The thought to tell Namibia's beauty and greatness hit me on Saturday, 22nd Feb 2014 as I pondered to post an encouraging message on my country on my facebook page. What immediately came to mind was this question? What do you love about your country Namibia? And then all the greatness points lined up in my mind, waitign for me to jot them down for my facebook friends. I did exactly that and I realized I had so much to share with the rest of the world about my country, my future and my Namibia - the good untold story about my nationhood and my pride. I then thought, why don't we tell our own beatiful story? Who will tell it if not you and me? Why to we ignore Namibia's Heritage and instead yearn for other countries achievements? We have to definitely change this thinking and prepare for a positive and break through thinking as part of empowering our young and growing nation, Namibia being young in terms of independence attainment and the fact that its popultion is dominate by the youth.
I know that there is so much we can list about Namibia's heritage - the positive stories I mean - worth sharing with our upcoming leaders and next generation as well as the world.
Peace and Stability
Namibia became independent on 21st March 1990. Since then, Namibia has been enjoying peace and stability and harmony among its various diverse enthic groups that mak up the country's amazing unique nation. Yes there was an attempt to seccede the Caprivi - now known as the Zambezi Region on 02 August 1999. But that plan was foiled and the stint was calmed and brought under control. There are still some isolated issues being popped up about this matter, but legal channels and instruments are being used to deal with this issue. However, the country, coming from the background of war and curfew which saw inhabitants especially of the far northern Namibia including the Ohangwena, Oshikoto, Oshana and Omusati regions only had freedom to move up to 18h00 in the evening. Those going against this curfew risked many challenges including death. But since independence, everyone was free to move anytime of day and night as long as that person does not disturb the next person's peace. It is a known fact that some nations and especially ethnic groups have been at one another's throats and lots of lives have been lost in the process. Some wars were fueled by religious related aspects. Thas it why I am saying, why don't we celebrate our peace and stability story - there are many nations that are yearning for peace -- so please - my nation, let's recognize the fact that we are living in harmony and we must continue to nurture and retain this status.
Democracy and elections
Namibia's first legal and national elections that brought about freedom and legal government were held in 1989. These were supervised and monitored by the United Nations, UNTAG - the United Nations Transitional Assistance Group then. Since then, our country has been holding democratic elections, meaning our national leaders are elected through legal procedures. This year, the country has another round of natinoal elections to elect the State President and the National Assembly leaders. Again, this is another mile stone - and you and me are the once to celebrate and share this with the rest of the world. There are some nations that are still be government through other means which are not acceptable to their electorates and we must be happy that our system has been working to date.
Press/Media Freedom
Namibia - through our constitution which has been hailed by many as the beacon of hope - has assured its nation of freedom of speech and press freedom - and that each person is equal before the law, therefore no one will be discriminated against on the basis of colour, race, religion etc.
At the same time, all Namibians are entitled to their thoughts, free speech, free association. And that has been working since Namibia's independence - or let me say when the constitution was formalized on 09 February 1990. Yes, there can be this and that argument and that reasoning, but what is equally true is that -each Namibian is equal before the law - and our judiciary and courts are there to listen to anyone's concerns and make an independent ruling.
The media has been diverse - electronic and media and now web - as we enjoy the International Telecommunication Union, ITU's instruction of broadcasters to convert their broadcasting equipment from analogue to digital before 2015. All persons, whether media or any other person has the right to express hius thought in writing or otherwise, as long as such thoughts do not threaten the rights of the next person as freedom comes with responsibility.
The media has been uncovering so many shady deals and corrupt related matters - they have been highlighting people's plights - and some news sources took them to court - and where the media was wrong, it was advised to correct the wrong or pay -up for damages to the source but where the media was correct, the source was told the facts or made to pay the legal costs of the particular media house. In the end, Namibia has been winning the top spot of media/press freedrom in Africa, and took that title in 2013 and 2014. All these are great stories to tell about our country.. always trying to acclaim its spot on both the African continent and world maps despite its population size of 2.1 million.
Diverse culture and hospitable people
The Namibian national fabric in terms of its various language groups is so colourful - the rhythm - sound and cliques of the various languages just makes up some unique format of our beautiful country from north to south, west and east as well as central. You can have a look at our San Communities and the ancient heritage the possess - the ample knowledge in so many respects, from intellectual and tacit knowledge to physical unique make up - think about our Ovahimba - Ovazemba, Ovatue -- have you seen their greatness in terms of their well looked after skins, their traditional wear - and cultural preservation? Think about the Ovambo groups - which include seven clans - ovakwanyama, ovandonga, ovambadja, ovambalantu, ovakwaluudhi, ovakolonkadhi and ovangandjera... with different language sounds and intonations although most of the time meaning the same thing If you go to the South, we meet our Damara/Nama although some are situation in other parts of Namibia because in a free Namibia, each person is free to live where he or she wants, as long as he or she consults the communal land board leadership - have you seen the shape of many of our Nama speaking Namibians - so unique and only them who look like that - have you listen to their song and dance, from young and old - did you check out their skills to designed clothes with patched materials - ooh, you can only see that in Namibia - I mean the Nama dress and all. The Ovaherero with the victorian dress brand - cannot be missed by especially any tourists - because their appearance and look is so catchy - just adding that value to Namibia's diversity - the mix of the Herero-German touch makes it even so different, and that is who we are. And we can go on and on - from our Silozi Speaking groups, Rukavango, Setswana, Afrikaans and German and even English - because we are a diverse nation - that is Namibia and we have once again to celebrate this beautiful diversity story. Our unity of purpose is well tucked in this diversity of our nation.
Wide Open Spaces and three in one (as in three countries in one)
Those who have been to Namibia will tell you that our country looks as if it has three countries in one - if you go to the west, you will find those unique dunes, the sea, the wide open land with shrubs and no trees and yeah - dunes and see sandwiching a highway between the holiday resort of Swakopmund and the popular Wavis Bay town or enclave as it was known before independence and was only reintegrated four years after Namibia's independence (1994). The southern part of Namibia is again a diferent land, mountaneous, canyons -the northn is northwest is full of woodlands and all - and there is so much you can look at - so fascinating - enough for the eye really.. greatness in our land.
Natural Beauty complimented by clean unpolluted air as well as relatively manageable weather patterns
Whenever you visit some countries, the first thing that greets a person is heavily polluted air, smelling of oil and general polution particles. Some countries have terrible weather - humid or freezy - or damn hot... but in Namibia, we must really celebrate our clean air - that God that all is fine to date.. our tap water is still drinkable, in some countries, one cannot even drink tap water, even in a hotel as it tastes so salty and not good for human consumption. Our weather can be hot especially in summer, but the good part of that is that the plenty sun shine is a blessing when it comes to solar energy. Our open and wide spaces contribute to the beauty of our flora and fauna. Our sun rise and sun sets are amazing - and dark skies enable star lovers to enjoy them by gazing till they drop... In winter we sometimes experiencing the cold weather of up to minus one degree celcisus in some parts of the country, but that is a good feel of what is means when hearing about countries such as Poland and Eskimos areas that are continuously freezy. have greatness in Namibia really - we are blessed - we must recognize this - and tell this beautiful story...
The realities and challenges many of the Nation face
Being a realist, I am not ignorant of the fact that many of our nationals still face great challenges, including finding decent jobs or just a job to earn bread or send kids sisters and brothers or grand children to school. There are still those who are trying to find shelter and many more.Yes poverty is still staring many in the eye. But, I am still convinced that these challenges cannot overshadow our hard earned conducive environment for peace, stability, investement, freedom of expression and no discrimination etc -- because there are precious. What I can further say is that we have good conditions to raise and address these challenges with the right leaders or through varoius platforms and find solutions to them. Remember, whatever trouble we face is actually a situation or a problem that needs to be solved and you and me have to be part of that solution.
You and me are part of what is called Namibia - therefore part of this greatness and therefore part of the untold story....
I have tried to share some of our countries hidden jewels, and I know that we have so many of them - and I leave those for you to tell -- what do you love about Namibia... I hope I have inspired you to do just thank and love our Namibia, our Pride and our country.
I know that there is so much we can list about Namibia's heritage - the positive stories I mean - worth sharing with our upcoming leaders and next generation as well as the world.
Peace and Stability
Namibia became independent on 21st March 1990. Since then, Namibia has been enjoying peace and stability and harmony among its various diverse enthic groups that mak up the country's amazing unique nation. Yes there was an attempt to seccede the Caprivi - now known as the Zambezi Region on 02 August 1999. But that plan was foiled and the stint was calmed and brought under control. There are still some isolated issues being popped up about this matter, but legal channels and instruments are being used to deal with this issue. However, the country, coming from the background of war and curfew which saw inhabitants especially of the far northern Namibia including the Ohangwena, Oshikoto, Oshana and Omusati regions only had freedom to move up to 18h00 in the evening. Those going against this curfew risked many challenges including death. But since independence, everyone was free to move anytime of day and night as long as that person does not disturb the next person's peace. It is a known fact that some nations and especially ethnic groups have been at one another's throats and lots of lives have been lost in the process. Some wars were fueled by religious related aspects. Thas it why I am saying, why don't we celebrate our peace and stability story - there are many nations that are yearning for peace -- so please - my nation, let's recognize the fact that we are living in harmony and we must continue to nurture and retain this status.
Democracy and elections
Namibia's first legal and national elections that brought about freedom and legal government were held in 1989. These were supervised and monitored by the United Nations, UNTAG - the United Nations Transitional Assistance Group then. Since then, our country has been holding democratic elections, meaning our national leaders are elected through legal procedures. This year, the country has another round of natinoal elections to elect the State President and the National Assembly leaders. Again, this is another mile stone - and you and me are the once to celebrate and share this with the rest of the world. There are some nations that are still be government through other means which are not acceptable to their electorates and we must be happy that our system has been working to date.
Press/Media Freedom
Namibia - through our constitution which has been hailed by many as the beacon of hope - has assured its nation of freedom of speech and press freedom - and that each person is equal before the law, therefore no one will be discriminated against on the basis of colour, race, religion etc.
At the same time, all Namibians are entitled to their thoughts, free speech, free association. And that has been working since Namibia's independence - or let me say when the constitution was formalized on 09 February 1990. Yes, there can be this and that argument and that reasoning, but what is equally true is that -each Namibian is equal before the law - and our judiciary and courts are there to listen to anyone's concerns and make an independent ruling.
The media has been diverse - electronic and media and now web - as we enjoy the International Telecommunication Union, ITU's instruction of broadcasters to convert their broadcasting equipment from analogue to digital before 2015. All persons, whether media or any other person has the right to express hius thought in writing or otherwise, as long as such thoughts do not threaten the rights of the next person as freedom comes with responsibility.
The media has been uncovering so many shady deals and corrupt related matters - they have been highlighting people's plights - and some news sources took them to court - and where the media was wrong, it was advised to correct the wrong or pay -up for damages to the source but where the media was correct, the source was told the facts or made to pay the legal costs of the particular media house. In the end, Namibia has been winning the top spot of media/press freedrom in Africa, and took that title in 2013 and 2014. All these are great stories to tell about our country.. always trying to acclaim its spot on both the African continent and world maps despite its population size of 2.1 million.
Diverse culture and hospitable people
The Namibian national fabric in terms of its various language groups is so colourful - the rhythm - sound and cliques of the various languages just makes up some unique format of our beautiful country from north to south, west and east as well as central. You can have a look at our San Communities and the ancient heritage the possess - the ample knowledge in so many respects, from intellectual and tacit knowledge to physical unique make up - think about our Ovahimba - Ovazemba, Ovatue -- have you seen their greatness in terms of their well looked after skins, their traditional wear - and cultural preservation? Think about the Ovambo groups - which include seven clans - ovakwanyama, ovandonga, ovambadja, ovambalantu, ovakwaluudhi, ovakolonkadhi and ovangandjera... with different language sounds and intonations although most of the time meaning the same thing If you go to the South, we meet our Damara/Nama although some are situation in other parts of Namibia because in a free Namibia, each person is free to live where he or she wants, as long as he or she consults the communal land board leadership - have you seen the shape of many of our Nama speaking Namibians - so unique and only them who look like that - have you listen to their song and dance, from young and old - did you check out their skills to designed clothes with patched materials - ooh, you can only see that in Namibia - I mean the Nama dress and all. The Ovaherero with the victorian dress brand - cannot be missed by especially any tourists - because their appearance and look is so catchy - just adding that value to Namibia's diversity - the mix of the Herero-German touch makes it even so different, and that is who we are. And we can go on and on - from our Silozi Speaking groups, Rukavango, Setswana, Afrikaans and German and even English - because we are a diverse nation - that is Namibia and we have once again to celebrate this beautiful diversity story. Our unity of purpose is well tucked in this diversity of our nation.
Wide Open Spaces and three in one (as in three countries in one)
Those who have been to Namibia will tell you that our country looks as if it has three countries in one - if you go to the west, you will find those unique dunes, the sea, the wide open land with shrubs and no trees and yeah - dunes and see sandwiching a highway between the holiday resort of Swakopmund and the popular Wavis Bay town or enclave as it was known before independence and was only reintegrated four years after Namibia's independence (1994). The southern part of Namibia is again a diferent land, mountaneous, canyons -the northn is northwest is full of woodlands and all - and there is so much you can look at - so fascinating - enough for the eye really.. greatness in our land.
Natural Beauty complimented by clean unpolluted air as well as relatively manageable weather patterns
Whenever you visit some countries, the first thing that greets a person is heavily polluted air, smelling of oil and general polution particles. Some countries have terrible weather - humid or freezy - or damn hot... but in Namibia, we must really celebrate our clean air - that God that all is fine to date.. our tap water is still drinkable, in some countries, one cannot even drink tap water, even in a hotel as it tastes so salty and not good for human consumption. Our weather can be hot especially in summer, but the good part of that is that the plenty sun shine is a blessing when it comes to solar energy. Our open and wide spaces contribute to the beauty of our flora and fauna. Our sun rise and sun sets are amazing - and dark skies enable star lovers to enjoy them by gazing till they drop... In winter we sometimes experiencing the cold weather of up to minus one degree celcisus in some parts of the country, but that is a good feel of what is means when hearing about countries such as Poland and Eskimos areas that are continuously freezy. have greatness in Namibia really - we are blessed - we must recognize this - and tell this beautiful story...
The realities and challenges many of the Nation face
Being a realist, I am not ignorant of the fact that many of our nationals still face great challenges, including finding decent jobs or just a job to earn bread or send kids sisters and brothers or grand children to school. There are still those who are trying to find shelter and many more.Yes poverty is still staring many in the eye. But, I am still convinced that these challenges cannot overshadow our hard earned conducive environment for peace, stability, investement, freedom of expression and no discrimination etc -- because there are precious. What I can further say is that we have good conditions to raise and address these challenges with the right leaders or through varoius platforms and find solutions to them. Remember, whatever trouble we face is actually a situation or a problem that needs to be solved and you and me have to be part of that solution.
You and me are part of what is called Namibia - therefore part of this greatness and therefore part of the untold story....
I have tried to share some of our countries hidden jewels, and I know that we have so many of them - and I leave those for you to tell -- what do you love about Namibia... I hope I have inspired you to do just thank and love our Namibia, our Pride and our country.
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