Tears over the Deserts, by Jackson Kaujeua

Tears over the Deserts, by Jackson Kaujeua. New Namibia Books, 2nd edition. Windhoek, Namibia 2009. ISBN 9789994569045 / ISBN 978-99945-69-04-5

Imgages from the biography Tears over the Deserts, the story of the Namibian singer, poet and writer Jackson Kaujeua.

Tears over the Deserts, by Jackson Kaujeua. The Namibian author and musician was born on 3 July 1953 in Keetmanshoop into a Herero family and raised in the nearby Tses area in southern Namibia.

Kaujeua, Jackson  

He attended the Roman Catholic Primary and Secondary school in Tses and then studied at the Paulinum Theological Seminar in Otjimbingwe. After two years he left in 1973 to study Music Theory and Rudiments at Dorkay House, a College of Arts, in Johannesburg, South Africa. After one year he was expelled from the country due to the suspicion of political involvement in Anti - Apartheid activities. Jackson was interrogated several times by the Special Branch of the South African Police. He left for exile via the Kalahari Desert when the situation became unbearable. He spent 15 years in exile in Botswana, Zambia, United Kingdom, Angola and Sweden. In Angola he worked in the Refugee camps as a teacher and cultural activist. He studied part-time at the University of Lund, Sweden, Extra Mural Studies in Music Arrangements and Cultural Anthropology. In 1989 he returned to Namibia, shortly before Namibia became independent in March 1990. Jackson can look back to a 35 year career as a musician. He has released 12 CDs and four music DVDs up to this day. In 1990 he was honoured with the Overall Winner Award of the Namibian Broadcasting Music Makers Competition and 2004 with the NBC/Sanlam Music Lifetime Achievement Award. He played several leading acting roles in Namibian movies, documentaries, commercials, and a soap opera. He was co-writer of the musical "The Lions Roar" based on his life and music. The multi-talented speaks seven languages. He is a father of five children, three girls and two boys. Currently he and his manager and business partner Kerstin van Wyk are running the company "Jackson Kaujeua Music Spectacle and Partner cc". He performs nationally, on African platforms and internationally. Jackson Kaujeua enjoys a traditional Herero life together with his family on his farm in the mountains of Ovitoto, Okahandja district.

Up and Down in Windhoek

"Granny, I am heading for Windhoek to look for a job." "Hehee, as if I would say no. I knew that request would be echoed one of these days. You can proceed. After all, life isn't so easy here. When are you planning to leave for Otjomuise then?" "I will leave as soon as I get transport to Windhoek." After some days of waiting I decided to walk to Otjinene, anticipating a lift on the road. I walked and walked and walked, until I could walk no more. The great Kalahari sands were pulling my feet backwards as I walked. Sweating and exhausted, with my lips oozing blood from cracked lips, I managed to stop a car going to Otjinene where I caught the bus to Windhoek. It was a long, dusty, shaky^ road through Okondjatu down the Hochfeld road to the main North - South axis. Finally, late on a cool dusty afternoon, we arrived in Windhoek. A misty atmosphere hung over Katutura. It looked like fog. We drove around Katutura, off-loading the passengers house by house. I was the last as I did not know my father's place. I found him sitting in the dark, leaning on the wall of the two-roomed house he rented from the municipality. Katutura houses appeared to be beautiful from afar but close up they were pitiful. It was a real ghetto of poverty, crime and starvation. I started to notice these things after a few days. [...]

This is an excerpt from Tears over the Deserts, by Jackson Kaujeua.

Title: Tears over the Deserts
Author: Jackson Kaujeua
Publisher: New Namibia Books
2nd edition. Windhoek, Namibia 2009
ISBN 9789994569045 / ISBN 978-99945-69-04-5
Softcover, 13 x 20 cm, 124 pages, many colour and bw photos, 1 Music-DVD, 8 minutes, signed by author