I had lived in Namibia for a long time before anyone would talk to me about the struggle for independence. The wounds run deep and for many the memories are still too painful to share with all but the most intimate of friends.

You need to understand that Namibia used to be under white South African rule and was subjected to all the horrors of apartheid until, through an armed resistance movement, it finally achieved independence in 1991. It was hard for me to imagine what people had experienced as I have never lived in a country where my liberty was at risk through my political beliefs or the colour of my skin. But during the two years I was in Namibia the story of the struggle for independence became real as did its connection with the new challenges of the HIV epidemic.

The new generation. Young Namibians at the end of a youth training programme. They came from all over Namibia and are likely to continue the tradition of migrant labour and all it entails.

I will never forget one of the days I was driving back from Oshandi with a colleague who decided to tell me about his participation in the armed struggle for independence. Oshandi is a small village near the Angolan border in the North of Namibia and the surrounding Owamboland became the frontline of the battle between the South African army and the local black resistance movement. My colleague has an artificial leg and I'd known that for some time. What I didn't know was that his injury had been caused by a landmine when he was fighting for his freedom.

Andrew at a teacher training session in Namibia

Even before this I had read stories of the struggle for independence and how it had affected the lives of local people. In one story a woman recounted how her parents had been killed when she was a child. She discovered their bodies when she was just twelve years old, her mother had been raped and both her arms had been cut off. Her father had been shot dead. Such stories can impel even the most ardent pacifist to join a resistance movement.

In another story, a woman recounted how she fled the country and after a long journey finally came to Europe where she remained for fifteen years. When she finally returned to Namibia she found that she had grown culturally so far apart that her family could not relate to her.

Local people from Owamboland where the armed struggle for independence took place

So what can someone do when their life and the lives of their family are at risk because of local conflict? Fight, flee or stand firm and hope. Is it any wonder that so many choose to risk all for a journey to another country where there might be peace and gainful employment?

During the apartheid era in Namibia there was an enforced labour system whereby men were separated from their families and forced to go and work wherever they were required. The tradition of migrating wherever work can be found persists and it is not uncommon to find people who are away from home for six or even twelve months at a time. It is inevitable that many people working away for such long periods will have sex and it is equally inevitable that this movement of a sexually active population will spread disease. People moving to flee conflict, people moving to fight wars and people moving to find work. When you can imagine the scope and impact of this movement of people you can start to grasp one of the reasons why the HIV epidemic in Africa is as bad as it is.

Now whenever I look at a map of Africa the first thing I notice is that the borders of many countries are straight lines. Those straight lines were drawn by the Governments of Europe who colonised vast parts of the continent during the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries. The people who drew those straight lines had no regard for the local population or issues of culture. And the pain that was caused by those lines is at the root of much of the conflict that continues in Africa even today.

Andrew with the newly trained home-based care volunteers from Odibo in northern Namibia

So next time you read a self-righteous article about the "problem" of African asylum seekers in Britain just stop and think. Think about the part that Europe has played in creating the conditions that compel people to move. Think about the unimaginable but very real

Teachers learning how to demonstrate the correct way to put on a condom

horrors that people are trying to escape from. Then decide if you will speak out for a human and compassionate response - or if you will remain silent as the wheels of government policy turn against those who need asylum.

The epilogue to this tale is that the same people who fought for independence in Namibia are now fighting the battle against the HIV epidemic there. By comparison, my life has been easy.
Andrew J. Colclough

Andrew will continue his reflections on "Bringing Africa Home" in the next issue of Positive Lives