Namibia: Warmquelle Yearns for Development …Youth Wish for Breakthrough

Warmquelle might be a relatively small village with less than 3 000 people, but it brims with life on almost any given day.

The village forms part of the Sesfontein settlement.

Tourists passing through the village – attracted by a warm spring in the area – blend with the sounds and bustle of locals going about their lives, making this place unique.

Here, dreams of making it big and landing a career outside the village abound.

The youth wish for better life prospects and income-earning opportunities to improve their living standards.

Rivaldo Awiseb (27) is no exception.

“Given half the chance, we will take the opportunity to eke out a living outside the confines of Warmquelle any day,” he said.

Awiseb passed his matric with good marks, but because of limited funds, he could not go to university or find a job.

Now, he collects empty cans with other young people.

They take the cans to the local chief’s house, where the chief’s daughter buys them for a small fee.

He lives in a small two-room shack made of mopane twigs with his single mother and his younger siblings.

“I want to change my life, but there are no opportunities here,” he said.

Like Rivaldo, many young people in Warmquelle are struggling.

Ujevaeva Tjaivari, who is also unemployed, said most of the youth have lost hope and now turn to drugs and alcohol because they have nothing to do.

“There are no jobs or youth programmes. People just sit around and drink. Some use their grant money to buy alcohol instead of food,” she said.

Warmquelle faces even more challenges.

There is not enough clean water, toilets are in poor condition and the roads are bad.

This makes life very difficult for people living there.

Despite everything, Awiseb and other youth are hoping that one-day things will get better.

They want jobs, better services and real chances for their youth to succeed.

Employ my people

Chief Jeremia Gaobaeb of the Nami-Daman Traditional Authority in Sesfontein has urged lodge owners and tourism operators in the Kunene region to prioritise the employment of local youth.

He said the community remains sidelined in an area rich with tourism opportunities.

In an interview with New Era this week, chief Gaobaeb expressed frustration that most tourism and conservation businesses in the region continue to recruit staff from outside the constituency, despite high levels of youth unemployment in Sesfontein and surrounding areas.

“Kunene is rich in natural beauty and home to some of Namibia’s most unique tourist attractions, especially here in Sesfontein,” he said.

He added: “Unfortunately, the people living in these areas are not benefitting. Most of the workers are brought in from outside. Our youth are left roaming the streets”.

The chief said the lack of meaningful economic activity has left young people with few options.

“There’s nothing going on economically in Sesfontein, Warmquelle or Khowarib. Our youth are either selling kapana, sitting idle or working on farms for peanuts,” he stressed.

To address this, Gaobaeb plans to convene a meeting with lodge and tourism establishment owners to explore ways to integrate locals into their operations.

“We need a structured approach that ensures local participation in the tourism value chain,” he said.

“If we create youth centres and formalise open markets, local artists and entrepreneurs can have a proper platform to sell their products,” he stated.

Chief Gaobaeb also voiced concern over what he described as a growing influx of undocumented Angolan nationals, whom he accused of contributing to livestock theft and unrest in the community.

“This is a serious challenge that our two governments need to address,” the chief expressed. “We must strengthen security along ungazetted border points. I’m not saying Angolans shouldn’t enter but we must know who is coming in, where they are working and whether they are documented,” he stated.

He urged farm owners to verify the legal status of their foreign workers.

“When livestock goes missing, we need a way to trace it. Documentation helps with accountability,” the chief said.