F R A N S A L I A N S

 

Republic of Namibia

 

Namibia, formerly South West Africa, republic in south-western Africa, bounded on the north by Angola and Zambia, on the east by Botswana and South Africa, on the south by South Africa, and on the west by the Atlantic Ocean. The capital of Namibia is Windhoek.

 

Namibia popularly known as “the Land of the Brave”, proudly displays the awesome loneliness of the desert (one of the oldest deserts on earth, the Namib desert along the Western coast), the vast arid land of the South, the red duneveld of the Eastern border, the rolling savannah of the Central plateau (which forms part of the cerntal African basin and the Kalahari Desert of the East), and the wild bush country stretching to the north.

 

Namibia is a country of compelling beauty, abundant sunshine, and a feeling of unconfined space. A sense of freedom is generated by the wide horizons, the clear unpolluted skies and a population density which is among the lowest in the world. This feeling of tranquility and stillness combines with a landscape which is singular in its colours, full of contrasts of light and shade. In addition, the diversity of its people creates a rich blend of cultures and traditions.

 

Namibia has a colourful and turbulent history. In the mid-19th century, German missionaries opened up the interior, paving the way for traders who came later. The annexation of the country by Germany in 1884 accounts for the distinctive German architecture and traditions.

 

After the German Colony surrendered to the South African army in 1915, the country was under the military occupation by the then Union of South Africa until 1920. When Germany renounced all rights and title to her former colonies at the Treaty of Versailles (28 June, 1919), South Africa was given the mandate to administer the territory under the Covenant of the League of nations, regarding the territory as integral part of the Union of South Africa. Thereafter the territory became generally and officially known again as South West Africa.

 

Namibia became an independent nation on the 21st of March, 1990. The ideologies of apartheid and ethnicity still cast their shadows in the new Namibia. Reconciliation, stability, a coming closer of the various ethnic groups, and the building of a United Namibia must be worked on, till they are mastered.

 

PEOPLE OF NAMIBIA

 

Namibia is a blend of many different peoples and cultures. It is home to the Bushmen, the oldest inhabitants of Southern Africa. Namibia is estimated to have a population of about 1.7 million people which represents one of the lowest population densities on the African continent amounting to 1.5 people per km². Three quarters of the Namibian population live in rural areas, the modern trend seems to indicate a rather uncontrolled population influx to urban centres like e.g. Windhoek.

 

Namibia's population consists of at least eleven major ethnic groups, ranging from pastoralists and hunter/ gatherers, commercial and communal farmers to town dwellers. During the colonial German and South African occupation ethnic groupings were heavily influenced by the cultural classification practiced by these countries. Since independence conscious effort has been made to emphasize and preserve the identity and dignity of individual groups while at the same time working towards a common national identity (in the spirit of nation-building, "national reconciliation").

 

In the past a lot of havoc has been caused by indiscriminate often inaccurate classifications of so-called different language and cultural groups, which makes it difficult in the present context to make generalisations. What follows is a brief outline of the historical context and distinctive traits of each major cultural group in Namibia: Ethnic groups covered: Ovambo, Okavango, Nama, Caprivians, Herero, San, Himba, Rehoboth Basters [Coloureds], Damara, Tswana and Europeans.

 

As a first language most Namibians speak either a Bantu language (Ovambo, Herero and Caprivi languages) or a Khoisan language (Nama, Damara or a San-dialect). The Bantu language group includes eight dialects of Ovambo, with Kwanyama and Ndonga being the official languages of the Ovambo regions. The Kavango people have four separate dialects (Kwangali, Mbunza, Sambiyu and Geiriku), Kwangali is the most important of these dialects The most widely spoken language in the Caprivi is Lozi and the Herero people speak Herero, most place-names beginning with an "o" stem from the Herero language.

 

After independence the official language of Namibia was designated as English, a rather bold move considering that it was at the time the native tongue of only 2% of the population. Policy makers decided nevertheless that all ethnic groups would therefore be at an equal disadvantage and English was also favoured with regard to potential international tourists and investors. Afrikaans often dismissed as the language of apartheid, is the first language of over 100 000 Namibians of diverse ethnic backgrounds and most Namibian "Coloureds" and Rehoboth Basters use it as their first language. German is also widely spoken, although it is the first language of less than 2% of the people. In the far north around Rundu and Katima Mulilo quite a lot of Portuguese is also spoken and in the Caprivi region English is actually preferred over Afrikaans as lingua franca.

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Nama

 

Ethnically the Nama living in Namibia are descendants of Khoisan groups who have been living in southern Africa for many thousands of years. It is believed that the first Nama groups to arrive Namibia did so about 2,000 years ago, having migrated first from Botswana. Traditionally the Nama were semi-nomadic pastoralists who also continued to hunt and gather food from the veld. The various different clans shared the available pastures and water in Southern and Central Namibia, moving with their animals as need dictated. Although little is known of the precise relations between Nama and Bushmen, it is assumed that there must have been contact between the two groups, and even some social movement between them.

 

Khoisan dialects are characterised by "click"-elements which make them rather difficult to learn and names which include an "!; | ;||;" are of Khoisan origin.

 

Owambo

 

Made up of 12 tribes in all of whom 8 live in Namibia and 4 in Angola, the Owambo are the single largest ethic group in Namibia with an estimated population in 1994 of 670,000. Traditionally the Owambo live in round, pallisaded homesteads built on raised ground between the oshanas, seasonal lakes which flood during the rainy season.

 

San

 

The San or Bushmen as they are often called are generally accepted to be the oldest indigenous inhabitants of southern Africa, and numerous examples of their rock art, dating back thousands of years, is to be found all over the sub-region. Traditionally the San were skilled hunter-gatherers living in small independent bands with the family as the basic unit. Different bands had limited contact with each other, although individuals were free to come and go as they pleased, unhampered by possessions of fixed work responsibilities. Today, the estimated 45,000 San living in Namibia live a marginalized existence on the fringes of mainstream society. 

 

Coloureds

 

Around 60,000 people in Namibia today regard themselves as “Coloureds.”  These people were originally of mixed European and Afican descent, but on the vast majority today are born from Coloured parents. The apartheid reality of Coloured townships, Coloured Schools and Coloured Churches means that there is a strong sense of shared community and culture. Afrikaans-speaking and urban-dwelling, the Coloured community is predominantly Christian and Western oriented. Most Coloureds live in the central and southern parts of the country.

 

CHRISTIANITY IN NAMIBIA

 

The first Christian evangelists that travelled to the present day Namibia from South Africa in 1806 were of the Protestant London Mission Society. The second group of Missionaries to arrive were the Wesleyan Evangelists. Later the Rhenish Mission Society took over the work of the London and Wesleyan Missions and extended it to the north through tiresome treks on wagons pulled by oxen. In 1870, the Lutheran Finnish Mission started to set up stations in Ovamboland.

 

The Catholic missionaries entered Namibia for the first time in 1878. They were the members of the Congregation of the Holy Spirit [the Spiritan Fathers]. Many of the tribal chiefs promised them their whole-hearted support for the mission work in the North. But due to adverse circumstances and manifold difficulties, they could not continue with the mission work in the North.

 

The Oblates of Mary Immaculate (OMI)

 

In 1882, Propaganda Fide transferred the newly founded prefecture of “Nieder Cimbebasien” (the erstwhile German South West Africa) to the Oblates of Mary Immaculate. The first group of the OMI came to Namibia in 1896.  However, they found that their activities were severely restricted. The German colonial authorities prevented their visits to the different tribal groups. They were allowed to work only among those to whom the gospel had already been preached and who were already baptised. They were to undertake the pastoral care of the whites: farmers, traders and soldiers.

 

It was the policy of the government not to allow more than one missionary society into an area. The tribes which were already being evangelised by a missionary society were closed to any other missionary society. At that time, the Rhenish missions were practically all over the country. However, the OMI missionaries found possibilities of mission work in the northern part of the country. After a series of eleven expeditions, missions were gradually established in the North. The seed they planted began to germinate in the following decades, though it took quite a long time before it started growing into a tree.

 

The Oblates of St. Francis de Sales (OSFS)

 

In 1888, Rome entrusted the Great Namaqualand to the care of the OSFS Fathers. Though the initial attempts to establish a mission in Namibia failed to bear fruit, in 1896, they were able to buy a farmland as a base for the mission work. With this humble beginning, the enthusiastic and hardworking OSFS Fathers, Brothers and Sisters went to different places in the southern Namibia, building churches and schools, hostels and hospitals. They came from America and from all over Europe – France, Austria, Germany, Netherlands, Switzerland, Czechoslovakia and Italy. 

 

The good work began by these missionaries still bears abundant fruit and there are a good number of young Namibian religious working side by side with their confreres from overseas.

 

During the pioneering period, the people of Africa played a very significant role. They moved freely among the pagan and the protestant populations and proved that it would do no harm to become a Catholic. It would break down the natural fear and aversion. Especially for the non-Christian population, it showed that Christianity is essentially Catholic.

 

Many committed and convinced missionaries have braved all challenges, endured untold difficulties and even laid down their lives for the spread of the Gospel. The initial phase of the missionary activities inspires the work today and the Catholic Church in Namibia has grown.

 

Catholic Church is now 108 years old. There are two dioceses and one vicariate. There are four bishops among whom three are Namibians. The Catholic population numbers roughly about 20% of the total population. Most of the priests working in these dioceses are religious priests (OMI, OSFS, MSFS, SDB, and CMI), and majority of them from overseas. Many of the parishes have outstations which are quite far-flung, and very often there is only one priest in the parish to administer sacraments and to hold liturgical services. There is an urgent need of priests in Namibia.