Political Perspective
By: Gwen Lister
HOW many of us don’t talk the talk about patriotism and national pride, but when it comes down to it, we don’t care for our country in ways that we should?
I’ve just watched a group of what looked like Polytech students lunching on a pavement in Windhoek West, having a fun football game with empty plastic bottles and cans, and then walking off, leaving their rubbish behind. I cannot pass the premises of Centaurus School without becoming angered afresh at the sight of those overgrown and neglected tennis courts. I’ve also just read the story about the nurses homes at Katutura and Windhoek state hospitals being declared ‘unfit for human occupation’ and I’m wondering how we’ve allowed things to get as bad as they are.
Some will argue that it is about money that we don’t have, as well as maintenance and renovation, and the fact that those responsible aren’t looking after our infrastructure and physical resources. But that is only a small part of the problem. It is really about our people not caring enough, always content to find someone else to blame.
The nurses quarters at the two hospitals, for example, have been in the news on and off for years now. The accumulation of garbage at the premises as well as the overcrowding and ‘squatters’ have been the topic of frequent news reports. Yet very little was done by those who live there. And this is perhaps what is most astounding. These are our nurses. People responsible for the sick at our hospitals. These are people who have had albeit varying levels of professional training in which cleanliness and hygiene would have been at the top of the list. So how did they allow things to get to the point where their living quarters have to be evacuated due to filth, squatters and safety risks? This is just not acceptable.
They surely cannot be blamed for ageing buildings that may be in need of maintenance and repair, but they surely are accountable for rubbish and overcrowding and lack of hygiene that have led to this point. Build new premises or renovate once again, and will they take more care in the future? Probably not. They will in all likelihood maintain that they are ‘entitled’ to good accommodation, but they won’t take responsibility for keeping it that way. And this is precisely what should happen.
We complain about a lack of sports development at our schools, and then one sees wonderful and costly sporting infrastructure from town to town, like the courts at Centaurus, that are now dilapidated and overgrown. This is just one example. There are many. And had these been in use over the past few years, perhaps the country may have turned out a few really good tennis players on the international circuit.
Ironically, as I bemoan our national culture of uncaring, I must at the same time acknowledge that in the midst of all this, Windhoek remains one of the best-kept cities in Africa. It may not have much character, but it’s been commended for cleanliness. This is probably no thanks to our people, but to the part-timers employed by the city to clean the streets of the garbage and refuse. It does impress visitors and they’re likely to return because of this.
And there’s no reason why the whole country can’t be looked after in the same way. Not only for the tourists, but also for those of us who love our country and appreciate its diverse beauty.
I was touched recently, by a story about the Donkerhoek school for the San in Omaheke where children are squashed into zinc ‘dormitories’ and where even the basics, like running water, are hard to come by. How little it would take to make it habitable, perhaps just a small donation and the help of the local community, the teachers and the kids. This may help to restore pride in a place where there is probably so little left because this community and its children feel like forgotten people. There is no reason why a modest rural school can’t turn out children with a bright future, but they need to be given hope, the chance to be in a better place and to look after it with pride. The reverse side of the coin is that it is unacceptable, at better-equipped and ‘richer’ schools, that these children have little respect for the infrastructure and environment of places they may want to send their children to in the future.
It is often said that people don’t respect what isn’t theirs. A company car will never outlast a vehicle that an individual has saved to pay for and has looked after for this reason. The same applies to housing. But Namibia is ours: its infrastructure, whether schools or hospitals, graveyards and pavements; its roads; its clear skies and pristine landscapes. It is important to instill pride because it is our choice and decision whether we allow our country and infrastructure to collapse before our very eyes if we’re not prepared to lift a hand. And as our circumstances deteriorate, so will we.
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