march2005
March 2005
Windhoek, 21 March 2005
Dear Friends!
By now the annual Christmas letter has become an Easter letter. We're still resisting and fighting the speed with which our live seems to run - where are the brakes?
In January 2004 we spent a long weekend in Cape Town to attend the wedding of Greg Frank, a friend from Varsity days - the photo to the right was taken in Constantia. The boys were looked after by Hellies and Christine (Birgit's brother). We realised again why people speak of the "fairest Cape" - it is such a beautiful place! And the Jewish wedding was a beautiful and memorable experience too.
As we said, we have a beautiful garden, and a wonderful swimming pool, that often is used by the kids of our friends (the friends of our kids).
When Mutti goes shopping Tabitha must pack the following: her little handbag, her play money, her telephone (a small old calculator), her keys, her necklace, and her little skew sunglasses. Only then can we depart.
As much as she is a girl, she can also keep up with the boys. She enjoys playing with Duplos, cars and shovels, also outside in the sand and with water.
Tabitha and the boys continue to enjoy our dog, Kiani. She is a sensitive, loving animal, that always tries to please us.
Our two laying hens are tame, and Tabitha is always helpful to bring them back into their pen when they have escaped into the garden.
We could carry on in this way, like most parents could. The last one: "Mutti, if you wash your eyes a lot, you will also get such beautiful eyes as I have."
Tabitha (2½ years) is a real girl - a mixture of many things: salty and sweet is sometimes not far removed. She is lively, almost daring, on the other hand petite, loving, and easily offended. Sometimes unforgiving, sometimes moody. She eats like a little bird.
She was out of diapers quite early - a bonus for us!
She enjoys talking, putting on dresses, playing with her dolls and washes her hands a few times a day - exhaustively.
Otherwise he is Andriko's shadow and tries to copy him in everything. We wanted Danilo to start to learn English this year and therefore he also attends the Montessori Kindergarten with Andriko.
Danilo is still in the age group where we can giggle (or at least grin) about some of the things he says:
The other day he greeted Vati (Hellmut) after lunch - on the way to work: "Make it nice and comfortable!"
Mutti sighs "what should we have for lunch?" Danilo: "peppermints!"
Danilo: “Mutti, you know, Jesus has told me into my life [my heart] that I must always be lovely [loving] to Andriko."
Mutti asks: "What did you have to do so that Jesus could come and live in your heart?" Danilo: "A hole!"
Danilo had swallowed a little piece of glass (about a year ago) and explains to Andriko why he has to eat some dry bread: "... so that my tummy won't be scratched and so that Jesus won't be scratched." Mutti: "Why do you say that?" "Yes, because he lives in my heart!"
“Mutti, I have no bad dreams, because I pray to God and he doesn't give me any."
The latest news is that our Mitsubishi Pajero has arrived 2 days ago - exactly 5 months after we had ordered it. Since the Kombi was getting quite old, and since we preferred a vehicle with ABS and airbags, we looked around for a while and eventually decided to import this vehicle directly from Japan. Unfortunately our government decided to ban the import of vehicles older than 5 years - 3 weeks after we had paid for the car, which is 8 years old! It arrived in Durban on 11 December. The ban only came into effect on 1 January. In theory this would have been enough time to get the paperwork done and transport the vehicle to Windhoek, but it was not to be. By mid-January the paperwork was ready, but then - suddenly - the border was closed again. It took another 2 months before permission was granted that all vehicles that had been paid for before the announcement could enter the country. What a test of our patience! I guess there are not many vehicles that have been prayed for so much... Why from Japan? I'm glad you asked: second hand vehicles are so expensive here that I could now sell it for double the price.
Our three kids are fine and healthy, full of energy and the joy of life. Mutti (Birgit) often is quite exhausted at the end of a day and just doesn't have the strength to - at last (while the kids are sleeping) - do all the things that had to wait during the day.
Andriko (6 2/3 years) is our active one: He loves to play outside - preferably in a way that consumes a lot of energy. He digs holes (1m+) and ditches, hammers, saws, climbs on top of everything, and – wherever he is heading (outside or inside) he is always running.
Although we have quite a largish garden here in town, he dreams of far more space and more freedom. Yes, a farm sounds like it - there he could also get away with a lot of the mischief that Mutti's eagle eyes spot and stop ever so often...
Andriko's energy was a reason to acquire a trampoline and the swimming pool. Last year he enjoyed "Voltegieren" (gym- & balance exercises on horseback) and this year spends an hour twice a week with a Ukrainian trainer doing pretty heavy gymnastics, trampoline and tumbling.
Andriko earns his own money by milling the wheat that we use for our bread with a hand mill. This taught him a bit about the value of money, e.g. a toy that he'd like to buy costs 10 containers of flour. What, so much money? so much work?
He often tests the borders and the limits that we impose and sometimes struggles to submit and to obey. Since we stay in town, we try to teach our kids the proper way to handle animals. But our rabbits dug so many tunnels and were breeding so fast that we had to give them away again.
We decided that Andriko should only go to school next year, i.e. aged 7½. We realised pretty soon that an extra year would benefit him. We hope that he will mature emotionally and that he won't battle in school next year. This year he attends an English Montessori Kindergarten not far from our house.
Danilo (4 3/4 years old) is a more quiet child, at least compared to Andriko. He has no difficulties falling asleep. We are amazed at his fine motor skills, his ability to draw and colour in, and how well and with what perseverance he builds puzzles. Danilo is patient and loving and is more inclined to play with his little sister.
The Tipi (left) was built by Großvati (Birgit's Dad) on the farm for his grand- children - what a joy!
Birgit holding the camera
During 2004 we again presented a number of excellent courses at our house. First was “Marriage on the Rock”, a wonderful marriage course that meant a lot to us and our group. Pastor Jimmy Evans, who first experienced how not to lead a marriage, teaches marriage skills on 10 video sessions - in a rather humorous way. And then there's some homework every week - that's the challenging bit! You can order the course at www.marriagetoday.org .
Next was “Growing Kids God’s Way” - the fourth time for us. (www.gfi.org) The group was somehow more like-minded, although we had the greatest cultural differences: Jez & Helen from the UK, Francis & Lucia from Kenia, George & Olinda (he's from the Caprivi, she from Zimbabwe), Archie & Romé (originally from Rehoboth) and us. In a way we just clicked very well.
At the moment we are running the Small Group Bible Study of Crown Financial Ministries (www.crown.org), where we learn about the biblical way of handling your personal finances, but it actually almost becomes a discipleship school. We hear about faithfulness, self-discipline, honesty, leadership and contentment in addition to the expected issues like financial planning (short term and long term), becoming debt free, seeking counsel, giving, work, saving, investing, etc.
Recently we realised that the shares we had bought in Capricorn Investment Holdings Ltd (CIH), the holding company of Bank Windhoek, are now worth more than the sum total of our debts. With gratefulness we thus regard our house and cars as being paid off, and would like to remain debt free in future. This was a goal that we had been aiming for for a long time, and it was only possible to reach it by God's grace and with the assistance of our parents (on both sides). We know we are blessed!
After qualifying as a Chartered Secretary in 2003, I (Hellmut) was requested in January 2004 to take over the post of Company Secretary of the Bank, or rather the Group. Now I work for Bank Windhoek's holding company (CIH) which, a.o. has interests in various insurance companies (Welwitschia, Santam, Sanlam), property (Oryx) and now is busy starting a bank in Botswana. My job is called "Group Company Secretary and Financial Advisor". The second half refers to the group accounting responsibilities - my assistant and I regularly prepare consolidated financial statements, and also manage the Employee Share Schemes. I must say that I enjoy my new post a lot more than the previous one, but Birgit will have me add that I don't work any less, and that the pressure hasn't changed.
In October I was in Johannesburg, to research the Financial Sector Charter. My boss happens to be the current chairman of the Namibian Bankers' Association and has asked me to start drafting a Namibian Banking Charter. This is about BEE (black economic empowerment) and also entails contact with the Bank of Namibia and other Government officials, as well as industry-wide consultation.
From Jo'burg I hopped over to Botswana, to meet our colleagues and auditors there. Strangely, there is no direct flight between Windhoek and Gaborone. After 2 hours in Botswana I flew back to JHB. The next morning I was in Cape Town, to be trained as a Crown leader. Besides this I didn't have to travel for work.
We continue to be very happy in our church (His People). The international movement is now called Every Nation Christian Churches, indicating the evangelistic emphasis of the churches. Home cells are in the process of being restructured - we want to focus more on discipleship. Obviously you could always find something to moan about, but overall we are very grateful and content with our spiritual family. By now I (Hellmut) have even tried my hand at children's church. For Birgit this is not such a challenge, except having to speak English, which is her third language.
Today, 21 March 2005, we celebrate 15 years of Namibia's independence. We can watch the festivities at the Independence stadium from our living room. Various Heads of State have come to inaugurate our new President Pohamba. Although his nomination and also the elections in November weren't entirely democratic, we remain optimistic that we may continue to enjoy life in this beautiful land. We trust that we will not experience a disaster like Zimbabwe.
Every now and again we are disappointed by the general incompetence and lack of integrity in many state-owned companies and Government departments. It is surprising that, despite this, most things seem to be running reasonably well.
Well, except for the government's debt burden, which has now risen past the annual state income. But we will continue to build the presidential palace, which apparently has swallowed over N$500 million by now...
It is also surprising how much money there is in Namibia. The strong Rand, however, has left its mark: some fishing companies have closed down, tourism, the mines, and meat exports all have suffered somewhat. On the other hand, for over a year now the interest rates have been on such low levels as were unseen for decades. Many people use these circumstances to take on horrific amounts of debt. At the Bank we have started worrying what will happen when interest rates will rise again - which is likely to happen at some time when one looks at the oil price and the steep credit growth.
Our families, Ludwiger and Basson are fine. Hellmut's parents in Walvis Bay still have the veterinary practice, but are also active in tourism. Heiko and Ursula will celebrate their 12th wedding anniversary on 17 April - we will look after Roman (8) and Diane (5) for a day. Reinhard is still in New York, and slowly the Rooibos tea business is taking off.
Birgit's parents as well as Eckart and Sigrid farm near Tsumeb. Tina (9) and Rudi (7) go to school, Lisa (5) and Heimo (3) enjoy their Kindergarten. At one stage Eckart (Elandshoek) only had a third of his normal rainfall and had to sell some of his cattle. Now it looks like he will get the rest through the winter. The parents on Varianto had major water problems: the pump fell into the 300m borehole and could not be retrieved. Farming really is not for the faint-hearted!
Helmut (we call him Hellies) and Christine also live here in Windhoek. Christine assists once or twice a week at Beautiful Gate in Katutura. This is a pre-school ministry of Youth with a Mission, working with AIDS-orphans. Then she also works once a week at a German Kindergarten. They often have guests, so even when Hellies is not on duty at the Hospital (he's a doctor) they're quite busy.
In May 2004 we had our first Basson family gathering in Etosha. This time Christine's parents and 3 of her siblings joined us. This year we want to meet at the Waterberg. Our kids get on exceptionally well with the “Bassonetjies”.
In December we enjoyed our first holiday alone as a family: for 2 weeks we rented the house of friends (Moroff) in Henties Bay and enjoyed a fabulous time.
Right, by now another few weeks have passed, and this letter has still not gone off.
We wish you a most blessed 2005.
Hellmut, Birgit, Andriko, Danilo & Tabitha Sand, water and mud - don't all kids love it?!
PS: We look forward to hearing from you! Mail us at hellmut@ludwiger.com