At 100 years old, Dr Maria Fisch’s life has been spent in service to the people of north-eastern Namibia, first as a doctor and then as an ethnologist, researcher and humanitarian.
There are few who so unselfishly gave their time and skills as Fisch.
In 1966, Fisch was awarded the Benemerenti medal by the pope for service to the Catholic Church.
In 2009, at the age of 84, she was presented the highest honour from the German government when she was awarded the order of merit ‘Bundesverdienstkreuz 1.Klasse’ in acknowledgment of a lifetime of humanitarian and scientific work.
Her story begins in Germany on 24 December 1924 when she was born in Menzel.
Fisch grew up on her family’s farm (Bauernhof), learning about all aspects of animal husbandry and agriculture that would stand her in good stead for her future.
Her final years of schooling were completed during the turmoil of World War II. When she finished school, she worked for two years with orphans from the war.
Towards the end of the war, she studied at the University of Münster in the faculty of theology and philosophy, attending lectures in the cellars of buildings.
Afterwards, she studied medicine and completed a thesis on the affects of the war and its aftermath on tuberculosis.
A further five years of practical internship at various hospitals equipped her with a vast range of experience.
Her path was soon to change dramatically when she was sent by the Catholic Mission to north-eastern South West Africa (Namibia today) to Nyangana in the Gciriku area of the Kavango region.
She would never have dreamt then that she would remain in the country for the rest of her life and make a huge impact on so many people’s lives.
Responsible for the entire north-east region, she was often the only qualified doctor in a large area and had to make do with basic facilities and scant medical supplies.
She had to quickly learn the local language Mbukushu to communicate with her patients.
Travelling to satellite stations on sandy, poorly maintained roads was hard, travel took several days and funds were in short supply.
In 1967, she began work at the Catholic Mission Station at Andara near Divundu, where the mission hospital was built according to her specifications.
Besides her work at the mission, Fisch enrolled to study ethnology by long-distance in her spare time.
At the end of a decade of service at Andara, a burnt-out Fisch returned to Germany in 1977.
It wasn’t long before her services were requested again and she returned to Namibia the following year.
The South African administration contacted her to assist Kuno Budack from Windhoek in the field of ethnology, researching the history of the Kavango and Caprivi (today’s Zambezi) people.
Fisch was based at a station in Rundu and started to immerse herself in fieldwork, travelling and meeting and speaking to older people to learn about the culture and history of the different groups in both regions.
With little contact with the rest of the world, she learned and could speak the various languages of the Kavango region fluently.
During her fieldwork, she also collected many traditional and cultural artefacts, which made their way to the museums of Namibia and South Africa and to the Namibia Scientific Society (NSS) in Windhoek and Swakopmund.
Fisch’s generosity knew no bounds and she often supported people who fled from Angola, helping them to buy gardening equipment and seeds to get them on their feet.
She also bought clothes for orphans, used her salary to pay for young Namibians’ education and supported colleagues while they built houses of their own.
In 1987 she retired from professional life and moved to Windhoek, from where she volunteered her time, worked on her books and papers, and became very involved with the NSS, taking on the position of chairperson from 1992 to 1993.
In 2004 she moved to Swakopmund, where she has been involved with the Swakopmund museum and where she completed her latest book ‘The Hambukushu of Namibia’s Kavango East Region’.
Her comprehensive knowledge of the people of the Kavango and Zambezi regions, documented in notes, collections, scientific essays and books, as well as in her extensive photo archives, will preserve the history, traditions and cultural heritage of the people of northeastern Namibia for generations to come.
We take off our hats to Maria in honour of and respect for an extraordinary life dedicated to the care of the sick, to research, safeguarding hundreds of years of valuable traditional knowledge and to enriching fellow Namibians.
Thank you, Dr Maria Fisch.
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