Namibian Heritage Week Inclusive of Youth

Namibian Heritage Week is an opportunity for all Namibians to participate in a celebration of our natural and cultural heritage.

The week was commemorated from 17 to 23 September under the theme ‘;turuganeni kamwe’;, meaning ‘;let’;s work together’; to safeguard our culture and our heritage.

The directorate of national heritage and culture programmes in the Hardap region successfully hosted a debate and quiz competition as well as a culture festival with a traditional cuisine and a poetry competition during the week.

According to the directorate, “the purpose of this activity was to make pupils and the community aware of the importance of culture and heritage, its preservation and promotion, for them to know what culture is and to acquaint them with the rich cultural heritage we have in Namibia”.

The event engaged pupils from all seven schools in Mariental, namely:

Mariental SSS, Danie Joubert Combined School, Mariental Gymnasium Private School, Empelheim Junior Secondary School, Sonop Primary School, DD Guibeb Primary School and Mariental Primary School. All the high schools took part in the debating competition which focused on the topic ‘;is culture and tradition relevant in today’;s world?’; while the primary schools focused on the topic of Namibia’;s natural, cultural and intangible cultural heritage.

Sonop PS scooped the trophy, winning the first prize for the quiz competition, while Danie Joubert CS received the second prize and Mariental PS took the third prize.

Danie Joubert CS for the second year in a row made sure to be the champions of the debating competition.

They secured the first prize and the spot of best speaker, won by Jason van Wyk.

The second place was secured by Mariental SSS and in the third place Mariental Gymnasium Private School.

“We believe that through these types of events pupils can build knowledge about Namibia’;s natural, cultural and intangible cultural heritage,” a statement said.

The event this year grew with two more competitions that were added, namely the poetry competition which was won by Alecjandro Milinga from Sonop PS and the traditional cuisine competition which was won by Mariental SSS.

– Directorate of National Heritage and Culture

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