Sweat and Dust: six months in Namibia: Below the Belt

About half the population of Namibia live below the international poverty line (U.S.$1.25 a day).

About half of the population depends on agriculture for its livelihood.

About 4000, mostly white, farmers own the majorty of arable land.

Ipso facto (I've always wanted a good excuse to use "ipso facto"):

Namibia has one of the highest rates of income inequality in the world.

These are all facts. You can look them up. I don't have to look them up. I can see it all around me here in Namibia.

The difference between the "haves" and the "have nots" is stark.

A swanky hotel in Swakopmund (originally a hospital).

Not so swanky shops and houses in Mondesa - a shanty town on the outskirts of Swakopmund

But change is afoot.

There are a number of legislative measures in place to alleviate poverty and unemployment. There is a real effort by the goverment and by private enterprise to create jobs. For example: teams of petrol station driveway attendants (as mentioned in "first impressions"); car-guards (yes, they guard cars. Each car-guard is given a council uniform and an area to guard and, while there is no obligation to pay them anything, it really doesn't cost a great deal to ensure that your car is still there when you return to it); and sand sweepers (the only thing that stops the towns being deserts is the sand - hence the sand sweepers).

Within the last decade, legislation was passed to protect people from job discrimination stemming from pregnancy and HIV/AIDS status. Also, now 100 per cent of all unskilled and semi-skilled labour must be sourced, without exception, from within Namibia.

The film that brought us here to Namibia is responsible for employing many unskilled and semi-skilled Namibians who were otherwise unemployed - and there is a real chance that those employed by the film will gain valuable experience and some useful skills. Each of the Australian employees are also expected to employ a domestic cleaner. So yes, I am experiencing the luxury of having a cleaner - mind you, I always have the place tidy and clean so that it's never too much hard work for our Katerina...she subsequently seeks out extra chores to fill her day. She irons our clothes (I can't remember the last time I ironed anything other than my uniform in Australia) and I fear that my husband is rather enjoying the crispness of ironed shirts and sheets. I definitely put my foot down when I caught Katerina ironing his underwear!

Several overseas goverments have promised to finance Namibia's land reform process, as Namibia plans to start expropriating land from white farmers to resettle landless black Namibians.

Mondesa is situated on the outskirts of the seaside township of Swakopmund. Mondesa, and neighbouring DRC are shanty towns, populated entirely by black Namibians. Many of the people who live in Mondesa have come from remote areas of Namibia seeking employment. Some have found employment. Many have not.

This series of photographs shows some of the contrasts of living in and around the same town - Swakopmund.

(I sought and was granted permission to photograph and publish all the photographs of people that I have taken)

The roads in Mondesa are made of salt. Slippery when wet, yes. But rarely ever wet.

The lack of cars makes playing on the roads an inevitability.

These marketeers, setting up for another day of haggling, live in Mondesa but store their goods in large containers near the market venue near the seaside so that they don't have to transport their goods back and forth each day. Few, if any, own cars and there is no public transport here at all.

"Tears of Hope" is an orphanage run by a Herero woman who relies solely on donations to continue her work. There are up to 20 children living here at any one time.

I have donated both money AND time to the orphanage.

A nice buildng in Swakopmund.

No so nice buildings in Mondesa. Children running to see the white person.

Invited to dine with a family in Mondesa, we were served (clockwise from centre) Mopane Worms, fried dumplings, ground beans and a sort of polenta bread. Yum!