ETUNDA – Good Samaritan Peneyambako Joseph from Omusati region has taken it upon herself to feed some of the hundreds of Angolan nationals flocking to Namibia in search of food.
Some of them arrived in January already and hundreds of others have been flocking into the country since Saturday, hoping to be employed at the Etunda irrigation project in exchange for food.
However, there is not much work and, as such, they go for days without food.
They are scattered in various parts of the Omusati region, but mostly at Etunda and Oshifo.
The group of illegal immigrants include expecting and lactating mothers and many children, who walked up to five days to cover over 100km before they arrived in Namibia.
Those who got sick or tired on the way were left behind while some children allegedly died.
Joseph, who cooks and sells food along the road in the vicinity to generate an income, has since offered soup to those who looked extremely pale from the long walk.
Joseph said she took the lead to help because the group camp close to where she sells her food and when they became too hungry, they approached her for food.
She told New Era that during the course of this week, three adults and two children arrived in a very bad state and a pregnant woman had to be rushed to hospital at Oshifo for treatment.
“They were not sick; they were just hungry. We called an ambulance for her because she did not look well,” narrated Joseph.
The food vendor, who is also struggling to make ends meet, said she does not always have food to give them.
“Like today they have not eaten because there is nothing. They last ate last night when we got butternuts from a farmer at Etunda,” she noted, adding that they got cabbages a few minutes ago from a Good Samaritan.
One of the immigrants told New Era that when they arrived, they burned sand and stood on top of it to ease the pain in their swollen legs.
Evelina Matheus (5) said the distance was too long.
“Sometimes I walked, sometimes I was carried but when I arrived my legs were in pain,” she said softly.
New Era visited two groups at Etunda on Wednesday and by 14h00 these groups, including children, had not had a meal.
At the time, the ones who are able to work, had just returned empty-handed from their job hunt. They were lying down, looking pale, tired and hungry.
“There is no work at Etunda; villagers we approached said they don’t have any jobs for us,” said Kaluthele Mwetjetelepi, one of the immigrants.
In addition to food, the group is exposed to wind and rain.
When it rains, they seek shelter under the shade nets of businesses in the vicinity.
The group appealed to the Namibian nation and its government to come to their aid.
“We need food and blankets, especially now that it is raining. It is very cold and we have small children among us,” Inesi Mwandjendavi, another group member appealed.
They said it is pointless to return to Angola because there is nothing; their silos are empty and their livestock have perished in the drought.
The Angolan nationals related that unlike in Namibia, they do not have social grants, hence those who are poor cannot survive.
“There is nothing in Angola for us. We don’t have money; there are no schools for our children and no hospitals,” said Mwandjendavi.