Reconciliation

March 21 is Namibian Independence Day, the day that celebrates when Namibia gained its independence from South Africa and became its own nation in the year 1990. While still under South African rule, Namibians were also subjected to the harsh and inhuman laws of apartheid, so they gained not only their independence, but they also reclaimed their human rights as well.

That day, having no real set plans with my host family, Amelia and I decided it would be a good time to hike the mountain nearby. We had been planning on it since week one when the older volunteers had told us how to get up there. So we got up somewhat early, convinced we were set with the directions we were given, and we headed up towards the mountain.

Now I should have known something was wrong when our directions included stones as landmarkers and had us opening people’s gates and going through their property. Needless to say, we got COMPLETELY lost and ended up wandering around a river bed when we ran into some European volunteers staying with an Afrikaaner family. They took us to the house where they were staying hopeful that their hosts would be able to direct us up the correct path.

When we got there, we were greeted by a very nice woman and her teenage daughter. After explaining our story, the daughter offered to escort us some of the way to the beginning of the mountain path. While we were walking we took the opportunity to learn more about Namibia and particularly, in going with the theme of the day, racial relations between the whites and the blacks, since apartheid and racial tensions are still very real in Namibia. The conversation turned out to be very encouraging, she told us that the new generation doesn’t hold on to the past and that race doesn’t matter to her and her friends, that people are people regardless of their skin color. After she left us to continue the journey the rest of the way ourselves, Amelia and I both talked about how refreshing it was to hear a perspective like that from an Afrikaaner.

Even with the new set of directions we still were having a hard time finding our way and ended up walking around from house to house asking for further directions. I was extremely scared at one point because I crossed the threshold of a gated property and was immediately set on upon by a massive german shepherd. I slowly backed up freaking out because the dogs in Namibia are trained to be vicious guard dogs, and thankfully moments before the dog was at my feet the owner came out and called it off. After blowing a sigh of relief, he showed us the gate into the mountain area.

Finally we were proceeding up the mountain, but it was nothing like what we expected. There were no nice clean trails like they have in the States. We were bushwhacking our way through a very inhospitable landscape. There were times where we were barred by walls of thorn bushes, moments where we were had to knock down spider webs the size of tires, accompanied by scary looking spiders with a diameter of a couple of inches, snakes (they were there but thankfully we didn’t run into them, they just kept up scared and watching the ground), and finally baboons.

We had heard that there were baboons on the mountain, and we were excited to see some. However, I have heard that baboons can be vicious animals and are territorial, so when we started to hear noises, like grunting, that continually got closer, louder, and seemingly more hostile… We decided it was time to head back and call it quits.

Hours later, back at the Kupembona’s house, I was sitting out in the backyard with my host father, Nikolaus, and we were talking while watching the sun set. Again, I kept with the theme of the day and brought up race relations, independence, and all of that good stuff. Again, his answer really surprised me. I was expecting there to be some animosity towards the Afrikaaners because of the crimes that they had committed in the past, especially because they were crimes that Nikolaus himself had witnessed and experienced.

I’ve heard stories of Afrikaaners beating black children just for sport, I have friends who have told me of their first person accounts of being beaten. I’ve heard stories of people being arrested and beaten because they weren’t in their assigned location by curfew. I’ve heard stories of human beings who have black skin being treated as if they are merely things by people who falsely believe themselves to be superior because of a single genetic trait. And that’s just the tip of the ice berg, the little that I have heard in my year here in Namibia.

With all that has gone on, so recently, during my lifetime, you would think that you would find hatred, pain, retribution, anger… What I found was forgiveness. There is an idea of reconciliation, I’m not sure if it’s official or not, but it’s there. And I as I listened to my host father talk about reconciliation, how what was done is done, how we have to let go of the past, forgive, make amends, and work towards building the future, I had much hope for the country of Namibia. I believe that any country that is founded on a principal of forgiveness, has a bright future ahead of it.

That first Independence Day was a special one. Two very different voices, one a white Afrikaaner teenage girl, and the other a black Kavango adult male, echoed a powerful message about what Namibia, and the people of the country are really all about. Reconciliation… a simple, but powerful philosophy. Happy Independence Day Namibia! May your people find the reconciliation they seek.