| Otjikondo in Deutschland |  |
Im Mai, 3. - 26.5.2005., wurde eine Idee, die vor einigen Jahren am Norbertus Gymnasium in Magdeburg entstanden ist, zur Realität. Elf Schulkinder (11-13 Jahre) , zwei Lehrerinnen und Gilly Stommel aus Otjikondo, hatte die Partnerschule nach Deutschland eingeladen. Spannende zweieinhalb Wochen konnten die Kinder dort in der Schule und in den Familien verbringen. Diese Tage waren ausgefüllt mit Besuchen, Ausflügen, gegenseitigem Kennen lernen und vielem mehr.
Auch hier in NRW hat Otjikondo viele Freunde. Daher war zum Abschluss der Reise ein Aufenthalt bei "uns" geplant. Ein sehr seltenes Ereignis – und deshalb wollten wir, dass unsere "kleinen Gäste" auch Unvergessliches sahen und erlebten!
Claire Stommel, die Tochter von Gilly und Rainer Stommel, die in Düsseldorf lebt und arbeitet, organisierte die Tage, die die Kinder in unserer Region verbrachten.
Wie auch schon in Magdeburg führten die Kinder ihr Musical IPI TOMBI zu mehreren Gelegenheiten auf. Zu Hause sind mehr als 30 Kinder an diesem Musical beteiligt, hier mussten die 11 alle Parts übernehmen, was sie aber hervorragend meisterten.
Ein Höhepunkt war der Besuch der Skihalle in Neuss. Dass Schnee sooo kalt ist, konnten die Kinder sich vorher nicht vorstellen! Warm verpackt ging es mit Gejohle die Rodelbahn hinunter. Austoben in der Kälte macht hungrig, anschließend wurden mit gutem Appetit so einige Pizzen verschlungen.
Mit vielen positiven Eindrücken von Deutschland, vielen neue Erfahrungen – auch für die begleitenden Lehrerinnen- und schwerbepackt, ging es dann bald wieder Richtung Namibia. Viele der Paten hier nutzten die Gelegenheit, ihre Patenkinder kennen zu lernen oder den Kontakt und die Freundschaft zu Frau Stommel und ihrer Gruppe zu erneuern. So mancher war bereits einmal in Otjikondo und konnte dort die Gastfreundschaft der Familie Stommel genießen.
Inzwischen sind die Kinder wieder wohlbehalten zurück und haben sich auch wieder in den Alltag von Otjikondo eingelebt. Was sie sicher in Erinnerung behalten werden, ist das kalte Wetter in Deutschland, erst die letzten Tage waren schön warm!
HOW OUR JOURNEY BEGANOn May 2nd, the children who had been chosen to go to Germany could hold their excitement no longer! It was the day they were driving to Windhoek to take an aeroplane to Munich.
We were to spend the night in Windhoek at the home of relatives of Ms Laurentia.
We said goodbye to everyone at Otjikondo and drove in the Otjikondo minibus, happily singing songs, but also a little bit sad at leaving Otjikondo and a bit nervous too about the excitement and new things waiting for us in Germany.
We left Otjikondo at 11.55 and arrived in Outjo at 13.05. We stopped at OK Foods to buy something to drink and eat on the way. We left OUtjo at 13.10. We did not stop in Otjiwarongo because we had already bought food and drinks in Outjo and that would time wasting to stop again.
We drove to Okahandja - it was a long way to drive – and there we stopped at the wood market, where some of us wanted to buy some Namibian presents for our host families. We looked around the wood market for about half an hour. Mrs Stommel then drove us to Windhoek.
When we reached Windhoek we were very excited to meet Ms Laurentia’s family and to stay in their home. At first when we arrived the lady showed us where we were going to sleep and where the toilet was, then we went outside and took some photos with our new cameras.
We then went into town to take out a video and when we came back we had supper and watched the video, had a shower because there was going to be no time to bath in the morning.
Isai woke us up in the middle of the night and told us it was time to get up. We all got dressed and then Ms Laurentia saw that it was still only 1.30 and so she sent us all back to bed. Eventually it was time and we quickly got ready and Mrs Stommel and Mrs Vermaak came to collect us and we drove out to the airport.
We were all very nervous about going onto that big plane and flying like a bird through the sky!
OUR HOST FAMILIES
We arrived in Magdeburg very late in the night.
We drove from Berlin to Magdeburg and to Norbertus Gymnasium and there our host families were waiting for us.
Mrs Stommel started calling our names and our host families came forward to hug us and welcome us in Germany. I was standing next to Mrs Stommel and she nearly forgot me – and Ms Laurentia said “..and Emerensia……?” and then only Mrs Stommel called my name and I went to hug my host sister.
It was so late and so we went back to our houses. I was very tired and happy to be in Germany.
In our house there were five people. It was Mrs Anke, the mother of Julia, and Julia and Tilman, and Mrs Anke’s friend. We were living in Ebendorf, a village just near Magdeburg. Each child had a different family and was living in a different place.
All our host families were very nice and kind to us and so were all the people we met in Germany. We showed our good manners and they made us very welcome.
Emerensia So-Oabes
NORBERTUS GYMNASIUM
Norbertus Gymnasium is one of the best schools I ever visited. There are many children, but they are so kind and helpful.
Norbertus Gymnasium is a high school and it is from Grade 5 – 12, not like here in Namibia.
There are so many things you can do at Norbertus, like sport ( I once played volleyball with the German children), art and many other subjects.
Most of the children at Norbertus do not speak very good English. But they also learn other languages.
Norbertus is the best school ever.
When we left Magdeburg, Mrs Schiller, the teacher who had organized our visit, gave us each a beautiful Norbertus Gymnasium T-shirt and we are very proud to wear these.
Elana Doeses
THE FESTIVAL IN MAGDEBURG
The city I am going to tell you about is the biggest and oldest city I have ever visited. It was the city where we first went and where our host families lived and in this city is also the school, Norbertus Gymnasium.
This year Magdeburg is celebrating 1200 years history of the city. That is very very old. There are many old buildings and churches and we visited some of these.
On the first night there was a big firework display to celebrate the opening of the festival. It was very amazing to see all the fireworks lighting the sky – it was so big and loud that at first I thought there was an earthquake. They were so beautiful and bright.
During the next weekend there was a festival with many different kinds of things like rollercoasters, roundabouts, trains that go up and down and bouncy swings. This was not all, but there were still many more things in all the streets in the city centre.
At stalls – hundreds of them all selling different things – I felt like buying everything, but I didn’t have the money so I couldn’t and didn’t.
I had some money – but I spent it on the rollercoasters and swings and everything costs a lot of money. My Euros just went fast.
I really enjoyed visiting the Magdeburg festival and I think the people of Magdeburg will enjoy many fun things this year.
Luciana Katjivena
THE VISIT TO BERLIN
It was a beautiful Monday morning. The Otjikondo children met at the Magdeburg train station. There they waited for everyone and when they were all there, we went up onto the platform to wait for the train.
In Germany the trains always arrive on time and they only wait for two minutes for everyone to get in and out. So our train came and we jumped on and the train started moving towards Berlin.
The picture shows Isai and Ms Laurentia relaxing on the trip to Berlin:
When we arrived in Berlin, we jumped out and went to the Underground station. After that we walked to the Communication Museum. There it was very nice and we were all give yellow stickers to put on our t-shirts to show that we had paid.
Then Mrs Schiller said “Go off and explore!” So we went off and explored the museum. There were old telephones and other old means of communication which we were allowed to try out. But there were also computers and robots.
This picture shows Moritz Kalvelage (Isai’s host brother) with one of the robots:
After that it was time to visit the Parliament building. By now it was raining and we all had to use our umbrellas:
Inside the Parliament we were shown around by a men and we met the member of Parliament for Magdeburg. Because he only spoke German it was very boring for the Namibians but also for our German friends. Fanus fell asleep in front of the speaker and Mrs Vermaak kept trying to get him to wake up.
Then we were shown onto the top of the Parliament building. From the top of the tower we could see all around the big city of Berlin.
Then we had to go back to get the train to Magdeburg. We were all given some Euros to quickly buy something to eat – and when I went to get a drink from MAcdonalds, the goup had disappeared and I did not know where to go. I looked all over but I could not find the other children.
Afterwards I heard that they had noticed I was not on the train and Mrs Schiller had got off the train to stay behind and look for me. But she did not find me straight away because I had got on another train and gone in the wrong direction. Afterwards I asked someone “Which train must I take to Magdeburg?” and they told me I must get off that train and get on another one. So I did that. I had no ticket and I was a little bit worried.
When I got back to Berlin station, I got off and there I saw Mrs Schiller and she asked me “Where have you been? We are looking for you”. And then we went together on another train to Magdeburg and Moritz was very pleased that I had been found.
This was the story of our visit to Berlin, the capital city of Germany.
Isai Shigwedha
THE VISIT TO THALE IN THE HARZ MOUNTAINS
We, the children who went to Germany, visited Thale for about half a week before we came back to Namibia.
We stayed in a Youth Hostel. In that hostel there was a table to play football, which we enjoyed very much, and a table tennis room which was situated outside the building and a disco hall.
In the first room of the hostel, where you entered, there was also a place where you could buy chocolate or soft drinks, or even play pinball games.
The hostel was right next to the river and you could always hear the water flowing outside the hostel.
On the first day, when we arrived, we climbed a great big mountain. At the top of the mountain there was a shop and we bought a few things like witch puppets – because they say that the Harz mountains are full of witches. But that is just a story from many years ago and now there are only witch puppets. A girl called Lucia, who also went to Germany, bought a laughing witch, which had eyes that lit up and could frighten someone in the dark. You could see all kinds of witches and devils wherever you. But of course the witches and devils were just normal people dressed up in costumes.
When we came to the top of the mountain, we came down with the cable car. It looked like this:
It was quite frightening for most of us but we enjoyed the view and all. We bought lunch at a nearby restaurant where we could help ourselves.
The children went back to the hostel to rest, but Mrs Stommel and Mrs Vermaak went to the nearby shops in Thale to get toiletries for those children who had forgotten to bring their things along.
The next day we went to the top of another mountain with a cable car which could take four people and we visited a zoo on the top of that mountain. Some of us felt very sorry for a lonely bear which had nothing to do. We also saw all kinds of birds, big mountain cats and wolves.
After seeing all the animals, we went to the Rollbahn. These are car-like vehicles which run on rails just like a train, but much closer to each other. You could handle the speed by pushing down a lever to make it go faster or pull the lever to brake. It was great fun and we all went down several times. Even Mrs Vermaak and Ms Laurentia enjoyed it very much.
Fanus Tsauseb
TRANSPORT IN GERMANY
After the aeroplane flight, there were still many different kinds of transport awaiting us in Germany.
The first transport when we arrived, were the cars that took us back to Magdeburg. Although it was so late at night, the roads were full of traffic.
In the morning my host family asked if I wanted to go to school by bike, tram or roller blades. How could I know?? We went by bike. Some children came to school by inline skating, bicycle, tram or they walked if they lived close by. Some children were brought to school in cars by their parents.
A tram is an electrical train that runs along the street on electrical wires. I have never seen anything like this in Namibia.
Sometimes we used buses to travel. Every time the children heard “nachste Haltestelle Nikolei Platz” they knew that it was the stop where they must get off for school and they all got ready to go.
Everywhere we went we had to have tickets and boarding passes.
We travelled to Berlin, to Thale and to Dusseldorf by train. These trains were very smart and comfortable and they went very very fast. At the stations we had to be very quick getting on and off, because the train did not wait for anyone.
Twice we went on a ship – once on the River Elbe and once on the River Rhine. This was just for fun – a pleasure ride. It was interesting to see that one could travel on a river flowing with so much water, when in Namibia all our riverbeds are dry.
We also used cable cars to go up and down the mountains. There were different kinds of cable cars hanging from wires in the air. It was a bit frightening to look down – but we enjoyed it very much.
In the Harz mountains we also used a Rollbahn. This was also a fun kind of transport and it was like a big slide but we were sitting in a car going down the slide.
We also went on the underground. This is like a train but goes underneath the cities so as not to disturb the traffic on the streets.
Although we used all these different kinds of transport in Germany, we did of course also walk for miles and miles on our own feet. The German children said we always walked very slowly – but only because we were looking at things and talking. When we climbed the mountains we were always in front.
I did not see one donkey cart in Germany. So I can understand that visitors to Namibia are interested in our special means of transport.
Rosemary Mwifi
IPI ‘NTOMBI GOES INTERNATIONAL
On May 9th we performed our African musical Ipi ‘ntombi for the first time in Germany.
Our first performance was for the Old People’s home, Adelheid House. The age of the oldest grandmother was 96, and she was too old to come down to watch the drama, but when we had finished performing for the other old people, we went to visit her and she was so pleased to see Namibian children. We sang her four songs from the drama and then she sai “I am very happy to see you all” and she gave us chocolates.
When we went downstairs again the old peple were in the dining hall and invited us to eat ice cream and cake and chocolates. They thanked us very much for coming to make their afternoon so interesting.
The next time we performed was at Norbertus Gymnasium. Some of us had eaten so much beforehand that we felt we would not be able to jump and dance on the stage.
The school hall was very full and when they were talking it was like a swarm of bees in the hall. We were all a little bit nervous about performing before our host families. Also we were getting a little bit fat and we thought our friends might laugh at us.
But all went well and when we had finished they gave us a big applause and people wanted to take photos. Afterwards we had a very big party with lots of food and drink. I liked the Bratwurst very much.
Our last performance was at a Primary School in Monchengladbach. This was the school where Astrid had been teaching and the children knew all about Otjikondo. They had also collected money to give to buy beds and mattresses for Weavers Nest hostel, and also sent parcels of clothes for our Birthday Room. So we wanted to perform well for them.
There was not a proper stage and so the children kept standing up to see us and sometimes they joined in clapping and stamping.
They were a little bit noisy – but we just carried on with our drama and everybody said it was very very good and we made friends with some of the children. I made friends with one girl and her name was Julia and she was taking lots of photos.
The next day there was an article in the newspaper and a big photo of our Ipi ‘Ntombi performance. We were famous at last and we felt very happy!
Biancca Harases
OUR VISIT TO KOLN
On the 20th of May 2005, during our holiday in Germany, we went to Köln.
We visited a very big building, which was a cathedral It was very big and the spires were shaped like the hands of a person reaching up to heaven. Mr Heinz Stommel told us about the history of the cathedral.
When we went in there were so many benches to sit on and the cathedral seemed so very big. There were many people in the cathedral.
We went all around and we saw a little golden house, not really a house, but like a house. It was so beautiful and Mr Heinz told us that inside it were the bones of the Three Kings. We found that very interesting and wanted to know how did they get there, and who found them.
There were also many statues of Bishops and beautiful windows.
In the Cathedral we also saw many candles burning and so we also went to light candles and say a prayer before Mary, the Mother of Jesus.
Mr Heinz told us that the glass of the beautiful windows had been taken out and buried somewhere special during World War 2, so that they would not be broken by the bombs. The Cathedral was the only building in that part of Koln which was not damaged during the war.
After looking at everything we stood together to sing some Church songs.
The sound of us singing in the huge building was so loud, that all the people visiting the church came to listen to us. And when we finished singing they clapped their hands and we went out of the big Cathedral singing.
The second place we visited in Koln was the Chocolate Museum. When we heard we were going there we were all so excited and said “yummy!”
When we came to the chocolate museum, the first thing we saw was a shop full of all different types of chocolate. But Mr Josef said he would give us some money to buy something at the end of our visit.
We were welcomed by a man who worked in the museum and he showed us around and told us how chocolate is made and where the cocoa beans come from. We tried to eat a cocoa bean – but it did not taste nice!
We were shown all the stages of making chocolate. When we went into a room where chocolate was made with all the different ingredients, we saw a fountain of chocolate and we all said: “Wow! I wish I could eat all that chocolate!” And Ms Laurentia also said “I wish I could eat it all up!”
We tasted some of the chocolate and we still wanted more, even though we already had had enough – but it just tasted so good and we knew we would never see another fountain of real chocolate!
After that we went back to the shop and Mr Josef bought us all a packet of chocolate and most of us (but not all of us) brought them back to Namibia.
Meriam Angombe
THE FIRST SNOW IN OUR LIVES
On 24th May we went to the ski hall in Neuss.
When we arrived at the ski hall, we first stood outside for about 20 minutes. Then we were told to enter. We went into a hall where there were windows, through which we could see the snow.
When we saw the snow, we asked questions like “are we going to use the skis? Or the sledges? When are we going inside?” We were full of excitement.
Oh, I thought, I should have brought more than one jersey because it looks very cold inside there!
At last we were led to the dressing room where we were all given snowsuits to keep us warm and BIG HEAVY shoes, which were to keep our feet warm too!
We were also given yellow papers which were sticking on one side and we had to wear these on our wrists.
Then when we were all dressed – and that took some time – we went into the snow. We all tried to pick up some with our bare hands. It was VERY cold and while we were picking up the snow in our hands a friend took pictures of us.
Then we started using the sliding boards up and down the little hill.
Unfortunately while we were enjoying this, an accident happened. Elana hurt her thumb and Mrs Stommel and Mrs Lehnen had to take her to hospital because they thought it might be broken. Fortunately it was not.
We went on enjoying ourselves and after some time we went onto the cable cars. We were supposed to get off at the top, but the supervisor said we must rather just saty on the cable car because we were not going to be able to go down on skis.
When we got down again we got off the cable car and went inside and handed back our snowsuits and the boots and we put on our own clothes again.
It was a very cold but interesting visit to the ski hall and we enjoyed it very much.
Lusia Shimwooshili
THE MAGIC FLUTE
A PUPPET THEATER PERFORMANCE IN DUSSELDORF
Otjikond children are very good in drama. The night before we left Germany, we were very privileged to be able to watch another kind of drama – a puppet show in the Marionetten Theater in Dusseldorf.
A puppet show is when the actors on the stage are not real people, but puppets. Puppets are made out of wood, have hair and are dressed and they look very real. People stand on a platform above the stage and move the puppets by pulling strings. The audience cannot see these people. They only hear the music and see the puppets and it looks as if the puppets are singing.
It must be very difficult to make the puppets do what you want them to do by just pulling a string. But it looks so real – as if they are walking, running, kneeling, sitting, lying down or even fighting. Just like real people.
The puppet show was a musical written by Mozart. He was a famous German musician. It was a love story and had a happy ending.
What a wonderful way to end a wonderful holiday in Germany.
Mrs J Vermaak
COMING HOME
After a really lovely holiday in Germany, we had to come back home to Namibia.
It was really sad for us to return home so soon after meeting the most caring, loving and friendly families and friends in Germany.
They had gone to so much trouble to make our stay a lifelong experience.
We not only enjoyed ourselves, we also learnt so much.
And so the day came when we had to say goodbye to everyone and everything and return
To our warm country
Where the sun
Burns
On stone
Rock and sand
Ms L Katjiua