Andara is a village in

Mukwe Constituency Mukwe is a constituency in the Kavango East region of Namibia. The district centre is the settlement of Mukwe. It had a population of 27,690 in 2011, up from 27,250 in 2001. The constituency contains the major settlements of Bagani, Kangongo and ...

in the

Kavango East Kavango East is one of the fourteen regions of Namibia. Its capital is Rundu, its governor is Bonifatius Wakudumo. The Region was created in 2013 when the Kavango Region was split into Kavango East and Kavango West. The only self-governed settlem ...

region of north-eastern

Namibia Namibia (, ), officially the Republic of Namibia, is a country in Southern Africa. Its western border is the Atlantic Ocean. It shares land borders with Zambia and Angola to the north, Botswana to the east and South Africa to the south and ea ...

. Located east of

Rundu Rundu is the capital and largest city of the Kavango-East Region in northern Namibia. It lies on the border with Angola on the banks of the Kavango River about above sea level. Rundu's population is growing rapidly. The 2001 census counted 36,9 ...

, it is inhabited primarily by the Hambukushu people.

Founding of the Catholic mission

Catholic fathers of the organization

Missionary Oblates of Mary Immaculate The Missionary Oblates of Mary Immaculate (OMI) is a missionary religious congregation in the Catholic Church. It was founded on January 25, 1816, by Eugène de Mazenod, a French priest born in Aix-en-Provence in the south of France on August 1, ...

founded the Andara Mission in 1913. Possibilities for this were examined already in 1903 and 1907, and in January 1908 fathers

Franz Krist Franz may refer to: People * Franz (given name) * Franz (surname) Places * Franz (crater), a lunar crater * Franz, Ontario, a railway junction and unorganized town in Canada * Franz Lake, in the state of Washington, United States – see Fran ...

and

Franz Lauer Franz may refer to: People * Franz (given name) * Franz (surname) Places * Franz (crater), a lunar crater * Franz, Ontario, a railway junction and unorganized town in Canada * Franz Lake, in the state of Washington, United States – see Fran ...

together with lay brother

Georg Kurz Georg may refer to: * ''Georg'' (film), 1997 *Georg (musical), Estonian musical * Georg (given name) * Georg (surname) * , a Kriegsmarine coastal tanker See also * George (disambiguation) George may refer to: People * George (given name) * ...

founded the mission. Father Krist left back for

Grootfontein , nickname = , settlement_type = City , motto = Fons Vitæ , image_skyline = Grootfontein grass.jpg , imagesize = 300px , image_caption = , image_flag = , flag_si ...

after a few weeks, but he died along the way. When a new expedition arrived in Andara, they only found two graves. Lauer and Kurz had meanwhile died of

blackwater fever Blackwater fever is a complication of malaria infection in which red blood cells burst in the bloodstream (hemolysis), releasing hemoglobin directly into the blood vessels and into the urine, frequently leading to kidney failure. The disease ...

. The new expedition also ran into difficulties, when one its members misfired his gun and King Libebe of the Hambukushu turned hostile to the missionaries. They now had to move to the

Gciriku Gciriku is a traditional Kavango kingdom in what is today Namibia. Its people speak the Gciriku language. The Gciriku (Rugciriku: ''vaGciriku'') are one of the many ethnic groups in Namibia with an estimated population of 20 000. The Gciriku main ...

s, to King

Nyangana Nyangana is a village in the Ndiyona Constituency in Kavango East Region of north-eastern Namibia, situated east of Rundu. The Roman Catholic mission of Nyangana is located in the village. History The settlement is named after Nyangana, king ...

in a place that was also called

. King Libebe soon became reconciled with the missionaries, and the German fathers re-established Andara in 1913. The second attempt was done under leadership of father

Joseph Gotthardt Joseph Gotthardt (16 December 1880 – 3 August 1963) was a Catholic missionary and later Bishop and Archbishop in South-West Africa (today Namibia). He was the first to set up missions in the Kavango Region and in Ovamboland, became the first V ...

, who later became Archbishop of South West Africa.

The mission today

Today Andara is the home of the Holy Family Parish, a

Roman Catholic Roman or Romans most often refers to: *Rome, the capital city of Italy *Ancient Rome, Roman civilization from 8th century BC to 5th century AD *Roman people, the people of ancient Rome *'' Epistle to the Romans'', shortened to ''Romans'', a lette ...

mission. In the 1960s, the Andara Catholic Hospital and a

youth hostel A hostel is a form of low-cost, short-term shared sociable lodging where guests can rent a bed, usually a bunk bed in a dormitory, with shared use of a lounge and sometimes a kitchen. Rooms can be mixed or single-sex and have private or shared ba ...

were built. The hostel can house up to 130 people.

Notable residents

Joseph Diescho Joseph Diescho (born 10 April 1955) is a Namibian writer and political analyst. In 1988, he wrote ''Born of the Sun'', the first novel by a native-born Namibian author. Biography Born in Andara, Kavango Region,Joseph Diescho
Namibia Institute for Democracy

References

Populated places in Kavango East Catholic missions in Kavango {{Namibia-geo-stub