Ester

Ester works in the library, so we share an office building, and she has been quite delightfully welcoming and friendly since my first day at my work site.  She kindly agreed to an interview that I could share with you, and told me:

She's not sure she should smile for a photograph.

Name:  Ester    Age:  42    Where did you grow up?  Luderitz    Who lives with you now?  My sister's kids, two boys age 18 and 9.  Who's in your family?  The most adorable people in my life.  [Specifically her sister, who works about a four-hour drive from here over rough roads, the two nephews, her daughter in Swakop and a 9-year old granddaughter and two grandsons, ages five and two.]

What do you do for work?  Cleaner.    What work have you done that's especially fun or interesting?  Gardening - years back.    What do you like best about your work?  I just want to move from this cleaning to another position.    What do you do for fun?  I teach kids Afrikaans and help them with their homework.  Mostly I'm just in work.  And after work I help elders who want to learn Afrikaans.    What has been your best adventure?  There's nothing going in Arandis.  [When I asked, she concurred that 'raising up kids' is an adventure.]    What would you like to do that you've never done?  I want to own my own business.

She does a lot more than clean in the library.  That's not uncommon here.

What's your favorite place to go in Namibia?  Khorixas    Where do you recommend tourists go?  Vingerklip Lodge [where her sister works!]    Have you ever been out of Namibia?  No.  Would you like to?  Yes    Where?  South Africa - Johannesburg, to see how people do business there.

What language do you speak most?  Afrikaans    What other languages do you speak?  Damara-Nama and English.    What's something 'typically Namibian' about you?  The food that I like to eat -- porridge and donkey meat.    And what's something 'un-Namibian' about you?  Nothing.  Typical Namibian.  Just put it just like that.


And here's a brief video chat from Ester, who is usually all smiles and laughs but got very serious for the camera.  She speaks in Afrikaans, her first language, and then says almost entirely different things in English, which she speaks well but is always working to improve.