it is so humbling to see how much we in the West take for granted.

Yours in Christ

Robbie

Going tomorrow

2012-08-06T17:12:00.002+01:00

Dear Readers

A short blog this time. I go away tomorrow, which is really quite interesting. I reckon by my count that it has been about 313 days since I first committed to going, and wow, the time has just sped by in terms of getting here. This time tomorrow, I will be in Frankfurt with a bit of time to kill before flying out to South Africa. The times have been Altered a wee bit since first booking the flights, but it is nothing too beastly, I can handle it. I will hope to update my blog as I go along out there. I am looking forward to taking photos in particular of the wildlife, I have been playing about with my Macro Function on my camera as of late and it is awesome. Thank you all for the support and love you have all given me, and the next time I post, I should be in Namibia fingers crossed.

Yours in Christ,

Robbie