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KATRINA GARISES: community activist with a mission
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for the past twelve years Katrina Garises has dedicated herself to the empowerment of women and young people living in the informal settlements that began to mushroom all over Katutura after independence. In 1999 she mobilised women in Freedomland squatter camp to establish the Victory Women's Movement, raised funds to renovate an old building and turn it into a training centre, and organised support from various government ministries, NGOs and private individuals to provide training in a range of crafts and other skills.
When we meet for the interview she is rushing between meetings with Ministers and the Windhoek Municipality, mobilising support for her latest project: a centre in town which will attract tourists to buy the crafts and generate income for the women in the squatter camp.
"We need to come out of Freedomland and link ourselves to our sisters on the other side of town," says Katrina. "We are too isolated there." The new centre is near Wernhill Park behind the empty lot where taxis are washed. The building is empty now and in need of repair, but Katrina has fond memories of the years before independence when it housed a bustling clothing factory where she worked as a supervisor and helped to train many women in dressmaking.
The factory was run by Petra Hamman, former Mayor of Windhoek, who employed Katrina as a domestic worker and introduced her to community development. "She took me to meetings and sent me on short training courses," Katrina recalls. "I learnt so much from her. We all did, all of us who passed through her hands at the factory and later on at the UDO Trust. She even helped me to find schools for all my younger brothers and sisters, and made Sure the school fees were paid on time."
Katrina spent...