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Blackpool mum's life in tribal Africa
A month living with one of Africa's most remote tribes in the harsh but beautiful landscape of rural Namibia led single mum Yvonne Power on an amazing journey of self-discovery.
Yvonne, 37, spent four weeks with the semi-nomadic Himba tribe for an insightful BBC2 documentary, Tribal Wives, which is aired tomorrow.
She was one of six women, chosen from thousands, to take up the challenge of experiencing a month living with a tribe in a
difficult-to-reach part of the globe.
And in experiencing their way of life, Yvonne found the inner peace that had eluded her for so long.
Yvonne, who had only ever been on holiday four times in her life, saw a TV appeal for applicants in the British Medical Journal. "It asked if you could live in a remote part of the world for one month for BBC2 and I thought: That's just what I need," said Yvonne.
"I had taken on a lot of responsibility for a long time," said Yvonne, who was brought up in southern Ireland and had no choice but to marry when she fell pregnant at 16.
Her marriage ended six years and another child later.
"I remember waking one morning in my early 20s feeling that I was suffocating. So I left Ireland and took the kids to the north west of England to start a new life. I had gained some qualifications and saw England as a place where I would have the opportunity to work my way up and provide a good life for my children," she said
Her courage and determination paid off. From starting out as a care assistant she has progressed to territory business manager for a pharmaceutical company and has a lovely home in Blackpool, where she lives with her children Sylvia, 20, Eoin, 19, and Jennifer, eight.
There has been more heartbreak along the way. Her second marriage, which produced her lovely daughter Jennifer, failed.
With so much personal baggage, Yvonne seized the chance to try the contrasting lifestyle of another world.
"I knew I was going to Namibia because I had to get a visa, but beyond that, I had no idea what awaited me."
After landing in the capital she and the film crew, plus support team, were driven over unforgiving terrain into the desert and a four-hut strong Himba community. Over the four weeks, she lived with each family getting an insight into the way family and community life is structured and witnessed the clearly defined role of women in a tribe where polygamy is the norm.
Yvonne's arrival was greeted by semi-naked women performing a welcome dance.
She said: "I was completely taken aback, particularly when they daubed me with paint and asked me to join in. I thought it would offend them if I didn't . But I drew the line at taking my top off."
As a guest of the Himba she was treated like one of the children, sharing their sleeping quarters.
"They couldn't understand that I was a single woman and that was their way of dealing with it," said Yvonne. With a camp bed to sleep on Yvonne found herself sharing her bed with some of the children who would normally bed down on animal skins on the floor.
Her days settled in to a simple life, cultivating millet – a diet staple – tending the goats and cows, gathering firewood and weaving.
Unable to speak the language, she got by mostly using simple signs and facial expressions. "I did have an interpreter some of the time but they say 90 per cent of communication is non-verbal anyway."
The Himba women were fascinated by their guest. "They wanted to know about our way of life and about childbirth here. They are not allowed to cry out when they give birth because it is seen as weakness."
Yvonne makes no apologies for breaking down in tears when a 13-year-old Himba girl, faced with an arranged marriage, kept running away but returned to face the inevitable.
The painful parallels with her own life stirred up emotions of fear and grief. "I felt for her on her wedding night. The next day when I saw her, her whole appearance had changed. You could tell by her face that there was a sadness."
Yvonne also watched an exorcism, when a healer spent three days and nights, with only a little sleep, driving out the spirits that had invaded a young woman. "He sounded like a really bad Talking Heads tribute band," said Yvonne.
Yvonne was touched by the kindness shown towards her and now worries that their poor quality and sporadic water supply will last out.
It was not until she returned home that Yvonne realised the impact of the Himba on her life.
"I found myself there. Before I went I didn't like who I was, I had load of issues, little self confidence, and felt fragmented and fractured. My head was telling me that I was doing well but my heart was broken."
"I now have an enlightenment and an inner serenity."
She was never afraid of exposing herself to the hardships of an African tribal existence. "After leaving Ireland and bringing my children here on my own, it was a walk in the park." she said.
Yvonne has no regrets about anything in her life. "You should never regret stuff you have done, only those things you have not yet done.
"I have been through adversity in my life, but I have always done my best to be the best and that is the best that I could do."
factfile
Tribal Wives is on BBC2 tomorrow, 9pm
The Himba are semi-nomadic pastoralists who live in Kaokoland, which is in the north west of Namibia.
The Himba live by herding sheep, goats and some cattle and they move location several times a year to graze their livestock.
Their houses are just simple cone-shaped structures made with saplings covered in mud and dung.
The Himba maintain their traditional beliefs, including ancestor worship and rituals concerning sacred fire (okoruwo) which is considered an important link between the living and the dead.
Striking people to look at, Himba women go topless and wear mini-skirts made of goat skins adorned with shells and jewellery made of iron and copper. The men wear goatskin loincloths.
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Saturday 11 February 2012
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