From conference, a few of us ladies drove a couple hundred kilometers to a campground called Treesleeper. They have built platforms so you can sleep in your tent up near the trees. We had a nice, peaceful time together. Treesleeper is located near the town of Tsintsabis. Treesleeper “is a community based and sustainable tourism project with a strong focus on the culture of the Bushmen (San) people, the first inhabitants of Southern Africa.” Around Tsintsabis are individual villages scattered all around. Treesleeper organizes different activities such as a village tour, bush walk, and tribal dance. Our first night we all signed up to go watch the tribal dance. It was neat to experience, though I was expecting a bit more dancing and involvement from the women. The “dancing” was just three men slowly circling the fire. The women were behind, singing and clapping together what looked and sounded like simple wooden blocks. Our guide explained the meaning of each of the three songs. The first was a song for happy times. The second was about a girl coming of age. And the third was a song about healing. During the third song, the traditional healer of the village came to each of us with cow or donkey hair he carries around and rubbed it on our faces.

The next day, four of us went on the village tour. I always love any opportunity to visit a village in Namibia. I enjoy interacting with the families and especially the children. The first village we went to had several families and lots of children of all ages running around. Digital cameras are so perfect for times like these because the children--and even adults--love to see the pictures of themselves after they’ve been taken. They will point at the image and smile and laugh. It seems to put everyone in a great mood, thus continually making it a photographer’s dream. I could spend hours playing with the kids and snapping photos. We went to a second village. There weren’t as many people, but we still enjoyed meeting the families and taking a few pictures. Both villages had some crafts on display so we made a few purchases to help them out. Treesleeper seems to be a great economic boost for the community. The village tour, for example, benefits most villages as they rotate villages on the tour every 6 months. As part of the tour, campers are asked to provide a small bag of food for the two families you will visit. Each bag costs about $13USD and includes things like sugar, cooking oil, bread, fruit, etc.

It was a neat experience and nice to spend time with the other ladies. We roasted marshmallows, told funny and embarrassing stories, and encouraged each other as serving as a single woman on the mission field is always filled with its challenges.