Sachsenheim Farm

On our recent visit to Etosha National Park, some friends and I stayed at a campground/guest farm called Sachsenheim. It got me thinking about apartheid in Namibia, and the post-apartheid Namibia of today. The farm is 26 years old - Namibia gained independence in 1990. Thus, the farm was built three years before apartheid fell. As I enjoyed a quiet morning at the farm, I wondered what it was like at the farm, and all across Namibia, when apartheid finally fell. Was it a slow and steady acceptance of the new power structures and societal norms? In some places, did essentially nothing change? Was there a dramatic and sudden clash? Did any of the workers on the farm leave? Policy is policy (and very important), but it does not make a difference for the people on the ground until it is promulgated and put into action. Just as slavery in many tangible ways did not end when it was abolished (see Slavery by Another Name by D. Blackmon), I would guess that much at the farm stayed the same. Even today, the blacks and whites live very separately, clear across the farm from one another. This is also the case in my community here in Namibia. It makes one contemplate Namibia's future, and hope for a truly integrated and respectful, dignified society for ALL of its citizens.