newsletter-nov16-aug17

Melanie has also passed her driver’s licence test and we helped her buy a second-hand VW Beetle, so she is quite independent. She will turn 28 later this year.

In May 2015 we spent 10 days on Mauritius. Hellmut and the kids enjoyed it thoroughly: the lovely food, all the water sport activities, playing volleyball, etc. One of the highlights was swimming with dolphins in the ocean. Although it was supposed to be winter in May, it was as hot as our summer, and the temperature with the high humidity was barely bearable for Birgit. She spent much time reading and sleeping in the air-conditioned hotel room.

In December 2015/ January 2016 we visited our friends, the Eggimann family in Switzerland. We spent Christmas with them and they spoiled us rotten. Then we went skiing together. Hellmut and the boys had spent a few days at a skiing school in Johannesburg before we left for Switzerland. It had not snowed enough yet, so the slopes had to be sprayed with artificial snow. Birgit didn’t want to risk breaking a bone

(or more) and decided to rather go walking. Tabitha made good progress on the first day, but decided that that was enough. Hellmut unfortunately injured his knee at the end of the first day, which he had spent on the learner’s slope, which was partially iced up, making it a lot more difficult. That was the end of his skiing holiday. Andriko and Danilo took to skiing like a fish to water. Their inline hockey experience obviously helped as well. They had a lot of fun.

Danilo has turned 17 in July and now has a learner driver’s licence. He has a lot of good friends. School is good, because 1) that is where he sees friends and 2) he is academically strong. He is quite ambitious and works himself into the top ten. He has made up his mind to study medicine after school. For quite a while now he is always interested in how the body works and how different diseases would be treated.

In June 2015 Hellmut and Danilo flew to Los Angeles: Danilo played with the Namib Sidewinders, an initiative from Swakopmund that has participated in the North American Rollerhockey Championships (NARCh) a few times. For both of them it was the first time in the USA, an unforgettable experience.

In 2016 Danilo’s dream came true: he was accepted into the Namibian national junior men’s team (under 19) and played in June at the world championship in Italy. In 2017 he made the team again. They will leave for the world championship in Nanjing, China, next week. They are really well prepared, having spent many weekends practicing together.

Unfortunately both Danilo and Tabitha have stopped taking piano lessons. Who knows, maybe they’ll start again at a later stage. As parents we felt that forcing them to continue would not achieve the purpose in this case.

Tabitha will turn 15 in September. She is most happy on horseback. She had to stop ballet, unfortunately, due to her double-jointedness, that caused problems and pain when she danced.

2015 was a year of a number of losses for Tabitha. Her beloved teacher, Melanie Campbell, stopped teaching in April. That was a painful loss for the kids, parents and colleagues.

Tabitha could not continue riding her mare Shira: when she came back from nursing her foal she was in such a poor condition that Tabitha couldn’t ride her.

And then she had to give up her dream to dance ballet on points one day.

We prayed almost each evening that God would let us find the right horse for Tabitha and that when she transferred from primary school (All Nations) to high school (Windhoek Gymnasium) that God would grant her a good friend.

She completed primary school in 2015 as head girl, and God was so faithful: on the first day at Windhoek Gymnasium a friendly girl approached her: “Hi, my name is Ami (Annemarie). Don’t you want to come and join us? You look a bit lost.” Tabitha gladly accepted the invitation. “Us” was Ami’s identical twin sister, Nadine. Not one, but two of the kind. A double blessing. Ami & Nadine are part of a lovely Christian family.

That was not all. We found a wonderful, beautiful horse, called “Spirit of Change” that we could buy. Spirit is 11 years old, a gelding from a warmblood

stud close to Windhoek. Spirit’s strengths are his faithfulness and consistency. Tabitha took part in her first show jumping and dressage tournament in November 2015 and they continue to do so. They are a beautiful team. Tabitha said (a while ago): “Mutti, I think Spirit knows more about me than you do!” And recently: “Mutti, I must confess, I am addicted and obsessed. Addicted to Spirit and obsessed with him.”

Hellmut served a total of six years as elected trustee on the board of Finkenstein Estate. Before the AGM in November he indicated that he would not be available for another term of 3 years. The last year was quite strenuous, and he felt that he had more than done his bit, now it is somebody else’s turn.

At work there were always interesting challenges, and with 3 kids in high school, we didn’t really have much rest.

Hellmut’s employer, Bank Windhoek Holdings changed its name to Capricorn Group and acquired a bank in Botswana and one in Zambia.

While Birgit is at home, she stays fully occupied – we always thought having small kids is a full-time job. Now we know that teenagers keep you even busier. How do parents cope where both are working outside the home?

In the light of her reduced capacity following her burnout in 2010, the daily grind remains a challenge for Birgit. She quickly hits her limit and is constantly tired, although she goes to bed between 8 and 9. She has had to learn to say “no” in the last years. The recovery road from a burnout is a lonely one, people simply don’t understand. This is in addition to other health challenges – Birgit often experiences pain. And yet we are grateful that we are really blessed and highly favoured. Birgit also has a horse, Nyoka, which she tries to ride and groom once a week. The contact to Nyoka (and animals in general) is a tonic for her.

On Finkenstein Estate Birgit got engaged in a few projects, the biggest one was laying out a nature trail and adding numerous interesting and inspiring writings on slasto. This includes tracks of the common animals in the area, identifying trees and adding a few inspirational quotes. Unfortunately the sun, wind and rain have faded the writings. We don’t know how to make them last.

Birgit contributed substantially to the renovation and decoration of the Finkenstein office. Such projects take hours and hours. She often thinks about how one could optimise and aesthetically improve our surroundings. It was also her idea to lay out a communal lawn for sport, adding a jungle gym, picnic spot and a volleyball field. The estate’s logo, picturing a bird (finch) on a rock (stone) was her idea, that an expert then digitalised. We arranged the printing of stickers / licence disc holders with the logo. We really enjoy living on Finkenstein Estate: “A caring community enjoying quality of life in a tranquil nature estate.”

In December we spent a few weeks in Swakopmund, like Namibians love to. You flee from the hot weather up country. In 2015 we bought a holiday home in Swakopmund, which was then renovated and really served its purpose well in the holidays. We also spent some time there in the May 2016 holidays, before visiting the Kalahari with 2 nights at Torgos Lodge, close to the border – beautiful family memories.

We are really grateful for the rain that fell over the 2016/17 rainy season. The drought before that was quite severe. A lot of cattle, sheep, goats and game died for lack of grass to eat. We all had to save water drastically, using only a limited volume per month. Now there is great relief.

With loving regards and blessings for each of you,

Hellmut & Birgit with Andriko, Danilo, Tabitha and Melanie.

PS: Helmut and Christine’s fifth son, Jeremie, arrived on 19.9.2016. He came 3 weeks early and is a healthy little boy.