Kwashiorkor and Marasmus Put into Perspective

This past week my mom attended a meeting, and a part of it was a lecture about malnourishment. She brought back samples of the food supplements they give children with kwashiorkor or marasmus, and we got to try them.

For those of you who don't know, kwashiorkor is a version of malnutrition where a person doesn't get enough protein in their diet. They may be eating, but not a balanced diet, resulting in enlarged livers, and protruding stomachs, to name a few side effects. The supplement is called Plumpy Nut. 

It's quite close to the peanut butter they put in power bars. It's full of protein to help families and induviduals with kwashiorkor, and the lecturer said that 'it tastes so good, they'll give it to the children, and the adults will eat it too!'

Sadly kwashiorkor occurs in the villages here in the North. There is a lack of education and variety of foods available to the people up there. :(

Marasmus is different than Kwashiorkor. People with marasmus have not gotten any nutrition at all. They will get extremely thin, and lose muscle. The supplement is a pap (porridge).

The porridge supplement tasted like bread, and actually wasn't that bad, despite what I was told. Much of the cases of marasmus are also in the villages up North here in Namibia. It's tragic to think that 30% of the children here in Africa are malnourished, but hopefully these supplements will help improve the lives of millions!

Swakopmund: Surf and Camel Turf

No trip to a beach town is complete without a surf trip! Everyone on the water was really friendly, and I got close to yet another seal. There was a decent reef break that got a bit too close to bare rock for comfort (If you don't know: a reef break is when waves will break over a reef that has rock on the bottom of the ocean floor instead of the usual sand). After surfing for a good three hours -and catching up on my tan- we headed to a great restaurant with a spectacular panoramic view of the ocean and massive dunes.




Camels might be some of the most dramatic creatures I've ever ridden. Whenever you mounted or dismounted, they would groan loud and long, kind of like an old man getting up in the morning. The morning before we left to go back to the north, my parents decided we would go on a last minute camel ride. And it was a bumpy experience! Camels have the same gait as horses, but their huge size makes every step feel like a jerky roller coaster that could use a breath mint. The rumors about camels having a lot of saliva is true. I didn't get spit on -sorry for those of you disappointed ;) - but others did.
<I cannot add pictures due to a bug in the blogger system>

Season's Greetings

⭐Happy Holidays to everyone back home! Hope the new year is a great one!⭐

Swakopmund: Sea Lions and Quad Biking

 

It's winter time, which means it's time to bundle up with a good book and some cocoa and sit by the fireplace. Or you can do as the  Namibian natives do, and head to Swakopmund for the holidays!

This year, my family skipped the presents and drove for two days down to a German beach town to spend our Christmas by the ocean. After you live right next to the beach your whole life, and then suddenly move to an area where there aren't even lakes to swim in, it's not easy to take no for an answer! 

Our first sight in Swakopmund is one I like to call the sass-ful sea lion. The beach was abandoned at the time, since there was a freezing cold marine layer covering the shore.
Everyone gone except the seal lion and my camera! By far my favorite picture ever!

 On the first day of our stay here, we went Quad Biking through the enormous dunes of the African desert. It was an experience that combined the rush of adrenaline and adventure with desert wildlife. Imagine gunning it up the side if a dune the size of a five story building, and then turning sharply to speed back down it... and yelling like a crazy person despite yourself! Your heart leaps into your throat for a second and your stomach must have left you back at the top!

But if that doesn't have you psyched, seeing one of the deadliest snakes in Africa will! Our guide could find any creature just by the unique tracks it left in the sand. We saw a lot of crazy stuff, but the Sidewinder was by far the most intriguing. Our guide, Johannes, had stopped at a small cluster of plants that had managed to survive in the harsh, ever-changing conditions of the desert, and smiled, "Snake," he told us simply, using his walkie talkie to move it onto the large dune above us. A small, brown and tan snake glared at us. When Johannes tried to move it once more for a better camera view, it moved diagonally across the dune towards the sandy floor in a way that gave the Sidewinder it's name.

Unlike a normal snake, which usually uses its entire body to slither forwards across a surface, the Sidewinder moves sideways, winding its body in a backwards and forwards S shape so it only has to touch two parts of its body to the hot desert at any time. they are extremely venomous, so if one of us got bit out here, we probably wouldn't survive. But the only thing I took away from that lesson was that it looked like the Sesame Street show character, Cookie Monster, would have a hard time dealing trying to munch on this tough S-shaped cookie!

 When it had arrived on the floor, Johannes told us he would pick it up. It was a unique process of holding its head down with a tyre pump and inching his fingers up until he held it right behind the head, which I caught all on video and will hopefully get a link out to you all soon. We got to touch it and feel it wrap around our hands -okay, besides my mom ;)- which is much less intimidating when you know the venomous part is under control. But just the slip of his hand, and we'd all be in trouble...

 The chameleon we found that reminded me of a cross between Godzilla and Yoda....

 If you manage to tear your eyes away from my extremely attractive sanitary hair net, youll notice that I gained a fabulous pair of ear rings during the tour!

 Johannes explained that this horse skull below was just one of the two thousand horses killed during the war. :(

 

 

Quad Biking was by far one of the coolest African adventures I've had yet. But there's plenty more in store!

Etosha Prison

Even the nicest places seem to get inhospitable at night here in Namibia. Maybe it's cause of the country's history of wars starting up in the late hour, but no matter how you look at it, we were locked inside Etosha National Park with no way out.

It all started when my family decided to spend our holiday vacation in Swakopmund (a German town by the beach) which is about 10 hours from our home up in the north. For some reason we had gotten the idea that this ten hour excursion could be possible even though we decided to go through Etosha along the way. We started our journey at about 10 am, and made it to the entry gates of the park at 2 pm. In Etosha, the speed limit is 60 kl so you don't slam into an animal going 120 around a turn. Even if we hadn't cared about the speed limit, it still would have taken us hours to go through the place. During the rainy season there are usually no animals at all, but I saw leopard turtles, dung beetles, meerkats, and giraffes. Also, our car became surrounded in a herd of 200-300 Springbok! And we came upon at least a hundred Gemsbok soon afterwards, who gave us a great sparring match to watch as they took down one another using their horns.

By the time all of that was over, it was 6 pm, and we were still inside the park, sitting down to eat at Okaukuejo Lodge inside of Etosha. As we left to drive the last 20 kilometers to the gate, our car hit three birds that we hadn't even noticed. The road became even darker as the sun set over the horizon, and we illuminated the closed gates of the National Park. It was like the surprise birthday party you never wanted! Yay! Isn't that just awesome? 

After realizing no one was there, my dad turned the car around and we stayed the night at Okaukuejo. The next day was filled with driving- again!

 Above: the entrance to Okaukuejo Lodge. Below: the look out tower built by invading Germans during the war.

 Above: one of the many jackals that snuck in to steal food from campers. Below: a great view of the camp from atop the lookout tower.

 

 

Meet Dosquie

On New Year's Eve, my brother adopted a dog. Her name is Dosquie (pronounced Dawskey) and she's two years old. The poor thing got sterilized the morning before we drove back home, and slept most of the way. At first, we all thought that her calm temperament in our house was from the meds, but it turns out we got lucky! Dosquie enjoys curling up on the bed with Jason, is great with walking on a leash and we've already taught her to sit!! Now all I need to do is teach her to cook and clean...