Rupara (in older print media and maps also known as Lupala, as it is pronounced by the

Ovambo people The Ovambo people (), also called Aawambo, Ambo, Aawambo (Ndonga, Nghandjera, Kwambi, Kwaluudhi, Kolonghadhi, Mbalantu), or Ovawambo (Kwanyama) the biggest of the Aawambo sub-tribes are a Bantu ethnic group native to Southern Africa, primarily mo ...

) is a settlement and a former mission station of the

Finnish Missionary Society The Finnish Evangelical Lutheran Mission (''FELM'', formerly ''The Finnish Missionary Society''; fi, Suomen Lähetysseura ry; sv, Finska Missionssällskapet rf) is a Lutheran missionary society formed on January 19, 1859, in Helsinki, Finland. ...

in the

Kahenge Constituency Kahenge was a constituency in the Kavango Region of Namibia. The district centre was the settlement of Kahenge. It had a population of 29,799 in 2011, down from 30,903 in 2001. The constituency contained the Okavango River settlements of Tondor ...

in the

Kavango West Kavango West is one of the fourteen regions of Namibia. Its capital and only self-governed settlement is Nkurenkuru, its governor is Sirkka Ausiku. The Region was created in 2013 when the Kavango Region was split into Kavango East and Kavango West ...

Region In geography, regions, otherwise referred to as zones, lands or territories, are areas that are broadly divided by physical characteristics (physical geography), human impact characteristics (human geography), and the interaction of humanity and t ...

in Northern

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 ...

. It is located 76 km west 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 ...

, and 57 km south-east of

Nkurenkuru Nkurenkuru (1.093 m above sea level) is a town on the south-western banks of the Kavango River. It is the capital of the Kavango West Region of northern Namibia, located west of Rundu. It is also a former Mission (station), mission station of the ...

History of the mission station

The Finnish Missionary Society established its first

mission station A Christian mission is an organized effort for the propagation of the Christian faith. Missions involve sending individuals and groups across boundaries, most commonly geographical boundaries, to carry on evangelism or other activities, such as ...

in Kavango in

in the beginning of 1929. Its first permanent

missionary A missionary is a member of a Religious denomination, religious group which is sent into an area in order to promote its faith or provide services to people, such as education, literacy, social justice, health care, and economic development.Tho ...

there, pastor Aatu Järvinen (later Järvineva) founded a small station in Rupara in 1931, and built there a residence for the local missionary, consisting of two rooms, along with four round huts for the new clinic. The first missionary there was Anna Rautaheimo, a nurse. In 1935, the clinic had more than 100 inpatients, and it was reported that the outpatients numbered “several thousand”. The same year also teacher Maija Länsiö arrived there. She was given the task of developing an education system for the eastern parts of the tribe of Uukwangali.

Rupara today

There is a community school known as Rupara Combined School, it goes up to

grade 10 Tenth grade or grade 10 (called Year Eleven in England and Wales, and sophomore year in the US) is the tenth year of school post-kindergarten or the tenth year after the first introductory year upon entering compulsory schooling. In many parts of ...

, and it has a

dormitory A dormitory (originated from the Latin word ''dormitorium'', often abbreviated to dorm) is a building primarily providing sleeping and residential quarters for large numbers of people such as boarding school, high school, college or university s ...

which accommodates learners from other villages. In addition there is also a clinic.

References

Populated places in Kavango West Finnish Evangelical Lutheran Mission mission stations in Kavango {{Namibia-geo-stub