My shoes and those of Amukwaya were completely worn out to the extent that they were no longer wearable. We were actually walking on bare feet. Later we rested and dinner was prepared but the food was not enough, considering that we had spent the day without eating anything. However, it was nicely prepared compared to what we ate at the previous base.
After dinner, the fighters told us to rest for the day until further notice. Although we were given food, there was no water for us to bath. Two of us went to ask one fighter if we could go and fetch water to bath.
We were given four fighters to accompany us to the well to draw water. We found many people from the base also drawing water. After filling our buckets, we decided to take a bath in nearby bushes before we returned to the base to sleep. We spent two days in the base without knowing when we would leave for our next destination.
Some fighters that we interacted with told us, however, that we were actually waiting for the trucks to arrive. These trucks were supposed to take us to another base before we reached Cassinga refugee camp. Some of us had no interest in overstaying there, so we were praying for the trucks to arrive as reported by the fighters. On the fifth day, we were told that trucks were on the way to pick us up.
However, the two trucks only arrived at around 14h00. Since the group was too big to be transported at once, the Commander decided that children go first while the rest wait for the other trucks.
Junias, Amukwaya and I were left behind while Sam joined the first group. This was the beginning of the breaking up of my team, a development that saddened me very much.
After the trucks left, we were ordered to return to our positions around the base. Although we expected the trucks to come back the following day, they only arrived after two days. This time around, the trucks were enough to take all of us at once.
Because the trucks had arrived a bit late in the evening, we were told to prepare ourselves for the journey the following day. We spent that night discussing the living conditions in which we found ourselves: sleeping under the trees, going for more than two days without bathing, walking on bare feet as our shoes were worn out and eating food, which sometimes had a horrible taste. Some people complained about the kind of food we were given while others expressed their desire to return home. The following morning we woke up early, hoping that we would depart early. However, we only boarded the trucks around 10h00 and left the base a few minutes later.
When we left the base, we proceeded northwards along a tiny road passing through thick bushes. The road was rough with sand and numerous turns. We drove for about six hours without seeing a single village, apart from burnt huts and fields.
As we passed through the thick bushes, I noticed that there were dozens of military posts along the main road manned by Swapo fighters or Angolan soldiers.
We arrived at Oshitumba in the Cunene province of Angola before 17h00. On arrival at the base, we were divided into small groups of seven and five people. Later, we were shown the trenches where we would sleep. After we were shown the trenches, we were taken to a place where we found plenty of meat and mahangu porridge. For the first time since we left home, we were given enough food to eat.
While eating at what appeared to be a ‘guerrilla kitchen’, we could hear sounds of guns in the northern direction. It was also at that moment that we were told by one combatant that soldiers for the Uniao Nacional para Independencia Total de Angola or National Union for the Total Liberation of Angola (Unita) were very active in that area. Unlike where we came from, here every fighter was heavily armed.
Before we finished eating, one combatant came running towards us shouting that we must follow him immediately. He took us to our trenches telling us that Unita fighters’ foot tracks were seen near the base.
The fighters told us that in the event that shooting erupted, we should go into the trenches, and that nobody should run away.
The news of the presence of Unita soldiers in the area had sent shock waves among members of our group, as only a few of us had heard about Unita fighters before. I had heard about Unita activities in Angola at the time I was herding my father’s cattle near the Angolan border in 1976. Some of the group members thought that there was only one enemy the South African soldiers whom they left inside South West Africa. As it grew darker, we could see a few fighters extinguish the fire at the kitchen, which was a distance from our trenches.
We spent the evening eating meat outside our trenches and only entered the trenches when the fighters ordered us to sleep. Early in the morning, I could hear gun sounds in the eastern direction. The sounds did not bother us much because we knew that we were safe in the trenches.
Before sunrise, some fighters came to our trenches to tell us to fold our blankets and wait for next instructions. A few moments later, we were told to assemble at an open space near a big military tent the commander of the camp used to occupy during the day. There we were formally informed that we were in the war zone: hence, we needed to behave like freedom fighters and no longer as civilians. The commander then urged everyone in the group to prepare for any attack by Unita soldiers, especially during the night. He further informed us that all big boys would be taught how to operate a firearm starting the following day.
I, Amukwaya and Junias were among those picked for training right away. Our group, numbering 30 people, was ordered to follow two fighters to a place where we found a pile of all sorts of rifles ranging from AK-47s, Calabines and other enemy captured rifles. Each one of us was ordered to pick a rifle. Since I was near the guns, I grabbed my preferred AK-47. The instructor showed each of us how to dismantle the rifles and how to handle them to avoid harming ourselves.
The training went on for two weeks. Thereafter, some of us were issued with guns and bullets on a permanent basis ready to repulse enemy attacks.
I was so delighted to carry the gun, hence, one day I asked a fighter when we were supposed to fight Unita forces. With these two weeks of training, I was able to accompany new arrivals into nearby bushes to fetch firewood. At a later stage, I was also sent on patrol together with the old fighters from that base.