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キョジータの『ナミビア通信』第１８号

今回は、私が任地で毎日見ているとても素敵な景色を紹介しました。

次号は『学校の敷地を囲む壁建設プロジェクト』について記事を書く予定です。

お楽しみに！

（本文の英語訳）

Gazing at the Endless Horizon　— In Namibia —

JICA Overseas Cooperation Volunteer, 2024-1 Batch

Mathematics Education

Kyotaro Takahashi

“The Scenery from My Place of Assignment”

This is the beautiful scenery I see every morning in Usakos, my place of assignment. An endless horizon, a vast expanse of land, and a clear blue sky stretching far into the distance. For most of the year, the weather is fine, and the sky remains beautifully clear.

Every day, I walk from my home to the secondary school where I am assigned. It takes about 15 minutes. During this short commute, I enjoy gazing at this wonderful scenery.

Namibia has a land area about 2.2 times larger than Japan’s, but its population is only about 3.1 million. It is known as one of the countries with the lowest population densities in the world. Much of its land still preserves magnificent natural landscapes that seem to have continued since ancient times, and these landscapes are being carefully passed on to the next generation.

This scenery always gives me opportunities to reflect on many things: the vastness of the Earth, the scale of Namibia, the richness of nature, the coexistence of people and animals, and the history built by those who came before us.

“A Very Mysterious Natural Phenomenon”

This photograph was taken in October 2025 in Usakos, my place of assignment. Under a large rain cloud, something like a rain cloud can be seen stretching down towards the ground. When I first saw this phenomenon, I was extremely surprised, because it looked as if there was a huge jellyfish floating in the sky.

This phenomenon is called virga. It occurs when rain falls from clouds but evaporates in the air before reaching the ground. In dry regions such as Namibia, this mysterious phenomenon can sometimes be seen: it appears to be raining, yet little or no rain is actually falling on the ground.

I have heard that this phenomenon can also be seen in Japan, but because Namibia is a dry region, it seems to appear more clearly here.

Incidentally, this does not mean that it never rains in Namibia. Even during the rainy season, from November to April, Namibia often has many sunny days. However, heavy rain can suddenly continue for several hours, sometimes causing roads to flood and even leading to flooding in some areas.