meat me in namibia

Photo courtesy of Samantha Bailey

It's early morning here in Amsterdam, and I'll soon be on a flight headed to South Africa, with a final destination of Namibia. The trip is part of my work with the MCDM and I-TECH at the  UW Department of Global Health: I'll be part of a faculty training team contributing modules on storytelling as a leadership tool as part of a leadership, management, and policy training with the University of Namibia.

But I have a second agenda: meat.

I'm interested in meat in Namibia because it's not a meal without it. I'm interested in meat in Namibia because cattle culture was a rich tradition before German colonization, but took on new dimensions afterward that still exist today. I'm interested in meat in Namibia because no one makes beef jerky, or biltong, like they do.

Finally, I'm interested in meat because in post-conflict countries, food often acts as a peacemaker.

So here we are, on the eve of "Anita's Namibian Meat Diary: Day One."