Collins Limbo 

SWAKOPMUND – The Swakopmund branch of the Scientific Society of Namibia on Tuesday held a public lecture that did an introspection on a Namibian who was born in Angola and migrated to the then East Germany before returning home.

The public lecture was addressed by former exile Naita Hishoono, who is the executive director of the Namibia Institute for Democracy (NID).

Hishoona expressed her concern that Namibian society appears to manifest signs of isolation and division among the different communities and along tribal lines.

When asked where she thought the country was heading, she said: “Namibia after 30 years is at the crossroads. Do we work together as a nation or do we fight each other? I clearly prefer to listen, understand and work with each other, since that is how we secure growing further into a nation.”

During the presentation she shared her experience as a child of international solidarity who was born in exile in Angola after the Cassinga massacre. Following the brutal attack Swapo appealed to the international community to render support to the wounded and survivors.

And that is how she found herself growing up in East Germany from 1979 to 1990.
“I experienced the fall of the Berlin Wall and the major political shift in eastern Europe, the history of the Namibian liberation struggle and the long way to independence through Resolution 435 that received new impetus through glasnost (opening up) and perestroika (reform) in the former Soviet Union. Growing up in East Germany influenced me to such an extent that for many years I had an identity crisis of whether I was German, Namibian or both,’’ she reminisced.

 “I experienced the euphoria of independence and a couple of years later that excitement wore off but Namibians today are building walls around their cultural, religious and language groups, so I wonder, have we learned from history?’’