Katatura

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Hello!

On Rebecca’s last day in Namibia when she was at the airport, she bought a movie called “Katatura”. It is based on the slums of Windhoek, a large part of the population lives here, but due to the great economic imbalance, the wealth of the city does not spread so far. This area has problems with alcohol, violence, and gangs. When we were in Windhoek, we were by a taxi through Katutura but were not allowed to get out of the car. Lorely and I had read about it in a book in the spring. In the film, Kataura is portrayed as poorly built homes and focuses on the life of a few families.  A gang leader takes control, and individuals attempting to survive the violence,  consequences of stolen diamonds, and love. I highly recommend this movie to all individuals, and you can find it on Youtube!

Best wishes,

Kimberly

Ein bleibender Einfluss

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There is still a large German influence in Namibia. There are approximately 20,000 German descendants living in Namibia, who are now in the fourth or fifth generation. When traveling around Namibia you can still see German signs, street names, and buildings. There are German schools teaching English, tribal languages ​​and German. In Swakopmund, the houses show German architectural heritage and famous German buildings such as the Altes Amtsgericht, the Marine Memorial, Princess Rupprecht Heim, the Old Prison, the lighthouse, the Woerhaus, and the Hohenzollern building. We met many individuals who spoke German and were of German descent, such as an antique dealer in Peter’s Antiques Swakopmund and our tour guide in Sandwich Harbor. There is no shortage of German food and beer as many restaurants like Joe’s in Windhoek and Kückis Pub in Swakopmund offer authentic German cuisines such as sauerkraut, beer, wurst, and apfelkuchen z.b. We had asked ourselves before we went to Namibia, whether we would be able to see a German presence in Namibia for the German side of my project, but the heritage and the culture proved to still hold a place in Namibian culture.

Eine verflochtene Vergangenheit

 

 

The world news has been paying attention to and releasing more articles on the relationship between Namibia and Germany. Although this relationship is improving, there are some tender areas that remain. Between 1904 and 1908, the Germans killed thousands of Namibians of the Herero, Nama, and San, until two Namibians triggered a rebellion. They were led by Samuel Maharero, leader of the Herero, and captain Hendrik Witbooi at the head of the Nama. Now, many decades later, Namibia is seeking reparation for the genocide, and Germany is mostly willing to oblige.  Namibia wants Germany to recognize the genocide, apologize for it and even make financial compensation for the descendants of those killed. However, Germany apologized in 2015 and recognized its past actions, they did not want to provide any financial compensation. Another discussion covers the return of the skeletons of Namibian citizens who were brought to Germany during the colonial era as prizes, artifacts, and collections, which Germany has agreed to.

Namibia Abend

For the Namibia Night, I received money from COFLT. In the fall we had a small sample presentation in preview for a bigger presentation in the spring. On Namibia Night I talked about my German project. I made typical Namibian food like pap, chicken with braii sauce, fried cabbage, potjie, and caramel velvet cupcakes. I wrote the link for the food under this post but as a disclaimer, I did not follow the recipes 100 percent because I made the food out of taste and memory. For the presentation, I talked about the inspirations behind the project, about my classes with Lorely and Rebecca, the partnership with the University of Namibia, where we traveled, a bit of colonial history, the grants we received,  preparation and planning, partnerships, the results and more.

 

Pap and fried cabbage:

https://www.internationalcuisine.com/namibian-pap-and-fried-cabbage/

 

Potjie:

https://www.196flavors.com/namibia-potjiekos/

 

Chicken with Braii-Sauce:

https://www.countrylife.co.za/local-flavours/katemba-potjie

 

Caramel velvet cupcakse:

https://grandbaby-cakes.com/caramel-cake/

Museen


In Namibia besuchten wir drei herausragende Museen. Sie waren die ……. Jedes hatte seine eigene Geschichte, zwei widersprachen sich gegenseitig und warfen ihr eigenes Licht auf die Geschichte Namibias. Das letzte war von einer anderen Art.

Windhoek:
Am ersten Tag in Namibia haben wir das Namibia Unabhängigkeitsmuseum besucht. Es war dieses große goldene Gebäude mit fünf Stockwerken. Jedes Stockwerk hat einen Aspekt der Geschichte Namibia. Es war grafisch und traurig, als wir in Kreisen spazierten und die fortwährende Ermordung von Namibia durch den Kolonialismus aus dem Blick der westlichen Entwicklung und der Macht überprüften. Das Museum bestätigt die namibische Perspektive des Völkermords und den Kampf um die Überwindung vieler mächtiger Mächte wie Deutschland und Südafrika. Durch dieses Museum kann man über den frühen Widerstand, das Konzentrationslager auf Shark Island, und den Tod von Tausenden Einheimischen und die Zerstörung Namibias erfahren.

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Swakopmund:

Swakopmund war ein richtiges Stadt fur deustschland weil er ein Hafen ist, obwohl er nicht der beste war, Lüderitz war zu weit südlich und Walvis Bay unter britischer Besatzung. So entstand der Bau eine Eisenbahn von Swakopmund nach Windhoek unter einer Hamburger Fracht- und Reederei. Die Eisenbahn und die Anlegestelle halfen, deutsche Kolonialherren mit Notwendigkeiten und Macht zu versorgen. Im Swakopmund Museum gibt es eine offensichtliche deutsche Kultur, da Grafiken und Artefakte deutsches Erbe zeigen und Tafeln beschreiben, wie Deutschland Namibia mit Strom und Eisenbahn versorgt und das Land für die westliche Welt geöffnet hat. Im Vergleich zum Museum in Windhoek stellte dieses Museum die Deutschen als Retter dar, die Modernismus und technologischen Fortschritt brachten. Sie brachten westliche Medikamente, Ärzte, Kleider und in ihren Augen Frieden zu den Stämmen Namibias.

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Krystal Gallery:

Dann sind  wir zur Kristall Galerie gegangen. Es ist die Galerie für den größsten Quarzkristall  der Welt, und wir konnten wunderschöne Mineralien und Kristalle aus Namibia sehen.