The Background

The place
Mbukushu is a tribal region of North Eastern Namibia that lies between the Angolan and Botswana.  The area falls within the Kalahari bushveld region of Southern Africa and is bordered on the north and east by the beautiful Kavango River. The majority of the people live along the river that is traversed by a tar road, a serviced by a good gravel road, electricity and most recently mobile (cell) phone coverage. In the south of the region the population is much more sparse and access to these areas is by deep sand paths and bush roads.

 The beautiful Kavango River

The climate is generally hot with average summer temperature variations of 25 to 38 degC, peaking to 42 degC. Winter variations are 10 to 25 degC, with occasional minimum of 0 degC. The warm months are September to April and the rains fall between November and April. The average annual rainfall is 550 mm.

 The people
About 30,000 Hambukushu people live in Mbukushu, with about as many again living in surrounding countries of Botswana, Angola and Zambia. The Hambukushu speak a dialect of the main Kavango language called Thimbukushu.
A Hambukushu lady preparing an evening meal
From a ministry perspective it is essential to minister in the local language although English can be used to communicate with young people who have passed through high school in the last 10-15 years.

A school class room in the bush
Mbukushu is one of 4 tribal areas within the Kavango region that lies on the northern eastern border of Namibia with Angola. The language is one of the 9 official languages of Namibia.

The people are generally very poor and unskilled. They exist on subsistence farming, a few keep cattle and goats. There are very few employment opportunities in the region. The biggest employer is the government. The major places of employment are schools, a government commercial farm, a few local government ministries including a rural hospital and a few commercial businesses which include some tourist lodges and camping facilities.
Ploughing in preparation for planting mahango
The area has a high incidence of malaria and the disease kills many local people every year.  HIV/Aid's is also very serious with estimates of the local level of infection at 30%.

Andara Hospital near Mukwe