BEN SE KAMP – At 27, Bee Lxaise has just dropped out of school, and can no longer proceed with her grade 9 classes for this second time. 

The last time she was in school was in 2019 before a Zimbabwean businessman tempted her with all the sweet nothings of this world. 

She moved in with him within the Tsumkwe settlement.

Alas, like all such relationships, that transactional relationship did not last. 

Lxaise moved back to the homestead of her father, Kxao /Kaece, an elderly San man from Ben Se Kamp, a village outside Tsumkwe, one of Namibia’s most poverty-stricken areas.

It is a village far from the madding crowd, where wild food gathering and livestock-rearing are the main activities, with men loitering around the huts or relaxing under a tree now that there is no more hunting since the introduction of wildlife culling through trophy hunting.

Yet, /Kaece remains determined for a second chance for his daughter. 

She must go back to school. 

Education is the key, he said.

“When I was working in Gobabis, I sent her to school so she could achieve her dream of becoming a teacher. But she ended up with a man who, I believe, wasted five years of her life, all in the name of love,” /Kaece shared, barely suppressing the mixture of disappointment and frustration 

“I have five children, but none of them have achieved success like you – driving a car and working,” he said, referring to the New Era news crew.

Lxaise spends much of her days shepherding the homestead’s cattle, most of which were donated by the Government of Namibia’s marginalised programme initiative.

The small, spread-out settlement of Tsumkwe lies at the western margins of the Kalahari and is home to Namibia’s oldest people.

“When she went back to school this year, I was so excited. I thought she would finally make me proud, and was now beginning to see the benefits of education. But, to my surprise, she returned home before the year ended, claiming she faced bullying and sexual harassment at school because of her beauty and voluptuousness,” said /Kaece.

It was mid-year 2023 that he learnt about the abusive relationship that her daughter was in.

 He decided to take action to end it.

“Without education, men can treat you like garbage. I always tell her,” he asserted. 

The San rank among the least educated ethnic groups in Namibia.

 /Kaece’s passion for his daughter has amazed many in the community. 

“Now, all I want is help from a good Samaritan, who can place her in a secondary school outside town, with fewer distractions, so she can focus on her studies. She’s smart,” he said.

Lxaise expressed similar feelings, admitting that she, too, wishes to go back to school. 

“I want to go back to a place where students my age aren’t bullied or harassed. I tried this year, but it was too much, and that’s why I came back here,” she said.

She hopes to attend a girls’ school with a hostel, such as Eros Girls’ School, but her father has reservations due to its location in Windhoek, a busy city he worries may pose risks. 

In his village, the highest school grade is three. 

/Kaece seeks a donor to help cover his daughter’s school hostel fees, transportation to Tsumkwe and other essentials, as he currently relies on social grants to support his family, especially his youngest child, who is in Grade 7 at a school in Tsumkwe.

If given the opportunity, Lxaise hopes to become a teacher at a village school, where she could inspire other children who have faced challenges and are at risk of dropping out.

Relationship

Reflecting on her past, Lxaise opened up about the relationship that kept her from school. 

“I won’t mention his name, but I gained nothing from it. I was only there to satisfy him and cook. When he went to Zimbabwe, he would leave me without money or even clothes. My father finally came to get me out of that empty life,” she recounted as her father nodded in anguish. – ljason@nepc.com.na