WINDHOEK – Growing up as an orphan or vulnerable child does not necessarily have to be an experience to turn a child into a criminal or a violent person.
This is according to street-kid turned-community broadcast journalist, Jehoiackim Kateve (33), who has dedicated his entire life to telling the stories of vulnerable and other suffering people in needy communities. Kateve grew up on the streets of Rundu and later Windhoek where he depended on the goodwill of organisations, himself and the generosity of strangers to pay for his education. His parents were not around to care for him as it was believed at the time that they had died in a car accident during the period of Namibia’s liberation struggle. Kateve had relied on the Namibia Red Cross Society (NRCS), the Council of Churches of Namibia (CCN), his fellow street kids and their families for his daily survival.
His life on the streets was characterised by eating from trash cans, cleaning people’s yards and filing documents at the CCN for low wages. Although his journey to becoming a journalist and eventually leaving the streets to start a family and lead what many would call a ‘normal life’ was not easy for Kateve, but he was determined to turn his tale of suffering into an inspiring one. “Growing up on the streets does not necessarily mean you have to be a criminal or a violent person,” says Kateve. Kateve first moved to Windhoek in 1996 with friends. He found temporary shelter with one of his friends who lived with a married sister, but things changed when the couple moved to South Africa and could not take him along. “I remember my first place to stay was at the Singles Quarters behind Base FM (then Katutura Community Radio – KCR). It was under a tree,” he recalls. He later relocated to sleep under a bridge close to the CCN. Other places he called ‘home’ included a service station in Khomasdal, where he slept with tyres as ‘pillows’ and later under an electricity pole close to a rubbish dump in Oshandumbala. Kateve says he slept alone most nights, but had many friends during the day.
“I slept alone,” the free spirited Kateve responds when asked if he ever slept with friends. “During the day we would play, go in search of dustbins to look for food, we would share the food and in the evening everyone went where they felt like sleeping. Sometimes, we would sleep at the houses of those who had aunties and grannies,” he relates. His small radio, one of few possessions he had at the time and which he bought after receiving a wage from cleaning a yard in Rundu was instrumental in his love for journalism. “I grew up with a small radio. I listened to other radio frequencies but I especially fell in love with NBC (Namibian Broadcasting Corporation) call-in programmes. As a child who grew up on the streets I thought why don’t I become a journalist so that I can tell my stories to others,” he reminisces. Kateve enrolled for a course in journalism in 2002, which he completed in 2004. “I got the basics of journalism at the College of the Arts. It was a bit tough when it came to payments. I remember when I was cleaning people’s yards and filing some papers at the CCN the money they gave me I was paying some subjects (modules) at the College of the Arts,” he said. In 2003, armed with a recommendation letter from the college, Kateve started his job attachment at Base FM, which was then known as KCR, where he is currently employed.
“I dreamt of going to national radio for my attachment, but I didn’t make it. National radio is where I fell in love with journalism, it is where I grew up as a listener,” he said. Although fate had something different in store for him, Kateve did not regret going to Base FM because he was accorded an opportunity to do what he loves, giving a voice to the voiceless. His first programmes with the radio included a gospel show, as well as a community programme, then called ‘Homebrew’. Working for Base FM was still not easy as he worked while still living on the streets. He often walked to and from assignments just to use the taxi fare to buy bread. “If I had a story at Pionerspark I would take a taxi to attend and walk back so that I could have something to buy bread with,” he says. While working at Base FM, the circumstances of Kateve who in 2004 still worked from the streets slowly started changing when his superiors decided to take him off the streets by paying rent for him. Today, he is the proud father of a boy, whom he named Godwill. “My son’s name is actually God’s will. I named him that because it was God’s will for me to get a son as I never thought I would get a son or marry,” he explains, adding that he has been happily married for three years now. As fate would have it, Kateve met his parents for the first time after many years in 2011, he says with great emotion. His career plans include expanding his horizons to work for bigger news organisations.
By Alvine Kapitako