A long trek through the parched mopane woodlands of Koakoland, in northwest Namibia, takes me to Otjikandero village, where I get a glimpse of Himba lifestyle. What impresses me is the cleanliness of the circular village, surrounded by the veld in an idyllic setting. Most Himba villages offer such visits for a small sum of money, like the Masaai of Tanzania do. This has helped them lead a sustainable lifestyle seen nowhere else.
These pastoral people live in communities of less than a hundred people. Himba women are known for smearing themselves with otjize, a paste of butter, fat and red ochre giving their skin and hair a reddish hue whilst also protecting them from the sun. The skin presumably symbolizes the color of the earth and of blood.
My guide during my 3,000 mile travel through southern Africa is a young lady from Cape Town. The Himba teenagers connect with her at a personal level. They touch her white face and feel her straight hair, while I am equally fascinated by their wonderful headdresses and ochre complexion.
<img loading="lazy" decoding="async" class="size-medium wp-image-29624 alignleft" src="http://www.forbesafrica.com/app/uploads/2017/05/FWA-2014-Oct-Nov-074-075-Namibia-004-300x199.jpg" alt="" width="300" height="199" srcset="https://cms.forbesafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/05/FWA-2014-Oct-Nov-074-075-Namibia-004-300x199.jpg 300w, https://cms.forbesafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/05/FWA-2014-Oct-Nov-074-075-Namibia-004-600x398.jpg 600w, https://cms.forbesafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/05/FWA-2014-Oct-Nov-074-075-Namibia-004-768x510.jpg 768w, https://cms.forbesafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/05/FWA-2014-Oct-Nov-074-075-Namibia-004.jpg 1024w" sizes="(max-width: 300px) 100vw, 300px" />
Whereas the very young girls have braided hair falling in front of their faces, at the onset of puberty, they wear longer plaits loosely around the head. I am also told the hair is used as a veil to hide their shyness during those years. After puberty, the girls partake in a special ceremony, when their hair is washed and they are given the traditional ekori headdress made from tanned goatskin. After marriage, all women wear the erembe headdress, made from the skin of a goat’s head and fastened by leather thongs. They also wear hair extensions adorned with goat skin.
Bath Huts
Every Himba village has a ‘bath hut’ where women take turns to ‘smoke’ themselves with aromatic herbs. I am given the privilege to see one such demonstration. A young girl waves a small coal stove containing the smoke of aromatic herbs under her elaborate headdress for several minutes, then covering herself with a towel, and also smoking her torso and lower body parts. She then rubs herself with the otjize paste and emerges from the bath hut looking transformed.
The Himbas spend considerable time adorning themselves. They wear beaded necklaces that they craft themselves. Their chunky copper and silver anklets prevent them from snake bites as they walk in the bush.
Using the body as a canvas has been a vital part of ancient life the world over. Africa in particular is home to some of the most fascinating body art: skin painting, facial scarring, magnificent hairdos, lip and earlobe extensions, to name a few. The practice of body art was mostly predominant in Africa and meso-American cultures. As ancient practices are vanishing everywhere, the west has rediscovered body decorations by way of tattoos and piercings. A torch has thus been passed from the ancient to the modern era.
Unfortunately, I could not photograph any of the men since they had left the village to graze their herds. The Otjikandero village has adopted a few AIDS orphans from neighboring areas and raised them in the Himba tradition. I saw several of them playing. They all sported single plaited hairdos on shaven heads.
<img loading="lazy" decoding="async" class="size-medium wp-image-29625" src="http://www.forbesafrica.com/app/uploads/2017/05/FWA-2014-Oct-Nov-074-075-Namibia-005-199x300.jpg" alt="" width="199" height="300" srcset="https://cms.forbesafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/05/FWA-2014-Oct-Nov-074-075-Namibia-005-199x300.jpg 199w, https://cms.forbesafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/05/FWA-2014-Oct-Nov-074-075-Namibia-005-300x452.jpg 300w, https://cms.forbesafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/05/FWA-2014-Oct-Nov-074-075-Namibia-005-600x904.jpg 600w, https://cms.forbesafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/05/FWA-2014-Oct-Nov-074-075-Namibia-005.jpg 680w" sizes="(max-width: 199px) 100vw, 199px" />
Before I bid farewell to these unique people, I visit the common kitchen and donate the 10 kilograms of rice that has traveled with me on a journey through souther

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The Red Women Of Namibia

As Precious Moloi-Motsepe walks into the restaurant at the plush Michelangelo Towers, in the affluent northern suburbs of Johannesburg, she smiles sweetly while making her way to the table. The waiters are on their marks, but she signals kindly with her eyes that she’s fine—a down-to-earth lady in a peach power suit.
<div id="attachment_283" style="width: 310px" class="wp-caption alignleft"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" aria-describedby="caption-attachment-283" class="size-medium wp-image-283" src="/wp-content/uploads/2017/04/IMG_1557-1-300x200.jpg" alt="" width="300" height="200" />Dr Precious Moloi &#8211; Motsepe, chairperson of the African Fashion Week held in Sandton</div>
She chuckles as she says many people ask how she switched from medicine to fashion. A doctor specializing in women’s health, she left her practice to chair a company organizing fashion week shows.
It is merely one leg of a long journey. One of five children, Moloi-Motsepe was born and raised in Soweto, south of Johannesburg; she went to a Catholic school in Rustenburg before studying medicine at Wits University in Johannesburg. This was followed by postgraduate studies in human and reproductive health at the University of Stellenbosch, near Cape Town.
The switch to fashion came after she stopped working to have a baby.  At the same time, her family foundation was being established, which contributes largely to education, health and economic opportunities for young people. The foundation was offered a fashion company in Cape Town and Moloi-Motsepe says she soon realised an opportunity was presenting itself in the clothing and textile business—an industry that employs many women.
As Moloi-Motsepe had worked in women’s health, this was another opportunity to help women help themselves economically. This heralded the birth of Africa Fashion International (AFI).
“I covered a lot; seeing fashion weeks and the impact they have on the economy of countries. You have media traveling from all over the world going there, you have buyers moving from all over the world to go there—you know it just stimulates growth,” Moloi-Motsepe says.
Africa Fashion Week, held at the Sandton Convention Centre from October 20 to 22 this year, proved to be the biggest yet with more than 20,000 visitors attending the event, as well as the Africa Fashion Trade Expo.
“Fashion in Africa is going places; we have an advantage of a growing population—a billion people on the continent. That’s a big number. The important thing is it should be consumers who are able to buy,” says Moloi-Motsepe.
The good doctor believes there is potential, but admits there are problems along the way, like a shortage of capital, an abundance of cheap imports and poor distribution.
“Cheap imports make it difficult for local designers to compete in the market because our input costs are very high compared to China,” she says.
“I think the best way for us is not to get stuck in competing at that level. Our focus should be on the high design, high quality, high value-added products—I think that will help to maintain sustainability of our industry.”
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Tag: Colour

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