Annelien van Wyk
In The Exile Child, Valentina tells a story that so many can relate too, at times her story becomes your own. There are moments during the reading of the book that the reader becomes that very person whom the writer speaks of, the emotions expressed in her two hundred and sixteen page book becomes the readers’ own emotions and quite often it evoke overpowering feelings of abhorrence, revulsion and repulsion for the hardships that so many Namibians experienced during the apartheid regime.
Valentina: The Exile Child: An autobiography by Rachel Valentina Nghiwete
by Rachel Valentina NghiweteOn the dawn of Namibia's independence from South African rule in 1990, around 43,000 exiles were repatriated to the country formerly known as South West Africa. Of these, many had left their country of birth to flee the brutality of South Africa's apartheid regime, and/or to join the struggle (political and armed) for Namibia's liberation, waged primarily by the South… See more details below
Overview
On the dawn of Namibia's independence from South African rule in 1990, around 43,000 exiles were repatriated to the country formerly known as South West Africa. Of these, many had left their country of birth to flee the brutality of South Africa's apartheid regime, and/or to join the struggle (political and armed) for Namibia's liberation, waged primarily by the South West Africa People's Organization (SWAPO). But included in the 43,000, were about 20,000 children who had never set foot in or fully experienced the country to which they were being repatriated, having been born to and/or raised by exiled soldiers and refugees of the struggle. In Namibia, these children are often referred to simply as 'exile kids', though the country's Government officially recognizes them as "The Children of the Liberation Struggle".
Rachel Valentina Nghiwete, is one such 'exile kid', born in the SWAPO camps of Kwanza-Sul, Angola, in 1979, to Namibian soldiers fighting under SWAPO's banner. Set against the background of Namibia's liberation struggle, Valentina: The Exile Child details the author's experience growing up in exile, her 'repatriation' to Namibia in 1989 on the eve of the country's independence, and her life outside the country in London and Washington DC, as the daughter of an Ambassador, as a businesswoman, and as an individual in pursuit of financial freedom.
The Exile Child also explores the challenges of establishing a Namibian identity after an early life in exile, and looks at how children of the liberation struggle - at home in Namibia and abroad - have struggled to adjust.
Read this book for a historical account of Namibia's road to freedom from the perspective of an exile kid, and for an inspiring tale of a Namibian exile child's painful and joyful journey to finding and living a life of meaning and purpose.
Editorial Reviews
Thomas Kashidulika
I’m a 19 year old Namibian youth who recently finished high school in Windhoek and am now attending Polytechnic. I read the hard copy of the book from the first page to the last page and I was thrilled by the content of the book and the exciting details in it.Through reading the book, I gained an understanding and thorough knowledge on the opulent history that Namibians possess and was inspired by the authors' life and experiences.The tough-hard times Namibia went through during its liberNangula Shejavali
Have you ever wondered what it must be like growing up as a child in exile, in the midst of Namibia’s liberation struggle? Ever stopped to think about how this experience may have shaped the worldview of the children among the 43 000 exiled Namibians repatriated to the country after independence? Ever questioned what it actually means to be what the Namibian Government has termed a “child of the liberation struggle”?Product Details
- ISBN-13:
- 9780578050447
- Publisher:
- V.E.E.M House of Publishing
- Publication date:
- 05/06/2010
- Pages:
- 286
- Product dimensions:
- 6.00(w) x 9.00(h) x 0.60(d)
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