News

Newsletter of the Topnaar Education Project 

2009-11-30 19:23:00

Newsletter of the Topnaar Education Newsletter

This recent update of an exciting project in Namibia gives some background to the life e of the Topnaar people. Photographs by Bev Austin and Heidi Dedman.

Winding through the Namib Desert is the Kuiseb River. This seasonal river flows through the desert to Walvis Bay on Namibia’s central coast.  The Namib is one of the world’s oldest deserts and includes ancient dunes that parallel various watercourses. It is along this river that the Topnaar people have settled into a life of herding, farming and gathering food from the bush much as they have done for thousands of years. 

The Topnaar are also known as the Aonin and are one of 13 groups that make up the Nama people.  The name Topnaar is an Afrikaans word meaning “people of the point or extreme” in direct reference to the forbidding landscape they inhabit.  The name also contains influence from the local Nama language acknowledging the people’s unique connection to the !Nara plant. 
 
The !Nara is an amazingly versatile plant native to the Namib’s dunes.  The taproot of the !Nara can bore 40 meters down to find moisture, and once rooted, its tangled branches form a thick crown that stabilizes the shifting sands around it.  These plants augment ground moisture with condensation from the fogs that blanket the areas in which they are found. 

The unique adaptations of the !Nara allow individual plants to live for over 100 years in this harsh environment.   Every part of the !Nara’s melon-like fruit is used in some fashion.  The husks provide feed for livestock while the nuts form a protein- rich staple of the Topnaar diet.  The fruity flesh of the !Nara is an amazingly versatile plant native to the Namib’s dunes.  The taproot of the !Nara can bore 40 meters down to find moisture, and once rooted, its tangled branches form a thick crown that stabilizes the shifting sands around it.  These plants augment ground moisture with condensation from the fogs that blanket the areas in which they are found. 

The melon can be dried and stored for several years.  The !Nara is also thought to have medicinal properties for everything from stomach ailments to sunburn protection. 

In recent years the melon has become an important export to neighboring countries such as South Africa. The Topnaar’s ancient culture- so in tune with and dependent upon the desert in which they live- is challenged on many fronts.  The formation of the huge Namib Naukluft Park in the 1960’s has restricted their movement and severely limited their ability to hunt and harvest in their traditional lands.  Additionally, population growth in Swakopmund and Walvis Bay has begun to lower the water table.  This directly threatens the local water sources of the Topnaar and the survival of even indigenous plants like the !Nara.  As you can imagine, these challenges continually affect the lives of our Gava Kids.
 
Meet Juliet!  Juliet Goagus (Xoagus), age 13, was born in March 1996 and is finishing 7th grade.  Her favorite subject is English - her third language after Topnaar and Afrikaans.  Juliet writes and reads all three languages quite well.  When asked to complete the phrase:  “I am glad…” she wrote (word for word),  “I am happy for my things and for the support.  I really like my things.  I will also work hard at school to pass my grade 7.  I want to become someone important to help children. I love u. You’re best.  Thanks you to all”.
 
I can tell you that Juliet does indeed help us with the other students.  Though she doesn’t have a father and her mother doesn’t have a job this young lady is one of our brightest learners.  Thanks to your wonderful and generous support she has had this chance to shine in school.  Juliet has been one of our Gava Kids for several years and we truly look forward to her future success.

Submitted by Kelly Austin kaustin78@att.net

Photographs:

Juliet July 2009 - Photo by Heidi Dednam
Juliet with friends - Photo by Bev Austin
Juliet in 2006 - Photo by Heidi Dednam
!Nara Chocolat - Photo by Bev Austin
!Nara melons - Photo by Bev Austin 

Comments

This listing has no comments

You have to Login or Register to leave a comment.