Nakayale, also known as Nakayale Keengulu is a village 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 ...

near

Outapi Outapi wa Nakafingo na Temba, also Outapi or Uutapi and Ombalantu, is a town in northern Namibia near the border with Angola situated northwest of Oshakati. It is the capital of Omusati region and the district capital of the Outapi electoral co ...

Omusati Region Omusati ( ng, Mopane, after the dominant tree in the area) is one of the fourteen regions of Namibia, its capital is Outapi. The towns of Okahao, Oshikuku and Ruacana as well as the self-governed village Tsandi are situated in this region. , Omus ...

situated 86km northwest of

Oshakati Oshakati is a town in northern Namibia. It is the regional capital of the Oshana Region and one of Namibia's largest places. Oshakati was founded in July 1966 and proclaimed a town in 1992. The town was used as a base of operations by the S ...

and 4km from Outapi. It is in

Anamulenge Constituency Anamulenge Constituency is an electoral constituency in the Omusati Region of northern Namibia. It had 12,470 inhabitants in 2004 and 11,186 registered voters . Its district capital is the settlement of Anamulenge. Settlements * Onhokolo Politi ...

History of the mission station

An auxiliary mission station was founded in Nakayale in 1917. The teacher Sakeus Iihuhua, who had graduated from the teacher training seminary of

Oniipa Oniipa is a town in the Oshikoto Region of northern Namibia and the district capital of the Oniipa electoral constituency. It lies just outside Ondangwa. It is the hometown of former Lutheran bishop and liberation leader Leonard Auala. There is ...

, was stationed there. Around that time, a great many Ovambadja moved from

Angola , national_anthem = " Angola Avante"() , image_map = , map_caption = , capital = Luanda , religion = , religion_year = 2020 , religion_ref = , coordina ...

to the Ombalantu tribal area, in order to escape the famine in Angola. In 1925, Nakayale became an official mission station, when

Heikki Saari Heikki Saari (alias "Mörkö", "kermis" or "kmn") (born on 8 September 1984 and originating from Veteli, Finland) is the current drummer for Whorion and Finntroll. He is also the live drummer for Tuoni and former drummer of Norther and Amberian ...

settled permanently there. In the same year, Sakeus Iihuhua was ordained a minister, as one of the first Ovambos who became pastors. The following year the Aambalantu built a church in Nakayale, mainly by themselves. The missionary Heikki Saari relates, that “the youngest builder was a four-year-old ward of the mission station, who could only carry one brick at a time, but the tirelessness of this small brick bearer was an utterly moving sight to see.” Pastor Saari worked in Nakayale until 1931, when he was replaced by Tuure Vapaavuori. His wife Aino Vapaavuori, who was a

deaconess The ministry of a deaconess is, in modern times, a usually non-ordained ministry for women in some Protestant, Oriental Orthodox, and Eastern Orthodox churches to provide pastoral care, especially for other women, and which may carry a limited ...

, took care of the policlinic at Nakayale. During the years 1931–1935 the Nakayale Parish primary schools had between 163 and 217 students. The school was taught in the church building, but as there were two classes to teach there by two teachers, it was thought that better premises were needed, and thus Vapaavuori began in 1934 to build a separate school building. In 1935, the Vapaavuori couple were transferred to

Ondonga Ondonga is a traditional kingdom of the Ovambo people in what is today northern Namibia. Its capital is Ondangwa, and the kingdom's palace is at Onambango. Its people call themselves ''Aandonga''. They speak the Ndonga dialect. The Ondonga kingdom ...

, to the

Onayena Onayena is the district capital of Onayena Constituency in the north of Oshikoto Region in northern Namibia, situated approximately north of Etosha National Park. Economy and infrastructure The main economic activities in the constituency are a ...

mission station. Later Finnish missionaries in Nakayale included nurse Ebba von Pfaler (1934–47, 1952–57), doctor Eila Plathán-Saarinen (1951–54) and nurses Helmi Makkonen, Kaino Kovanen and Anneli Linkola.

Climate

The village normally receives an annual average rainfall of , although in the 2010/2011 rainy season were measured.

Surroundings

Nakayale has two schools, Nakayale Primary School, now named the Sakeus Iihuhua School and Erkki Tauya Junior Secondary School. There is a main branch of ELCIN (

Evangelical Lutheran Church in Namibia The Evangelical Lutheran Church in Namibia (ELCIN) is a Lutheran denomination based in Namibia. It has a total membership of over 772,398, mainly in Northern Namibia. Formerly known as the Evangelical Lutheran Ovambo-Kavango Church (ELOC), it pla ...

) church for all northern ELCIN churches which was named after the village itself, and a center for disabled people. The primary local language is

Oshiwambo The Ovambo () language is a dialect cluster spoken by the Ovambo people in southern Angola and northern Namibia, of which the written standards are Kwanyama and Ndonga. The native name for the language is ''Oshiwambo'' (also written ''Oshiv ...

Oshimbalantu and some residents also speak English. Nakayale is one of the hottest places in northern Namibia with temperatures ranging between 26 and 30 degrees Celsius. Villages around Nakayale are Okapanda, Onamulunga, Omukoko, Okaile, Oshambomba City, Ondjamba Nevu, Okalonda, and Okakwa. Blue Birds FC, a soccer team, is also from Nakayale.

References

Sources

* * {{coord, 17, 34, S, 15, 00, E, display=title, region:NA_type:city_source:GNS-enwiki Populated places in the Omusati Region Finnish Evangelical Lutheran Mission mission stations in Ombalantu