Orange rugged hills of the Kalahari Desert was the first view I had of Namibia when I looked out the airplane window before landing in Capital City, Windhoek. The desert seemed to stretch on forever, swallowing up the fairly large city. It was beautiful in a desolate kind of way, mountains popping up like ripples on an otherwise smooth pond. From first looks, it seemed to be everything I thought and read it would be, poor and drag; but on closer acquaintance with the land, and its people, I realized Namibia was a country of many exotic cultures and colorful people. Namibia was a country that could swallow the heart, capturing it completely. The new republic of only 19 years, was not lacking in history giving Namibia rich heritage.
Being similar to many countries, Namibia’s history starts as most do, with its colonizers. There is not much known about Namibia before the 1800’s, because the Natives did not write their history down untill later. In the year 1485, Diogo Coa, Portuguese explorer, explored the Skeleton Coast, on the west coast of Namibia according to Namibianhistory.com. It was not until the 1800’s however, that any true explorers took interest in Namibia’s dry land. “Before later independence Namibia was known as South West Africa (SWA), named after its geographic position.” Soon the Germans saw the land as profitable and took control. The German Government handed the white farmers land and livestock seized from the SWA natives. Because of this, the SWA natives faced poverty and starvation. The hardships the natives were forced into caused the people to rebel and take up arms against the German Colonial Rule, this was known as the “War of National Resistance.” When the SWA natives rebelled, it enraged the Germans, who in return brought genocide to the country-killing thousands. In 1915, SWA a German Colony, was defeated by South African troops who then took control of SWA, ending close to 30 years of German Colonial Rule.
Unfortunately, South Africa’s rule was no better than the German rule. South Africa’s Government continued to take SWA natives property and continued to diminish their rights, making it very much a white dominated government. Soon the natives found themselves being relocated to reserves (similar to reservations), according to ethnic groups. To control the SWA natives, South Africa placed tribes strategically away from each other and the whites, trying to keep the tribes from banding together. These reserves were located in areas inhospitable for farming. The soil was poor and whites did not want it. Since the soil was bad for farming, the natives were forced to work for other white farmers, or they would seek work in mines or factories, trying to keep their families from starving. They were not allowed off the homelands (reserves) other than for labor purposes for the white people. Many countries did not like the homeland concept, the United Nations was SWA’s biggest supporter towards its independence. “So the United Nations petitioned the International Court of Justice, declaring South Africa’s control over SWA illegal,”(mybeautifulnamibia.com) but South Africa’s determination to make SWA its fifth province, overcame the attempts at liberating SWA. South Africa continued to introduce policies to separate the whites from the black.
“In 1950 the International Court of Justice declared that South Africa’s actions were illegal,” (
mybeautifulnamibia.com) but this tiny victory did not mean SWA was independent form South Africa yet. This small victory only prevented South Africa from declaring SWA as its fifth province. When South Africa continued its oppression towards the SWA natives, “many Namibians fled the country from 1960 to 1980-they fled to neighboring countries.”(mybeautifulnamibia.com) On June 12, 1989, South Africa finally agreed to abolish the discriminatory laws towards the natives. More than 4200 SWA natives were repatriated from more than 40 different countries according to the web site
my-beautiful-namibia.com. By 1989 most Namibians had resettled back into their former communities. After much struggle, South West Africa finally gained independence on March 21, 1990, forever changing its name to The Republic of Namibia.
Namibia has very interesting social classes, being a product of its South African rule only 20 years ago. Namibia has three distinct class groups, whites, coloureds, and blacks. “Whites account for about seven percent of Namibia’s population” (World Book). The white people very much have more of a higher social standing, being more or less the better educated class. The second social class is the coloureds, who are of mixed origin, Namibian natives who intermarried with early European Settlers. They tend to be on fairly equal ground with the white class, and not far behind in social standing, often they are just as well-educated as the whites. After the coloureds, who are very proud of their heritage, are the blacks. There is a very distinct difference between coloureds and blacks. Blacks have a much darker completion and traditional African facial features, bigger lips, wider noses, etc…. while the coloureds have lighter skin, and more European features. The black group is very much the bottom of the social classes. Blacks make up over 90 percent of Namibia’s population” (World Book). They mainly live in the ghettos on the outskirts of town, while the coloureds live in nice communities with the white people. Nor do they have much education; it is rare for one to graduate or even attend high school, and even rarer for blacks to attend college. All classes have equal rights in Namibia, but the years of segregation and separation of the classes, have made a lasting impression in Namibia today. The lack of education, jobs, and money in the black community, has made it hard for the people to rise above and intermingle with the other two social classes. The only way for the blacks to be more appreciated, is for this next generation to rise above their ghetto lifestyle and learn to believe in themselves. Only then will the three groups accept each other as equals.
One way for blacks to better their situation is through better education. There are not very many schools in the ghettos for black children, and children often have to walk miles to get there. There are three kinds of schools in Namibia; there are the public lower class schools, public upper class schools, and private schools. The public lower class schools are for the poor people, those who live in the ghettos. These schools have very little supplies and the student per teacher ratio is very high. Julia, a local black woman from Mariental, Namibia stated “you are only required to buy your school uniform, at a local store in order to attend some schools.” This can be difficult for some families, but once they buy the uniform the older siblings can pass down their outfits to their younger sisters and brothers. Next are the public upper class schools where the wealthier kids attend. Most of the kids are colouerds and whites. These schools are bigger and have a good supply of materials for the children’s learning. Third are the Private Schools where the rich kids go to school; these are mostly white kids. When a student has graduated high school and wants to continue to college, more likely than not they would seek a collage in South Africa. The reason for this is the colleges in Namibia are mostly to educate miners, since Namibia have large diamond and uranium mines. In order to go to a college for a particular degree, one would most likely need to go out of country. Namibia is trying to build more schools and colleges to help educate their citizens so they can continue to grow towards the country they hope to become.
When one travels to new places, they often cannot help themselves from comparing where they live with where they are visiting. Namibia, Africa is no different from any other country visited in that prospect. For example, I never considered what it meant to be part of a minority. Growing up in a small town there is not much diversity. When I stepped off the airplane for the first time, the realization that I was in the minority as a white person, hit me with the first flood of people. To tell the truth, it was a little disturbing to be surrounded by a sea of dark colored people, it made me feel out of place. When I came back to the US, I again felt overwhelmed surrounded by white people, and again I had to readjust to my surroundings.
Another difference is the variety of languages. America has other languages besides English, like Spanish, but in Namibia there are so many different tribes and groups, that there are even more languages; because of this there are many language barriers. Sometimes just being surrounded by the different kinds of languages, threw me off. While English is the official language in Namibia, it is only the second most common spoken language. The most common language spoken is Afrikaans, then English, German, Oshivambo, Herero, Nama and many more. ”There are about 15 languages spoken in Namibia” (World Book).
The next difference is the living accommodations. Living accommodations vary depending on ethnic group. There are three distinct ethnic groups: white people, coloureds, and the black people. When I was in Namibia I spent most of my time working beside the coloureds helping the black people who lived in the ghettos. The black people live very simply. The tiny ghetto houses consisted of metal sheets with pieces of wood propping or holding their “shacks” together. Close to 20 or more people can live in a 10 foot square shack. In some homes in America, that is the size of a bath room. The white people and coloureds live in more modern buildings, similar to homes in America.
Now, for a huge difference, one that defines the whole continent of Africa, the heat. Namibia is very hot in the summer, it can get up to 120 degree Fahrenheit during the day, and at night it does not change much. One of my Namibian friends, Bennie, told me that in the summer “it gets so hot that I could walk to my car and get sunburned.” In the winter, the temperature can drop to 25 to 30 degrees Fahrenheit at night, and then jump up to 70 to 80 degree’s (F) in the day. Desmond, one of my Namibian brothers, offered me sunscreen one day (number 35) saying that they wear sunscreen year round. This did not surprise me though as the sun rays in Africa are strong, and can easily give people a golden brown tan through their t-shirts.
The little moments experienced in another country can make a big difference in how a country is viewed. When walking through the dirty streets surrounded by shacks, I was aware that some of our worst houses in America would have been considered mansions to these people. Yet these people still had huge smiles and offered kind greetings. The dirt-smudged children were especially welcoming, as they ran and gave me another of their many hugs. These are things I will never forget. One of my favorite memories was one morning when I was at a local church in the ghettos playing with about 10 little black preschoolers. Getting curious they started looking through my pockets treasures. When they found three rocks that I had stashed away. They asked me, “why do you have rocks in your pockets?” I tired to explain to them that I was collecting them for my friends, when they suddenly all scatter. I was wondering what in the world. Why would all 10 of them disappear? Well, I had my answer moments later, when I had the whole crowd of them shoving rocks into any and every pocket they could find. In the end I was bulging with too many rocks to carry home in my suitcase. To bad I could not stuff all of Namibia’s wonderful people and gorgeous scenery in my bag to take home.
Namibia’s beautiful, widely-spread deserts can take a world travelers breath away. Many people think Africa is a continent full of waste land and disease. I was one of those people. Before my plane landed in Namibia, but after my foot hit the African soil, I realized I was defiantly wrong. The truth is, Namibia, Africa is a gorgeous land fought over by many people throughout its recorded history. As for not being wanted, the Namibian people love their land and are proud of their African heritage. Just because Namibian’s culture is different, does not mean that it is any less important than any other culture. Keeping an open mind to their way of life, will go a long way in bridging the differences. Mark Twain puts it this way “Travel is fatal to prejudice, bigotry and narrow mindedness”.
Leah, AJ, Laura, and Andrea
