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Today, Namibia is an independent country. It has its own government and its own laws. However, just as the United States used to be a colony of England and was subject to England’s laws, Namibia used to be a colony of South Africa and was subject to South Africa’s laws. One of those laws was called apartheid. Apartheid was based on the idea that whites should not socialize with blacks or other people of mixed racial descent. Under apartheid, whites and blacks attended different schools and sought help from different doctors. Sadly, the education and medical attention that blacks received weren’t very good. Likewise, the neighborhoods in which they were forced to live were often situated on dry land. Black neighborhoods were called townships.Apartheid caused a lot of anger, hurt and inequality. Fortunately it is no longer law in either South Africa or Namibia. Yet it continues to affect the people who live in both these countries. |
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The setting of the essay you just read is a perfect example of apartheid’s aftereffect. When author April Dobbins heads to Mondesa, she knows she is heading to a township born in the time of apartheid. Mondesa’s desert geography reflects its undesirable location; the unstable housing reflects its poverty.
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 The geography of Namibia is kind of like a sandwich.
The Namib Desert runs all along the country’s western edge. It is crusty and brown. The Kalahari Desert is on the country’s other side, the eastern side. It, too, is dusty and dry. In the middle of the country, however, is the good stuff. First, a range of mountains rises up and out of the Namib Desert reaching jagged peaks. You can think of these mountains as the meat, for they give the country some heft. Yet the mountains soon taper off, leaving a high plateau. The plateau is a little like all the sandwich fixings—tasty, ripe and fresh. Temperatures are more pleasant on the plateau than they are in either one of the deserts. Plus, it’s easier to build farms and cities on flat land than it is in the steep mountains. The plateau also receives more rainfall than the deserts, again making the land a smarter choice for farmers. Most of Namibia’s cities are found in this plateau region, including the capital city of Windhoek. Don’t forget to wash your sandwich down will a tall glass of water. Namibia sits alongside the Atlantic Ocean. But wait! You better make that a glass of bubbly water! There’s nothing calm about the Atlantic Ocean here. In fact, the country’s northern shore is called the Skeleton Coast. Here, the ocean current is rough, the ocean floor is rocky and the ocean air is foggy. Passing ships used to scrape bottom and sink, later washing up on shore. The skeletons of the ships, the men and the whales they were hunting still remain, buried by the sands of the Namib Desert.
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Ed and Amy are from Canada. They traveled their way across Africa, the Middle East, and Asia and wrote about their adventures on a travel blog. Like the author of our essay, Ed and Amy stopped in Mondesa township for a day. Read about their time there. If you want a closer look at their pictures, return to the top of their story and click “View as a Slideshow.”
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In the essay, “Mondesa on my Mind,” the author vividly describes the home of an artist named Ernst. Using the author’s words, draw Ernst’s home. Do you want to see the double-Dutch-dancing girls of Mondesa in action? Check out this video.
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© 2008 Global Roam Ink
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