Adventures as an LGBT Traveller...

I am lucky to live in a progressive western country where my sexuality doesn’t come into play in daily life.  Beyond the usual, “should I come out to this person I’m meeting or just stay gender neutral when talking about my family,” thoughts I don’t have to worry about my life or reputation because I am gay.

However, I’ve been living in Windhoek, Namibia since January of this year.  While homosexuality is not illegal in this country, there is an old law from 1927 (written by the then-South West Africa colonial government) outlawing sodomy.  Interestingly, the Namibian Constitution enshrines the right to privacy for all Namibians.  That said, prosecution under the anti-sodomy law is hard to enforce.

There is a marked dichotomy in societal views of homosexuality here.  The young tend to think that there are more pressing problems to address.  If a couple loves each other, who cans top them?  Expectedly, the “old guard” has other views.  Many claim that Namibian culture is deeply religious and conservative.  While they are predominantly Lutheran, the cities do have a definite cosmopolitan vibe: read liberal.

It has been an interesting and exciting time here in Windhoek and Namibia.  This is the first time I have lived, or traveled for that matter, to a country as a completely out, gay, married man.  While I find myself using the non-gender specific term partner, I don’t hide.  Yet, I also don’t announce it.  I was privileged to be introduced into the small LGBT community here in Namibia.  They report a legally frustrating life, yet they say they do not honestly feel persecuted or in danger.

This past week, headlines were rife with the first gay “marriage” ever performed in Namibia.  It was a star studded event at a nice hotel in the heart of the capital.  All newspapers, TV stations and other members of the media attended.  The headlines below provided for some interesting conversations at my book club last Thursday.

http://www.confidente.com.na/2013/04/18/namibia-marks-first-gay-marriage/

http://www.namibian.com.na/news/full-story/archive/2013/april/article/everyday-is-a-honeymoon-for-mr-gay-namibia-and-his-life-partner/

This couple got married in South Africa, where same-sex couples can legally get married.  They have planned to have commitment ceremonies in both of there home countries (Namibia and Botswana) so technically, no laws will be broken.  The students at my book club said “Namibia wants to move further into the 21st Century and this is a way to do it.”

What a fine statement full of such hope.  I’ve pledged to myself that I will take Harvey Milk’s words to heart.  “Everybody knows one.”  So while my sexuality is my business, I feel bound to show people that I am no different from them.  I just happen to be going to pick my husband up from the airport after I post this blog.  :)

"The Struggle"

When Occupy Wall Street was happening, I was definitely caught up in the romantic notion of people's power.  I went down to Zucotti Park with the best of them to see for myself and I even sent pizzas to the park through the internet.  (I actually thought that was a pretty neat way to support the cause.  The pizza shop around the corner did it and would donate a pie for each one bought, if I remember correctly.)

I was getting swept up in the whole idea of it, but tried to remain questioning and critical of ideas brought up.  When I went there, we walked through the park, and I slowly realized that I was not stepping over empty sleeping bags.  There were people sleeping in them.  This was around noon.  One guy poked his head out of his sleeping bag, lit a joint, looked at me and said, "Man, can you give me a job?"  Instantly, the bubble was burst and I hurried out of the park.

Namibia is experiencing its own little Occupy Wall Street right now, except the people are occupying a seemingly empty field in front of the ruling party's headquarters in Windhoek.  The ruling party is located in the former Black Township on the outskirts of town and they are proving to be very interesting in their handlings of this 'occupation.'  Here is an article from the government newspaper.

'Struggle Kids' Saga Continues

These struggle kids were all born to parents outside of Namibia - mainly in the refugee camps of Angola - who fought in the liberation struggle.  They have come from all over Namibia, mostly walking, to hold the government to task on their promises.  Now, they have addressed the ruling party with their grievances, but they say they are a political party and not the government.  Rightly so, if you ask me.  The government has addressed the struggle kids and says that they should go home and put their energies to better use in their home communities - my  thoughts exactly.

Have a read of the article and let me know what you think.


More soon

Chega! Now is the time

Now is the time to show the world that America backs up her talk with action.  It has always been very interesting to me as someone who has worked abroad as much as I have to talk about rights comparisons.  I've heard too much, "Well in America, if you are this they don't treat you like scheiße."  True, sometimes they don't.  But, also sometimes they do.

With the legal stance of some aspects of my future up for discussion in the legal corridors of Washington, D.C. I got to thinking about some things today.

1. I am grateful for the sea of red when I pull up my Facebook account.  This may seem trite or unimportant to some of you reading, but it's the little actions that create change.  According to many polls, a majority of America supports extending marriage equality to the LGBT community.  With all these little actions, we are so close to a tipping point, it is SUPER frustrating to have to wait until June.

2.  It is the weirdest feeling to have the validity of my love deliberated in courtroom by 20 some odd people I don't know and don't know me.  To have to sit here MILES away, 'powerless' and praying for a good outcome ramps me up to no end.  Who are they to judge?

3. Namibia is an interesting case when it comes to LGBT rights.  Officially, sodomy is illegal.  Lesbians are okay and generally there are no laws on the books about them.  Technically, homosexuality is not illegal.  They can't arrest you for being homosexual here, the can get you for sodomy though.  However, the legacy of Apartheid has caused Namibia to ensure an ironclad right to privacy is enshrined in its constitution.  So... the question is....  :)    LGBT individuals exist here, they are generally left alone and even blackmail is unheard of when it comes to homosexuality.  Yet many LGBT Namibians I have met do ask me what it's like in America.   I have to admit, I'm a New Englander through and through.  The furthest I've lived outside of NE is Pittsburgh, PA.  So I can't talk about Mississippi.  Yet after the story about the first LGBT candidate's killing, I would say Namibia is doing better than parts of my own home country.

4. We need to clean up our house at home before we can go out to other countries and tell them 'like it is.'  I'm not advocating for a complete halt on working on LGBT rights abroad, or a halt at all.  I'm saying, let's ride the wave of public opinion back home and turn this country around!


I remember I came out on this blog.  As I said then and will say now, nothing has changed with me.    When I was in the process of coming out, I thought everything.  I thought it was a phase, I thought it was not normal.  But then something just clicked and I realized it is normal, it's not a phase and I'm happy.  I hope nothing less than society and anybody who reads this who isn't pro-equality will see the day when it just clicks....

And so it begins...

Malaria Dreams can be good and can be bad.  Mine have tended to be funny.  I'm grateful for that aspect because I've heard of some that are positively terrifying, mine not so much.  They always tend to involve different people in my life in rather strange ways.  I have the following book at home in Vermont and will be reading it AS SOON as I get home.  I'm curious what made this book so good - or so I've heard.

They've started.

My sleep schedule requires me to wake up at 5:30.  I know you can laugh all you want, but for the past year plus, I haven't been awake before 7 unless I was going somewhere and if I did, I would usually be back to sleep within the hour.  :)  Last night was weird.  I couldn't fall asleep right away because the altitude difference (300 feet to over 5,000 feet) has made the jet lag last longer than I'm used to.  That and my absolute willingness to read and or watch EVERYTHING might lead to some craziness.  Case in point tonight is a movie that, well, I wouldn't watch in America.  I doubt I would watch it here if I were living with someone.

So, I finally got to sleep around 11:30 and got a good nights sleep until about 4:30.  I had to get up because the alarm went off, but I was able to go back to sleep.  That's where the dream began.  Malaria dreams (I'm not even taking the medicine yet, Windhoek is Malaria free) for me tend to be in HD and this one was.  The entire SIT Admissions team had started up a little tuck shop/bodega here in Klein Windhoek.  They had to run the entire shop but for some reason, even though Namibia is an English speaking country, English wasn't useful in the dream.  I was speaking Afrikaans and helping them run the shop.  The thing that makes this dream a Malaria Dream for me, is that the colors of the Namibian currency in the till was in TECHNICOLOR.  Also, I woke up before the dream could be resolved.

If dreams are starting and I don't have to take the medication until I head up north, what's it going to be like there?

More soon.

Last Days in America....

I haven't written a post like this in awhile.  But tonight is my last day in Vermont before I head to the airport (JFK) to fly to Namibia.

This is the flag of the country which has been independent since 1990.  I'm very excited because independence day is March 21st (1990) and I will be there for the 23rd anniversary of independence.  I know this is a fanciful comparison, but I wonder what America was like in 1799 - 23 years after our independence from Britain.


I know the answer to part of this question.  I'm also not trying to compare Namibia to America or vice versa.  I'm just trying to process that I WILL BE GOING BACK TO AFRICA after an absence of 4 years.  It's going to be a different experience because I'll be living in the "best" neighborhood of Windhoek.  For those of you that may know Windhoek, I'll be staying in provided housing in the Klein Windhoek or Ludwigsdorf section of the city - depending on who you talk too.  I've also heard, that Klein Windhoek is the original settlement, i.e. the entire eastern section of the modern city and then Ludwigsdorf is the actual neighborhood.  Ahhhh Africa!  I'll let you know when I get there.


Some things I'm looking forward to the most about Africa:

-Heat , especially last night after sliding back down to the railroad parking lot by the river.  Man it was cold and slipper.
-Color
-Spicy smells
-Smell after it rains It'll be the dry season. :(
-Cheap, fresh food
-Music
and lastly, MOST important

GETTING ADAM CHRISTOPHE TO AFRICA!!!!!

My next post will be coming from Windhoek.  I love the fact that I am going from weather that's in the 30's Fahrenheit to 30's Celsius.

More soon.

Back From The Dead

I'm 30, it's 2013 and I'm in my 2nd year of a Master's Program at SIT Graduate Institute.

Every aspect of that sentence has made me realize how quickly time has gone by.  Many times, when I am talking about Peace Corps, I'll say,  "Oh yes, I just got back...." four years ago.  I realized quickly, I had to rectify that.  Four years away from Africa is just too much time for me. 

Since I have been back, there has been alot going on, but I'm not going to bore you with that.  I'll just start in 2012.  I've been working with the marketing department at my school as an intern for the past 6 months.  The title of my job has been SOCIAL MEDIA COORDINATOR and I've learned alot.  Most of my day is spent monitoring social media feeds and what not online.  It's proven fun and difficult.  Fun because I am learning new things and meeting many people online.  The difficult part is that I am online all day, so when I get home I don't want to be connected and don't do school work.  Thankfully that has changed.

December and the month of January up until yesterday were rough times here.  Long story short, my body realized I am going back to Africa so the thyroid and some skin on my back decided to act up.  I guess it is my way of saying that I can't do anything lightly and really had to ramp up the stress level before I left.  So, with a benign thyroid goiter and a scar from a remove melanoma on my back, I'm leaving for Windhoek, Namibia on January 31st.

I'll be living in Windhoek for 10 weeks and hopefully be getting back to Mozambique before I leave to come back to America.  I've decided to start up this blog again because I'm going back to Africa.  Also, my brother Noel is currently working in Barbuda down in the Caribbean.  So please follow him at www.noelhefele.com/blog as well.

Ate breve,

Ian

#1

Hallo van Suid Afrika

Sorry I've been missing in action but it's been an action filled 48 hours. The trip to South Africa was pretty uneventful. I just struggled to stay awake because I didn't want to miss any of the last 120 kilometers left in Mozambique. Got to the border and the sun was beating down. Of course the line was huge at the border. I felt like a refugee, but the funny thing was as I got closer to the building (deciding the future of my life) a guy took me by the arm and brought me to the front of the line. I thought maybe he "recognized" me from my Brazilian Soap Opera days, but he just wanted a fanta. He cut about 30 minutes off of my wait time, so I gave him 30 mets for his troubles. Yes, I guess I did bribe a border guard, but does it count as a bribe when he's just offering me some services! Naturally, my cell phone stopped working as I got over the border. This is such a ghetto fabulous cell phone that I'm surprised it lasted this long but thankfully I was able to bribe the other volunteer I was traveling with with dinner and some beers and now I have his cell phone. Like it would have worked in the States anyway. :) Oh PC, what you have taught me!

Got to Jozi and got scared, but during the day in a car, it doesn't look that scary. It kind of looks like a Framingham MA stuck in the 1980's. Had a couple hours before I left to the airport to pick up Jess. Andrew (the other PCV) and I went to the closest restaurant (We are in Joburg after all!!) which turned out to be a Portuguese Restaurant with Mozambican staff. The food was cheaper here than in Moz. GO FIGURE! Then off to the airport to pick up Jess who true to form showed up an hour late. I felt bad because the driver had to wait for me. But when he came to pick us up after Jess finally cleared customs, he had his pita in the car. (mistress) Epa Afrika! We got home at midnight and promptly fell asleep, thank GOD! Jess didn't sleep very well on the plane so was tired.

Day #2 started with us hitting the ground running. Jozi is the biggest city in Southern Africa and chocka history from all over the sub-continent. Me being the history nerd, I had to take advantage of where I was. We started this tour with a guy Moses and his ADORABLE son Siyande. We spent the next 12 hours with him but went to SOWETO, and the Apartheid museums. It was a little awkward for me in Soweto because it looks like how I lived in Moz, but since Jess can't get to Moz with me on this trip, I figured why the hell not. The Apartheid museum is what got me. I started crying. When you buy a ticket, you are issued with your racial classification on the ticket. I joked with Jess that she was most definitely going to get "blankie" and I would get "nie-blankie." White and non-white. Well, I was right and I just couldn't stop laughing! Even though we are siblings and obviously both white, Apartheid thought otherwise. Just got me thinking how stupid racism and that whole system was/is. Jess and I also started realizing that it still exists in America, we just never had some term to call it by name. You don't identify something, then it doesn't exist now, does it?

Later last night, we went to a Johnny Clegg concert. WOW! This man is amazing. I want all of you to investigate him and see how wonderful the music of this continent is. We were five rows back (almost in spitting distance) for R205. So cheap. The dancing was beautiful, the voices were amazing and one of the back up singers had one of the biggest bundas/bums I've ever seen in my life and man could she shake it! I'm still on a high from the sheer joy of life that I experienced last night. There were some afrikaaners in the crowd who were the first one's up dancing and seeing that even further concretes my belief that all this fighting, fear and hatred is completely pointless cause in the end, we all want to have a good time, love and be loved. I challenge someone to prove me wrong. :)

Today was a day of rest. Slept in til 9 AM! Had some leisurely breakfast and tea then went on a 12 k walk through the city. To the mall and back so we could get some beer so don't get too hasty about thinking that I've become some sort of health nut! Listening to the CD I bought last night of the concert, we caught up on the past year. Suprises on both sides, but what's life without a little bit of surprise right... one word, boring! We came back, cooked some dinner, played some pigs (thank you Pamela Shelly and Anne Blumenauer) and are now getting ready to go to bed because we are catching the bus to Namibia tomorrow.

So, we'll be back in South Africa on the 25th so for any christmas calls, you can reach us at +27 760 666 034. I'll update what our Namibian number is.

Tchau for now

Ian and Jess