By Alvine Kapitako and Fifi Rhodes
WINDHOEK – They are no different from us. They are orphans, jobless, homeless and sometimes scream for help in the most arrogant way leaving an impression with many that they are unruly.
But, the cry of their heart is to be recognised as ‘children of the liberation struggle’ and benefit from what their mothers and fathers who died during the struggle for Namibia’s independence fought for.
Many of their countrymen and women admire them, others hate them. Why? Because they are fearless, they are a pain in the neck for politicians and the law enforcement. And, to many government officials, they are a thorn in their flesh.
They walked over 800 kilometres from Outapi to Windhoek in January 2013. They have endured harassment from the police, some went back, others got jobs, one was shot dead last year and the group continues to get smaller and smaller. Those who remain continue to, on a daily basis, endure nature’s harsh weather conditions.
They go through all this because they want jobs to put bread on their families’ tables. The struggle for survival in their camp is so hard they have resorted to begging for pennies at traffic lights, specifically the ones close to Hartlief in Independence Avenue. This is in addition to begging at an intersection just a few metres from their ‘camp’ in Okahandja Park.
This is the story of Namibia’s struggle kids and for them the struggle continues – until their needs are met. But, even the begging has been received with much hatred and talk that they do not want to work to earn a living and instead chose to be unruly by defying calls to wait for government to provide them with jobs while in their respective regions.
But, they insist that they will pack their bags and go as soon as their requests are met.
“I feel very bad. It has been more than two years that we have been here but until now we are here suffering. Government does not really want to help,” says 32-year-old Martin Hamutenya. Hamutenya was young when his father died in Angola. And, so he has no memory of who his father was or how he died.
“My mother told me that my father died on the battlefield,” he says. Hamutenya has two children, a girl who is 8 years old and a 12-year-old boy. Although, he does not want to live in the camp or endure a life of begging, he says for now he has no choice as he is doing it for his children.
“Life here is difficult. We don’t have a choice, we just have to persevere until we get jobs. We are waiting on government to give us jobs then we will move from here. We don’t want contract jobs, we want permanent jobs,” he says.
“My children are with my mother in Ongenga (Ohangwena Region). I just struggle here by standing at the robots asking people for money. If I get something, I even send my mother some money to buy bread for the children,” says Hamutenya who was born in Kwanza-Sul, Angola.
“My dream is to get a nice job and to be with my family. I want to make my children happy just like my mother made me happy,” Hamutenya says.
For now, that dream seems far-fetched as he is a beggar. And, even though begging puts bread on the table for Hamutenya who only has a Grade 8 school certificate, it comes at a heavy price – harsh remarks and insults by passersby.
“Some people insult us. Some make comments that we are Pohamba’s people and therefore we should go to him,” he says.
Anna Sisko Toivo, who is also a mother of two, says she starts begging at 08h00. Sometimes, she ‘works’ until 17h00 and on a good day she can make up to N$100 when begging at the traffic lights on Independence Avenue.
“I stand by the robots and wait on Good Samaritans to give me some money. I don’t sell my body,” she says. With the money she gets from kind-hearted people, Toivo, who is the eldest of four children sends some money to her siblings and children.
“If my mother was alive, I would not be suffering like this. Even if it hurts me to live like this, I know it is just temporary,” says Toivo. Toivo, who is 25 years old says she lost her mother in 2000 when she was just 12 years old. “My father died in exile,” she adds.
She could not complete her secondary education because there was nobody to pay for her school and so she dropped out in Grade 9.
Like Hamutenya, Toivo just wants to live a comfortable life with her family. This is not their current state of affairs as they sleep on cardbox made beds, which serve as mattresses where they sometimes have to endure harsh weather conditions.
“We live in unhygienic conditions. We do not have ablution facilities and while we are cooking we can even smell faeces,” said Hamutenya. “We are suffering a lot, especially mentally because we have children and families but we cannot put bread on the table for them,” said the group spokesperson, Abraham Hamupembe.
But, despite all of this, Toivo is hopeful that this year things will change for their good. This, she says is because some of the people in their camp were called to commence employment and of the more than 200 people who moved to the camp in Okahandja Park, there are only 80 of them left. “This year there will be change,” said Toivo.