Good Morning Namibia
The long way to independence on a Namibian farm
Erika von Wietersheim
ISBN 9789994576685
This first English Edition was published by Kuiseb Publishers, September 2020
The original edition was published 2019 under the titel “Guten Morgen, Namibia” by Palmato Publishing, Hamburg, Germany.
In this biographical narrative Erika von Wietersheim takes us back to the time between 1976 and Namibia’s independence in March 1990. It is the story of a twofold emancipation: After her studies at the rather liberal University of Cape Town the young Namibian returns to her motherland to live with her husband Anton on the farm of her parents-in-law. There she is confronted with traditional apartheid structures and relationships. What can she do to change the existing situation and contribute to a more just society for the people on the farm and in the country? One answer is education. She establishes a school on the farm – initially without any outside help and against official regulations. In this way she comes into living contact with Namibian children, their parents and their culture and with time with important people of Namibia’ independence movements like Hendrik Witbooi, Hage Geingob, and Anton Lubowski.
The author artfully interweaves the story of her life on the farm with political backgrounds and developments, gives us insight into the culture of the local Nama people, describes the ups and downs of everyday life on a farm and demonstrates that also among white Namibians there were serious endeavors to make Namibia a more just and self-determined society.
Erika von Wietersheim, born in 1952 in Lüderitzbucht, Namibia,lives in Windhoek as an author and journalist. After her studies at the University of Cape Town in South Africa, she ran a farm in the south of Namibia with her husband, the later Minister for Agriculture Anton von Wietersheim, and established a farm school for all children on and around the farm. Until today the social commitment for the reconciliation between the different Namibian cultures is an important part of her work.
“This book is a must-read for serious citizens.”
Dr Shekutaamba V V Nambala
Bishop of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in Namibia (ELCIN)
