Goeie Hoop

Last weekend we went with the School football team to Goeie Hoop (Good Hope) Primary School for a sports day - which, due to lack of any sort of punctuality as per African tradition, was actually a sports weekend. It was about an hour's drive away and we broke down twice - firstly because the trailer disconnected from the back of the minibus, and then because a rock bounced up from the road (a proper African road, no fancy tarmac or anything) and shattered the rear windscreen. Nevertheless, we made it there without too much fuss. This was the view along the road:

Goeie Hoop is situated in the heart of Hereroland, home of the Herero people. Many older women still wear traditional Herero dress - a long, Victorian style dress with puffed shoulders adapted from Colonial days, and a very distinctive hat which seems to mimic horns coming out of the front. Whilst Gqaina has many Herero children who travel to the school and board, most of the learners at Goeie Hoop lived locally, and many of the people we met had lived their whole lives in the region. We walked to the local shop (literally in the middle of the bush) and met a farmer who showed us round his land and was very proud of his water filtration machine, complete with motor. He said that he had never left the area his whole life.
Being so remote, many of the children had never seen a white person before, or if they had, they certainly hadn't seen many. We were watched all weekend, sometimes with suspicious stares, but mainly just intrigued looks. There were some adorable little girls who kept coming near me, but laughing and running away whenever I looked round. It is a strange feeling to know that you're the first white person that a child has ever set eyes upon, and the only one that they'll see for a long time.
Our school only had a football team playing, but there was also netball, and, bizzarely, a beauty pageant and choir contest.We kind of stood out amongst the crowd, so we ended up getting roped in to judging the choir competition. We were introduced by the speaker: "So tonight we have two young men decorating our panel. I know some of you have never seen people with soft hair before, but let's give them a big welcome".
Despite being similar to Gqaina in layout and design, Goeie Hoop is a few decades older, and therefore more run-down. We were treated very hospitably, however, and given food (mainly meat), incredibly sugary tea and even running water, when it was on.
Our team won the football tournament so there was much excitement and song on the bus home.We had slept on a mattress on a classroom floor for the weekend so I have never appreciated a shower and comfy bed so much in my life