The sound of hunger

Enzo Amuele, Monique Adams and Tunohole Mungoba – reporters at Namibia Media Holdings (NMH) – spoke to breadwinners in their communities about their struggle to survive.



Andreas Hamwele, security guard

“I mostly buy six maasbanker fish in which amounts to about N$20. I usually eat this with traditional pap with the mahangu flour my grandmother sends me every three months. Sometimes, my money will be finished before the end of the month and then I will be forced to walk to and from work because I have no money. So I can sometimes go hungry two weeks before pay day.”



Magdalena Josob (62), pensioner

“Life is very difficult here in Keetmanshoop. We are six in the household and everyone depends on my pension fund.

“We only eat maize meal and this is without sugar or milk. Sometimes I take meat on account, but that does not last us all for a month.”



Magdalena Tjihenuna (41),

domestic worker

“My low salary and increasing food prices make it very difficult for me and my family to survive as I cannot afford to buy food all the time. So sometimes mostly we eat only once a day to ensure that we do not go hungry during the month. We eat pap and milk on a regular basis, and sometimes fish.”



Angela Goliath (74), pensioner

“Food prices in Keetmanshoop are expensive. Being the only bread winner makes it difficult to put food on the table for my kids and grandchildren. When there is money we only buy maize meal as it's the only food we can afford. For it to last us until the next month we only eat once in a day.”



Frans Lukas (54), security guard

“Food is very expensive and sometimes I cannot afford to even buy bread. In a month I can go hungry and then start asking around for food”.



Julius Rukundo (30)

“I can hardly afford anything in the shops, I usually buy fish and porridge which for me is the most affordable and that's what I eat on a regular basis.”



Fritz Tsuseb (44), labourer

“Food is expensive and we are always hungry, we only eat once a day. We cannot afford it, that's why we only eat maize meal.”



Mercia Mutinga (28), caregiver

“The food prices here in Keetmanshoop is very expensive. Most of the time we only eat once a day and this leads the children to go in the streets and look for food. In most homes there is only one person with an income, which makes it difficult for them to provide food because the same person has to pay the water and electricity bill.”