Talibeh Hydara
Paheja Siririka
Namibia celebrated 34 years of nationhood on 21 March 2024, a pomp and fanfare attained through blood and tears, but an important tool of this hard-fought independence is hardly ever mentioned – education.
In 1976, during the peak years of independence struggles across southern Africa, the first batch of Namibian students arrived in The Gambia to attend high school.
As a bastion of peace and stability at the time, the country became a haven for liberation fighters from Namibia, and until 1990 – when the country became independent.
The students were taken to prominent secondary schools in The Gambia.
From the recollections of former classmates, despite coming into a completely new environment, fitting in was as smooth as their arrival. Coming from Angola, traumatised after fleeing Namibia was Erassy Ya-Hosea (57), who spent six years in northern Namibia before finding refuge in the capital of The Gambia, Banjul.
“I was in a refugee camp for six years in Angola, and only attended three years of school there. When I arrived in Banjul, I was four years older than my peers. I was behind in school. But I am so grateful to my foster parents, Sitya and Lena Manga. My foster mother made sure I attended extra classes to catch up,” said Ya- Hosea, who spent time in The Gambia from 1983 until 1991.
The father of two said he has fond memories of the warmth of The Gambians, who are “super-friendly people. I was at The Gambia High School, and never felt out of place. That was the best government school. I still think about my foster parents because they used to work in Old Banjul, which is where my school was, and we stayed in Serekunda”.
Serekunda is now one of The Gambia’s largest urban centres, located approximately 10km from the capital Banjul.
“I easily adapted. The food is something else. At first, like many others, I found the taste to be different, but I quickly got used to it. I love benachin (Gambian jollof rice), and nothing is better than that – the flavour and rich aroma, unbeatable. Above everything, The Gambians are small people, but pan-Africanists. They like to relate to other Africans, especially us southern Africans, but I feel that hasn’t been nurtured between The Gambia and Namibia,” he reminisced.
The agripreneur noted that the media can mend, cement or revive the non-existent relations between The Gambia and Namibia because the West African nation harboured Namibians, and kept them safe when they were in the dark.
“The role of the media in creating lasting relationships between countries has happened through advocacy and other avenues. The story of The Gambia and Namibia needs to be thoroughly explored. We were home away from home. The education system of The Gambians still plays a major role in our lives today. It can never be forgotten,” he remarked.
Another student, who has become a ray of light to Namibians, and someone who today speaks fondly of the treatment and experience, is none other than ophthalmologist Dr Helena Ndaipovanhu Ndume.
The eye surgeon arrived in The Gambia barely 16 years old in 1976. She was taken to Armitage, a boarding school in the historic village of Jangjangbureh, Central River region.
“I spent four years in The Gambia. I left in 1980 when I finished high school to Angola, and then to Germany, where I continued my education,” she said.
She is now a household name, especially in southern Africa, where she engages in charitable work.
She has helped over 30 000 Namibians receive free eye surgery and intraocular lens implants, addressing blindness, cataracts and myopia.In 2018, nearly four decades since she left The Gambia as a 20-year-old, she returned to the country, and reconnected with old mates. Ndume is multilingual. She speaks Wolof – a language spoken in Senegal, The Gambia and southern Mauritania. It is the native language of the Wolof people.
“I paid a visit to former president Sir Dawda Jawara, and thanked him for all the support he gave us, the Namibian students, during a very difficult time for the country.
“I also met several of my former schoolmates, and I enjoyed returning to where it all began for me. I visited with my son and my niece, and showed them where I used to live,” she recalled.
As fate would have it, Jawara died a year later, and Ndume felt lucky to have met The Gambia’s founding president before his passing. She lived in Banjul on holidays, and she remembers being housed with the family of Saffie Ceesay, and then with Aunty Ketty on 15 Picton Street.She was not the only Namibian at Armitage.
There were at least eight more, and she remembers all of them. What she also remembers is that nearly all of them have passed away now. Herself, Hafeleni Hikumwa and Brian Likando are the last ones standing from that first batch of Namibians at Armitage.
Likando arrived in 1976 as well.
He was only 14 years old. He still has fond memories of playing basketball at Armitage.
“But, I am too old to play now,” he said with a chuckle.The business relationship analyst too has not forgotten his Gambian family.
“I spent five years in The Gambia – and throughout that period, I stayed with AA Njie in Kanifing when schools closed.”
AA Njie was a journalist and former director of information services.
“We are grateful to Gambians for being there for us during a difficult period. We made a strong bond – and through a WhatsApp chat group, we keep in touch with our former colleagues.”Brian departed in 1981.
The rest of the Armitage batch includes Alfred Matengu, Godfrey Kabozu, Albert Mushe, Robinson Mabakeni, Kosmos Konjeni, Kenneth Sibolile and Martin Mubebo.
The all-girl band
In 1979, barely three years after the first batch arrived from Namibia, a new batch of five girls joined them in The Gambia.
They were Ellen Namhila, Cornelia Taapopi, Rachel Gowases, Anna Harases and Lantine Harases.
All five of them arrived together from Zambia.
Namhila fled to Angola at the tender age of 12 after surviving a gun attack on her village during which bullets went through her arms and legs.
In The Gambia, she was enrolled at St. Joseph’s, a popular all-girls school in Banjul, and then the shocks began.
“The truth is, I was not prepared to go to The Gambia. I wondered who I would meet, the type of people and the religion. I came from a country where everyone was a Christian, but I got a culture shock on a Friday when I walked on Independence Drive in Banjul from school, and I suddenly saw people in groups going up and down together. I had never seen Muslims praying before. Then, it was one shock after another,” she reminisced.
She struggled with the peppery dishes.
“It took me one, and I was down with an ulcer. I also noticed that whether our age group or adults, Gambians don’t mind their business. They are very inquisitive. They don’t mean bad. They are very friendly, and very accommodating. It was a beautiful experience. Once you get to know The Gambia, you will fall in love with The Gambians. I learned things in The Gambia I would not have learned anywhere else,” she vividly recalled.
Her journey has since been an inspiration to thousands of people across the world.
Now a professor, she published a book in 1997, The Price of Freedom, which chronicles her life during exile, and after her return to Namibia. She works at the University of Namibia.
Rachel Gowases was 16 years old when she arrived in The Gambia, and attended St. Peters in Lamin, West Coast Region.
“I was placed in a Muslim family in Bakau. It was the first time among Muslims, but
one thing I realised in The Gambia is that religion does not matter, and people could inter-marry. I found the people very friendly. Anyone could give you a ride. No one would kidnap you or anything. The family I was placed in taught me good values. I remember even if someone invited me out, they must first seek permission from my foster parents. I understood that because I was their responsibility,” she narrated.
Gowases has gone on to have a stellar career in public service, first as a journalist at the Namibian Broadcasting Corporation after obtaining a degree in mass communication from the University of Wisconsin, USA.
She then served in both the Office of the Prime Minister and the Office of the President.
She worked for the Namibian government for 26 years before retiring a few years ago.
*Talibeh Hydara is a journalist at The Standard, a daily publication in The Gambia