Ellen Namhila went into exile from apartheid-ruled Namibia to Angola in 1976 at the age of 12. She attended secondary school in The Gambia, West Africa from 1979-1983 and was a school teacher in the Namibian refugee camps in Angola 1984-1985. She studied at the University of Tampere, Finland, from 1986-1993 where she graduated with a MSc. in Library and Information Science in 1993.
She worked as a researcher at the Social Sciences Division, University of Namibia, from 1993-1995. From 1995-1999, she was Deputy Director: Research, Information and Library Services at the Parliament of the Republic of Namibia. From November 1999 to February 2007, she served as Director of the Namibia Library and Archives Service in the Ministry of Education. Since March 2007, she is the Librarian of the University of Namibia.
8. Academic interest / expertise
Library, Archives and Knowledge Management
Research and Publishing
Oral History Research and Publishing
9.Research and Publications
BOOKS
1. Namhila, Ellen Ndeshi (2009). Tears of Courage: five mothers, five stories, one victory. Windhoek: AACRLS.
2. Namhila, Ellen Ndeshi (2005). Kaxumba Kandola man and myth: biography of a barefoot soldier. Basel: Basler Afrika Bibliographien.
3. Namhila. Ellen Ndeshi (1997). The Price of freedom. Windhoek: New Namibia Books. [Autobiography]. (Also translated into Finnish: Vapauden hinta, Helsinki 2001.
ARTICLES
Namhila, Ellen Ndeshi (2008). African perspective: memory of the world, presented at the UNESCO 3rd International Conference on Memory of the World, 19-22 February 2008, Canberra, Australia. [Available online]: UNESCO website].
Namhila, Ellen Ndeshi (2007). Challenges of collecting memories of the liberation struggle in Namibia: a legacy of post-colonial archives. World Library and Information Congress: 73RD IFLA General Conference and Council; 19-23 August 2007, Durban, South Africa. [Available online]: http://www.ifla.org/iv/ifla73/index.htm
Namhila, Ellen Ndeshi (2004). Filling the gaps in the archival record of the Namibian struggle for independence. In: IFLA journal, vol.30, no.3, pp.224-230.
Namhila, Ellen Ndeshi (2004). Library responses to information literacy and life long learning in the SADC region. In: Libraries for lifelong learning: Unrestricted access to information as a basis for lifelong learning and empowerment / ed. by Susanne Seidelin, Stuart Hamilton and Paul Sturges, pp.71-84. - Copenhagen: IFLA-FAIFE Office.
Namhila, Ellen Ndeshi & Hillebrecht, Werner (2002). The book chain in Namibia. In: The book chain in Anglophone Africa / ed. by Roger Stringer, pp.56-61 (article) + 168-178 (directory). London: INASP.
Namhila, Ellen Ndeshi (2000). Book review: popular resistance and the roots of nationalism in Namibia, 1915-1966 / by Tony Emmett. In: South African historical journal, vol.42, pp.366-368.
Namhila, Ellen Ndeshi (1999). Book offers insight into the daily life in SADF [review of A. Feinstein: In conflict]. In: New Era, 14-16 May 1999, p.18.
Namhila, Ellen Ndeshi (1998). Book review. Namibia under South African rule: mobility and containment 1915-1946. In: The Namibian Weekender, 14 Aug. 1998, p.5.
Namhila, Ellen (1997). The development of Namibian libraries and the role of women. In: NIWA Info, vol.7, pp.13-16.
Namhila, Ellen Ndeshi (1996). Pakolaisena Suomessa. In: Vihreään Namibian, 1996, p.29-31 (Helsinki: Espoon Namibia-toimikunta).
Namhila, Ellen Ndeshi (1996). The fourth of May: living abroad. In: Coming on strong: writings by Namibian women / ed. by Margie Orford and Nepeti Nicanor, pp.68-82. (Windhoek: New Namibia Books).
10.Leadership in National Projects
Namhila initiated a national project with a title, “Archives of Anti-Colonial Resistance and the Liberation Struggle” Project (AACRLS), co-funded by the Governments of the Federal Republic of Germany and the Republic of Namibia, and managed by a Cabinet appointed National Steering Committee. It has acquired 250 diverse historical collections related to Namibia’s struggle for freedom from the United Nations, the USA, Germany, Switzerland, Austria, the Netherlands, Denmark, Norway, Sweden, Finland, Portugal, Botswana, and South Africa; Collected oral history recordings, and built capacity for local researchers through workshops, conferences and seminars, and bursaries for postgraduate studies for 4 Namibian students in the fields of history and archival management; and published three books. Namhila prepared and submitted a Nomination Dossier for the original letter-copy books of the Kaptain Hendrik Witbooi, called “Diaries of Kaptain Hendrik Witbooi” to the UNESCO Memory of the World Programme and was approved in Lijang, China 2005.
Under her leadership as Chairperson of the National Heritage Council, Namhila led a team that prepared and submitted a nomination Dossier for Twyfelfontein to be nominated as a World Heritage Site, which was approved in Chris Church, New Zealand 2007. She was the leader of a research team that that conducted an investigation into the human remains at the former South African Defence Force camp at the town of Eenhana that were uncovered during the post apartheid era. The research results were used in the concept design for the construction of the Regional Memorial Shrine at which these human remains were reburied in 2007.She was appointed by a Cabinet Committee to research into the human remains that were unearthed in the mining area around the town of Luderitz and to prepare documentation for reburial in 2010.
Consultancies
CONSULTANCIES
Participation of women in the industrial development of Namibia. Windhoek: United Nations Industrial Development Organisation. (1995).
Policy and programming assistance for a national food and nutrition action plan. Windhoek: Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations. (1994).
Namibia National Report to the 4th World Conference on Women. Windhoek: Office of the President, Department of Women's Affairs. (1994).
Audience research on rural communities in Namibia (project title). Windhoek: Ministry of Agriculture, Water and Rural Development. (1993).
Memberships & Affiliations
NATIONAL ORGANISATIONS
Chairperson of the National Heritage Council of Namibia, 2005-2009.
Chairperson of the Namibian Reprographic Rights Association (NAMRRO) 2004-
Chairperson of Namibian Advisory Board, ALUKA Project, 2004-
Vice-Chairperson of “Archives of Anti-Colonial Resistance and the Liberation Struggle” Project (AACRLS), 2001-
Chairperson of the Namibian Information Workers Association (NIWA), 1995-2000.
INTERNATIONAL ORGANISATIONS
Secretary-General of the African Regional Committee of the Memory of the World Program (ARCMOW), 2008-
Vice President of the UNESCO’s International Advisory Committee (IAC) of the Memory of the World 2006-2010.
Executive Committee Member of the IFLA Africa Section 2004-2009.
Chairperson of the Association of Parliament Librarians in Eastern and Southern Africa (APLESA), 1998-1999.
Awards
AWARDS
"Librarian of the Year 1990" in Finland. Publications about this award are in: Helsingin Sanomat 8.2.1990; Amulehti 8.2.1990; Kansanlainen 8.2.1990; Kirjastolehti (Journal of the Finnish Library Association) no.3/1990.
My autobiography “The Price of Freedom” won the MBAPIRA award of the “Best Text, Non Fiction” in 1998 in Namibia.
