As Namibia honours the heroes of liberation, we also look at the stories of ordinary 
people who lived through historical periods.

Magrietha Kuhlman, a centenarian from Bethanie in the ||Kharas Region, bears testimony as a young woman during the apartheid era.

Recently turned 100 years old, Kuhlman witnessed Namibia's liberation struggle from decades of oppression.

“Sam Nujoma started the liberation struggle; he brought people together to fight for freedom. But God helped him and worked through him so that we could eventually be free. I also witnessed the fighting between our people and the South African government, and I saw how our people suffered. However, through the help of the Lord, we eventually gained our freedom.”

The centenarian remembers her childhood in Bethanie as a peaceful, close-knit community where many locals, including her family, worked for the German settlers.

Kuhlman also worked for a German employer who taught her everything she knows, but the South African takeover reshaped the community she grew up in.

“The South African government came and attacked the Germans, capturing many German soldiers who left their wives behind. The wives eventually moved to towns such as Lüderitz, Swakopmund, and Walvis Bay. From these coastal towns, they boarded ships and returned to Germany. Most of the farms in the south were owned by Germans, and we worked on those farms. That is how we were able to provide for our families.”

Despite losing some of her children and now facing challenges with her eyesight, mobility and hearing, she finds comfort with her one living daughter, grandchildren, her community and memories.