Otize and cattle dung

Reposted from Amber's blog:

There is so much to tell and so little time! I can't wait to tell everyone in person about my favorite day in Africa so far, and that was on our friend Uapii's farm on a conservancy. He spent the day having us meet his traditional Herero family, grandmother mother and little sister. We got to learn the daily activities, and even take part in them! Us girls started off with a woman's duty of patching their hut houses. I was prepared to do whatever in order to immerse myself in their culture and really live the experience, but nothing prepared me for sticking my hands and fingers into a pile of warm fresh cattle  dung! But I did it with a smile anyways as I filled a bucket with the dung and carried on my head back to the hut. Then we mixed it with soil and water and formed balls. The balls were thrown onto the hut in places needing patched and then kneaded into the wall. The arid environment dries this mixture like concrete, making it a great insulator and a good foundation for their house. The old grandmother watched me work and said I was worthy of staying! She said I got the highest marks for how much I participated with a smile :)

Next the boys rounded up the donkeys and hooked them up with harnesses made of old tires to what we called the "Kalahari Ferrari" which was an old donkey cart! Then all of us got to ride and direct the donkeys. It was a blast! After that we learned how to milk their cows. Uapii's mother strapped up her little 2 year old daughter on her back and we followed her into the cattle corral made of sticks. She leaned over and put the bucket between her legs and started milking like a pro. We each got to try it out, and pretty soon had a bucket full of milk. Then we went up to the house and sat on cow hides as we poured the milk into a big gourd hanging by a rope tied on sticks and began to rock the gourd back and forth to make butter. She said she does this every day for an hour. The grandmother later showed us how she strains the butter and cooks it for a better taste. The last thing we did was go into one of their huts and they showed us how they apply otize, which is a mix of butter and red ochre, to make a red paste that is applied to the skin. This paste acts as a sunscreen, and is also great for your skin. I was the only one who volunteered to put it on, and I put it all over my face and arms. I can still remember the grandmother laughing and laughing, she'd never seen a white girl with this on! Speaking quickly in Herero, she told me I looked so beautiful, and that she wanted me to marry her grandson Uapii. Uapii laughed and Ben told him "She's yours for 15 cattle." Uapii said "Deal!" ha ha.

Later that day we visited another tribe the Himba. They greeted us with a traditional lion hunting dance, and after awhile I even joined in the dance. They all laughed and loved it! The kids were so cute. The Himba wear little clothing and are covered in the red otize. Their hair has red clay and otize in it, and it looks like painted dread locks. They are beautiful people and I'm so glad I got to meet them.

That night we camped by the river and parked our truck right over some elephant dung! We played in the river and I searched for tracks, then we roasted a whole goat from Uapii's farm. Pretty soon there were Himba men and Herero woman coming from all over throughout the forest to join in the feast. I spent the night practicing the little language I knew "Movango" means "want some?" as I passed around food. "Koda" is a greeting like "Hello how are you" and "Nowya" is the response meaning good. Even though we were all languages apart, we spent the evening enjoying good food and laughing and telling stories to one another as Uapii acted as the interpreter. The stars overhead so thick there were star shadows, the fire burning before us, and about 25 people from all different races and tribes sat together and enjoyed each other's company all night.

There is so much more to tell, and I'm sorry I don't have pictures. But this was by far one of the best days not only on the trip, but of my life. I learned so much, experienced so much, and put myself out there 100% to walk in the shoes of people across the world from me on so many levels.