By BRIAN CLOWES
The moonless night was pitch black, and I could see nothing. But I could hear several small children playing and laughing a few yards away. I pointed my bright laser pointer at the schoolhouse wall right over where I guessed their heads would be, and there was instant complete silence. Then the kids started to chase the bright red dot like a bunch of kittens, screaming with delight. After several minutes of this, Fr. Boquet walked over and showed them how the laser pointer worked.
Our Human Life International team was relaxing over a late supper after finishing an intensive four-day pro-life training session for community leaders in Rundu, at the northeastern corner of Namibia, just off the Caprivi Strip. Fr. Shenan Boquet, president of Human Life International, Emil Hagamu, HLI’s regional coordinator for English-speaking Africa, and I had presented a dozen talks on such topics as the origins and natures of the Cultures of Life and Death, the population control movement, myths about abortion and homosexuality, the moral problems specific to Namibia, and how to organize to fight the threats.
We did not only impart information; we had lengthy group meetings to chart the way forward with concrete tactics and plans. The days were long, because the metal roof of the building radiated heat, but they must have seemed longer for a large barn owl swooping back and forth over our heads trying to find a way out.
The problem in Namibia is the same as it is all over Africa and all over the world. In public and private conversations, the people we spoke to revealed a message we have heard many times before: They know that bad things are happening to their country, but they do not know why and they do not know what to do about it.
Not even the priests are well-informed. The priests and people know that semi-pornographic soap operas pushing “family planning” are becoming more and more popular on television. This is not an accident; several NGOs based in the United States and Great Britain specialize in such soaps. The people are also worried that their children are learning too much about sex too fast, that homosexual “rights” are being discussed more and more, and that abortion is being pushed by many of the elite of the country. Our HLI team’s overall mission was to outline exactly why the threat is happening now, who is pushing it, and what to do about it.
Namibia is the most sparsely populated sub-Saharan nation, with only seven people per square mile, one-sixth of whom are concentrated in Windhoek, the capital city. Its population of about 2.3 million has never recovered from the slaughter of more than half of its people by the Germans during the struggle for independence in the years 1904 to 1908.
Despite this state of nearly complete depopulation, the population control cartel believes that there are still too many Namibians. Marie Stopes International, which has boasted that it performs illegal abortions all over the world, runs clinics in Namibia, and the International Planned Parenthood Federation and the United Nations Population Fund push every form of birth control and also promote abortion.
These “big three” groups are backed up by more than a score of other non-governmental organizations that are either solely dedicated to population control or push “reproductive health” as one of their priorities. All of this in a nation with a population density about the same as the states of Montana and Wyoming.
According to population control “logic,” the Namibian people should be very well off because there are so few of them. But the nation suffers from economic and social woes that are exacerbated by the West, and the average income of workers in Namibia is about $2,250.
Inevitably, the work of the Culture of Death is having an impact. According to the United Nations Population Information Network, the average Namibian family had an average of 6.6 children as recently as 1980, and the average Namibian was only 17 years old. Now, the average family has 2.4 children per family, and is expected to drop below the replacement rate of 2.1 in just a decade. By that time, the average Namibian will be 26 years old. The United Nations projects that the Namibian population will begin to decline in about three decades, and that it will be an old country by the turn of the century, with an average age of over 50.
One out of eight (13.3 percent) of Namibian adults is infected with HIV/AIDS, the fourth highest rate in the world. The government sponsors such activities as condom awareness campaigns and a dance troupe named “Equipped,” but nowhere is the high failure rate of the condom mentioned. This accounts for the fact that the Namibian HIV infection rate continues to rise, and the hundreds of millions of dollars Namibia has spent on trying to contain the epidemic and treat its victims is a significant drag on the economy.
As Fr. Boquet and I began our 52-hour journey to Namibia, Emil Hagamu was traveling from Dar es Salaam, Tanzania, across the continent. Following the 18-hour flight from Washington Dulles airport to Johannesburg, Fr. Boquet and I then flew to Windhoek and drove nearly 500 miles on the excellent Trans-Kalahari road to the St. Joseph’s Retreat Center in Shambyu.
Along the way, we saw a wide variety of wildlife in the arid countryside, including baboons, zebras, warthogs, gemsbok, and giraffes. We passed through small, dusty towns with colorful names like Kombat, Vungu-Vungu, and Teufelsbach (“Devil’s Brook”). Our host, Fr. Michael Murongo, met us when we arrived in darkness. He and one other priest not only run St. Joseph’s Parish and school, they cover 42 outstations in a parish the size of the state of West Virginia.
One evening, Fr. Boquet and I ventured outside to admire the Milky Way splashed over the sky, which is only possible in areas that have little or no lighting. During the day, we watched students playing soccer with balls fashioned out of old plastic shopping bags and twine, and we resolved to bring several new soccer balls the next time we visited.
The Benedictine Sisters of Tutzing operate the schools at St. Joseph’s Parish. They also cultivate a large garden along the slow-moving Okavango River, and this garden is surrounded by old tires which keep at bay the crocodiles and black mamba (“two-step”) snakes, which can reach 15 feet in length and are one of the fastest-moving snakes in the world.
One evening, I noticed the necrology of the sisters outside the little chapel in the guesthouse. The average age of the ten Benedictine Sisters of Tutzing who died in 2014 was 93 years, with two living to 104 and 105 years of age. In such a harsh climate, with unsafe water, mamba snakes, malaria, and crocodiles, how do they do it?
My wife Kathy’s opinion is that the sister’s longevity is due to the fact that they do not have husbands.
Overwhelming Joy
Daily Mass in Africa is a joy. The people are all dressed in their very best clothes, and we did not see one person shabbily dressed. On Sunday, the ladies of the Legion of Mary, all identically dressed, processed into the church with song and dance and joyful ululations. Not only are Africans more respectful at Holy Mass, they seem to have a lot more fun!
Fr. Boquet and I were also struck by the overwhelming joy in everyone we met, both children and adults. In spite of their difficulties and daily struggles, the people still have the two things that make a person happy — strong faith and strong families.
Fr. Boquet explained this principle to three boys who were curious about life in the United States. The boys were under the impression that the United States is a very happy place because of its material prosperity, but Father pointed out that the USA is poor spiritually, and is poverty-stricken in its family life. True happiness is not found in the possession of material things. The happiest people we have met on our many journeys are the poorest materially but the richest in their faith and family life.
As with all such journeys, I was sad to leave but happy to go. The Namibian people are warm and generous, and we felt at home among them. But I missed my family terribly, and prayed that God would let me see them all one more time. As Fr. Boquet, Emil, and I drove away with Fr. Michael, we heard the sisters singing and saw them waving happily to us. I hope that we will be back to see them very soon.
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