Bittersweet time reunites brother and sister

IT HAS been 70 years since Mungenga Kameja Karimbue last saw his sister, and just weeks before she came to Namibia from Angola in November he had gone blind.

“I was looking so much forward to seeing her. When she came, my sight was gone. I could only hear her,” Karimbue said in an interview this month at his daughter’s house in Windhoek’s Hochland Park. “It’s a little sweet sad story,” says Utete Karimbue-Mupaine, recounting how her father and her aunt, Vihemba Nyachikuwa, lost contact and found each other more than half a century later – after one world war, two wars of liberation and protracted civil strife in Angola.Karimbue was born in 1917 at Lompa, a village in Mavinga province, southern Angola.He was the fourth of seven children.Nyachikuwa is the last born, eight years her only surviving sibling’s junior.The last time she remembers seeing him, says Nyachikuwa, it was “the year of mosquitoes”.She was eight years old, says Karimbue, when Portuguese colonial rulers came into their village, picked out a few young men and took them to Mavinga to clear an area for the construction of new houses.Karimbue had just returned from the town of Mavinga to fetch food in his home village when he learnt that a group of young men were headed to Namibia, then known only as South West Africa, when the Union of South Africa had occupied the country under a League of Nations mandate.Speaking fluent Otjiherero and his native Nyemba, one of the languages spoken in southern Angola and the Kavango Region, octogenarian Karimbue says the journey to Grootfontein took three months.Grootfontein was the centre from where contract labourers assembled before being sent to their masters.Those recruited in Owambo were identified by alphabetical copper tags strung around their necks.Karimbue says the Angolans carried a piece of paper – a delivery note for the white bosses – in their pockets.He was sent on a coal train to Omaruru were he worked on Emil Kriege’s farm.”I never heard from my family since. I was here during Hitler’s war,” he says.Then came his country’s liberation war. Fleeing Angolans later brought him the message that his mother had died. She was eaten by a lion.The rest of the family was scattered in the aftermath of the civil war between Unita and the MPLA.”I had heard nothing about brothers and sisters since then,” he said.Meanwhile, in 1990 Nyachikuwa, who was cast adrift by war with her children, learnt that her brother was alive in Namibia.She sent her two children to Rundu, from where they were directed to Omaruru.”I bought a blanket, a cup and other goods, and told them to give them to her,” says Karimbue.The contact between them continued as long as people moving between Omaruru and Namomo, where Nyachikuwa now lives, could relay messages from one to the other.They exchanged their first letters in 1996.In 2001, Nyachikuwa recorded a message on cassette tape. On it she derided Karimbue for deserting them and not trying to keep in touch. She cried and laughed while recounting what she could of their childhood. He cried and laughed with her, especially excited at hearing her voice for the first time since 1935.He yearned to see her.Karimbue began making arrangements for a meeting.In April 2003, Karimbue-Mupaine helped her father send money to Nyachikuwa for a trip to Angola.”We were seeing that the old man’s health was deteriorating,” said his daughter, Utete.The money never reached her.In November an unexpected message came. Nyachikuwa was at Rundu.”It’s a very sad story.This man could see fairly well in October,” says Karimbue-Mupaine.”Towards the end of October, beginning November, he became totally blind.The old man takes over: “I have not seen her, I have only heard her. I wanted to see my nieces and nephews as well. I’m told they have grey hair, but I cannot see them. I am sad on the one hand but it is God’s will”.As the interview draws to a close, brother and sister exchange sad farewells.”Go and die in peace because we might not meet again,” the 87-year-old whispers to Nyachikuwa who has sat listlessly throughout the interview.Nyachikuwa took what was almost certain to be her final leave of the old man when she left for Angola last weekend.”It’s a little sweet sad story,” says Utete Karimbue-Mupaine, recounting how her father and her aunt, Vihemba Nyachikuwa, lost contact and found each other more than half a century later – after one world war, two wars of liberation and protracted civil strife in Angola. Karimbue was born in 1917 at Lompa, a village in Mavinga province, southern Angola. He was the fourth of seven children. Nyachikuwa is the last born, eight years her only surviving sibling’s junior. The last time she remembers seeing him, says Nyachikuwa, it was “the year of mosquitoes”. She was eight years old, says Karimbue, when Portuguese colonial rulers came into their village, picked out a few young men and took them to Mavinga to clear an area for the construction of new houses. Karimbue had just returned from the town of Mavinga to fetch food in his home village when he learnt that a group of young men were headed to Namibia, then known only as South West Africa, when the Union of South Africa had occupied the country under a League of Nations mandate. Speaking fluent Otjiherero and his native Nyemba, one of the languages spoken in southern Angola and the Kavango Region, octogenarian Karimbue says the journey to Grootfontein took three months. Grootfontein was the centre from where contract labourers assembled before being sent to their masters. Those recruited in Owambo were identified by alphabetical copper tags strung around their necks. Karimbue says the Angolans carried a piece of paper – a delivery note for the white bosses – in their pockets. He was sent on a coal train to Omaruru were he worked on Emil Kriege’s farm. “I never heard from my family since. I was here during Hitler’s war,” he says. Then came his country’s liberation war. Fleeing Angolans later brought him the message that his mother had died. She was eaten by a lion. The rest of the family was scattered in the aftermath of the civil war between Unita and the MPLA. “I had heard nothing about brothers and sisters since then,” he said. Meanwhile, in 1990 Nyachikuwa, who was cast adrift by war with her children, learnt that her brother was alive in Namibia. She sent her two children to Rundu, from where they were directed to Omaruru. “I bought a blanket, a cup and other goods, and told them to give them to her,” says Karimbue. The contact between them continued as long as people moving between Omaruru and Namomo, where Nyachikuwa now lives, could relay messages from one to the other. They exchanged their first letters in 1996. In 2001, Nyachikuwa recorded a message on cassette tape. On it she derided Karimbue for deserting them and not trying to keep in touch. She cried and laughed while recounting what she could of their childhood. He cried and laughed with her, especially excited at hearing her voice for the first time since 1935. He yearned to see her. Karimbue began making arrangements for a meeting. In April 2003, Karimbue-Mupaine helped her father send money to Nyachikuwa for a trip to Angola. “We were seeing that the old man’s health was deteriorating,” said his daughter, Utete. The money never reached her. In November an unexpected message came. Nyachikuwa was at Rundu. “It’s a very sad story. This man could see fairly well in October,” says Karimbue-Mupaine. “Towards the end of October, beginning November, he became totally blind. The old man takes over: “I have not seen her, I have only heard her. I wanted to see my nieces and nephews as well. I’m told they have grey hair, but I cannot see them. I am sad on the one hand but it is God’s will”. As the interview draws to a close, brother and sister exchange sad farewells. “Go and die in peace because we might not meet again,” the 87-year-old whispers to Nyachikuwa who has sat listlessly throughout the interview. Nyachikuwa took what was almost certain to be her final leave of the old man when she left for Angola last weekend.