The village girl dream

I had just completed my matrix and yes I was so happy, you can't imagine the excitement that was running down my spine, I wasn't happy just because I completed grade 12, hell no! Well some of the people at my school were happy because the nightmare of being at school and not being able to understand what the teacher was teaching in class was finally over, if after failing grade 12 they secured a low income paying job in pep or at a car wash or at a liquor store that pays enough to buy them tomy shoes or those fake guess jeans from the china shop and are able to drink 'okatokele, ombike or otom

bo' all day all weekend and come pretend like they drank Windhoek lager all day, after buying only one Windhoek lager from 20h00 to 00h00 midnight at a local popular bar, well for them that was good enough. Some of my classmates are those spoiled kids, a few thought to themselves well I will just go work at daddy's business, and when he dies I will inherit his fortune. Ask me how I know, I overheard this as some boys were talking during our lunch hour at the hostel. Well other than in class, that was the only time I interacted with boys at a table, but I was always quite, I had no idea what they were talking about at times, I recall one boy saying "Atukachincha mokoona ko Poly no kee Unam next year, ek sal daai nonas daar woema gee". If Afrikaans slang was a subject at school, well, they will all get A+. With that having been said about these boys, who were always into beautiful girls at the school, well they didn't really take much notice of me, well perhaps because I was always in my school uniform, I didn't have that many clothes to wear. There was one boy called Joseph, well they all call him Jossy, I had a crush on him, he was cute and popular but he was too spoiled, always had nice things and oh well, he never took notice of me even though we sat at the same table at the dining hall. Now let me tell you why I was so happy, I was happy because the year was finally coming to an end, I have waited all year and I will tell you why. My dream of finally becoming someone in life was getting close, my dream was to become a 'qualified Chattered Accountant' (yes I had to get those qualifications) so I knew I was preparing for the real world, and I was ready. I'm a girl from Ekoka, which is on the outskirts of Okongo, if you go there, you will feel like you are in the 1800's when technology did not exist. The only technology I knew of is TV when we lined up as young kids outside a bar that belonged to a man from Eenhana to watch "Paloma", yes I still remember because Paloma was like my role model, only difference between us was that at that point in my life I did not attract boys as she did. Well unlike most of my classmates, I was aware of my situation, and the beautiful things I saw on TV while watching Paloma inspired me as a kid, now don't get it twisted, in no way is my story or life similar to that of Paloma, we just have similar backgrounds, we were both poor. I completed my grade 12, I knew that I studied hard throughout the year, somehow I felt like this year was a year of blessings, during the second semester, I wrote my August exams and I passed with flying colors, to be exact I got 45 points. I was accepted to do Financial Accounting at the University of Namibia, so I was happy because I was going to study at UNAM, most of all I will be going to Namibia's City of Bright Lights. So when I thought of my situation, I knew that I wanted to succeed in life, and my brains were my only hope for a bright future. My Maths teacher was very proud of me, as she has always been, Mrs Kaindila, a very devoted Christian woman, always helped me when I needed her. She helped me understand Maths better, and she helped me complete my application to study at Unam, I didn't always have money, and I was afraid of asking her for money, for those of you who lived or live in the hostels you all know that in the hostel you starve, four slices of brown bread for breakfast and a little lunch that does not help much and four slices of brown bread for supper again, sometimes it's brown bread all day, especially when the power goes off. But in my free time, I offered to do laundry for her, and other staff that a young girl would normally do. She stayed in the school yard, at the teachers's houses, and when I helped her clean, she would always ask me to cook, so I ate at her home as well, well that was one problem taken care of, hunger, and sometimes when she marked our papers, I would ask her about my wrong answers and she would tell me were I went wrong. She was a guardian angel and I was her best learner and I knew that without someone like her by my side in the big city, I would find it difficult to cope, January came, I was sitting at home with my small siblings when my mother came to sit next to us "pepata". She was so happy for me, she then told me "shiveli, otokaya nee kuushiimba kOvenduka, oku tokakala hodi ku Mee Lahja, ohakala vati ko "locky kleshta" (Rocky Crest), ondalombwelwa ku Ndahambelela kutja opopepi no Unama noho, otokala née omukainu hodulika, momaumbo aanu omuudjuu nokukala. Tole sha neewiipakamo kaana kange. Well she kept on going for a good hour of how to behave and blah blah blah.. At this moment I could think of at least going some place new, other than Eenhana. We sold "omaungu nomaongo" in Eenhana on pension days and during the Eenhana expo, the people there really loved omaongo. I really just wanted to see some place new though. Back to what my mom was talking about, so I will be staying with Mee Lahja, Mee Lahja??, and yes that was the devil's advocate, I last saw her five years ago when she came for my grandmother's funeral, in her nice Nissan Navara double cab, she never came back after that, not to mention she and my mother did not get along well. Now this is who she is, she is my mother's younger sister, well there is only a three year difference between them, but she left our home when she was very young and I was about 4 or 5 years old and all we know is that after a few years in Windhoek she bought a house and a car, she was married to a rich man. I wonder what car she drives now?? The man she married was the man who paid her University fees, it wasn't long after they married when they got divorced. How I know this, my cousin Ndahambelela is as nosey as a rat, she came to visit on holidays, especially December holidays, so she always told me all the stories in Windhoek, and she knew a little bit of my aunt Lahja, she lived with her in her first year at Unam, Ndahambelela is a very sweet cousin, always joyful. She never saw her father, rumor is that while he worked in the mines at Orandjemund, he got married there to a Nama lady and never came back. Her mom, who is also my aunt, mom's elder sister, passed away when she was very young, so my mother raised her as her own, so she was always a big sister to me, to be precise, she is in her 3rd year as a law student at the University of Namibia (Unam) and she is two years older than me. I was sure my cousin will always have my back, as my mother called her 'Otjaka', well I knew she must have been doing well because she had a very nice phone, I forgot the name, but it started with a B.. and she wore very nice dresses and short mini skirts, she had very long Brazilian hair, 20 inch, she once told me only girls with rich boyfriends can afford all that, I thought she had a rich boyfriend until she told me she was a personal assistant to the CEO of NamDiamonds, a company that specializes in Diamond polishing, she told me the CEO is an old man but he pays very good. So I thought maybe that's why she could afford all her things. She also told me a secret, that somethings were easier to get if you offered a little favor. I never asked what kind of a 'favor'. This was the girl my mom had so much faith in, she always came home and she was like the first born in the family, she is a law student and she worked hard to get what she wants, sometimes a little extra hard, life has never been easy especially after she lived on her own when she and my Aunt Lahja fell out of good terms, she had to adopt. She was to be my mentor and I was to adopt or perish in Windhoek, the big city of lights, my excitement of moving to the big city also became my fear. The End. Watch out for part two as 'THE DREAM continues.... Comments are welcome.