‘Go well, humble soul’

As parents, teachers and pupils of !Aimablaagte Primary School, many of us did not know Axali Doeseb personally, but that does not lessen the pain we feel losing a man of his stature – the composer of our school anthem.

Doeseb arrived to occupy space in our school community at a time when we were busy embedding the identity of the new school at Mariental.

We succeeded to jointly decide on the school’s uniform, logo, and emblem, but had difficulty to identify a composer.

It was in July that I proposed Doeseb as the composer of our school anthem – an honour he humbly accepted.

And so our five-month journey with the eminent musician started.

Unbeknown to us, it was at a time that he was slowly walking into the sunset, but far-sightedness allowed him to complete the composition of our school anthem, ‘Running the Race with Endurance’.

To our knowledge, our anthem is the 22nd and the last composition of this great musician.

Undoubtedly, Doeseb, through his music, evoked the emotions of pain, joy, grief, empowerment and fun, but more importantly, he moved us to march for justice, peace and the right to self-determination which brought about independence.

Doeseb had the gift of precisely describing a place or emotions through his lyrics – like watching a movie.

In ‘Run the Race with Endurance’ he described conditions after Mariental’s floods.

“When floods block the way to knowledge

“And there’s no bridge over the damage

“Run the race with endurance,” the lyrics read.

As the repositories of Doeseb’s legacy, we will with bravery through our academic, cultural, and sport performances honour the composer of ‘Namibia, Land of the Brave’.

We will treasure your reaction on WhatsApp when you heard the rendition of your final composition.

“So good! Thank you, Mr Conductor. My huge appreciation for leading the parents and the kids. Super!”

We last spoke on 21 October to inform you of our inauguration plans.

Sadly, to us your promise to arrive two days before the inauguration to rehearse the piece with us will not materialise, but we take consolation in the fact that you had approved Ambrosius Nuseb to complete your assignment.

As agreed, we will unveil the school anthem, emblem, uniform, patron, anthem composer, board, teachers, pupils, vision, mission and value statement when we inaugurate the school during the first term of 2024.

We will eternalise your contribution as one of the founding fathers of !APS posthumously.

In bidding you farewell, we will stand together in mourning you – not only for what you gave us when you were here, but to remain true to our identity.

Go well, humble soul.

• Anwar Thomas wrote this obituary on behalf of !Aimablaagte Primary School, where he serves as the chairperson of the school board.

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