RAISING THE OWELA GAME ARON HAMUKWAYA Aron Hamukwaya is managing director of the National Software Engineering Academy (NSEA), where Namibians can study information technology at tertiary level. He started the academy after studying information science and computer engineering in Russia.
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ron developed the traditional Oshiwambo game of Owela into a digital format to protect the game for future generations. In 2015, his fusion of tradition and innovation earned him and his team an Innovation Award from the National Commission on Research, Science and Technology (NCRST). We spoke to him in 2016.
I managed to start the institution, the National Software Engineering Academy. MYD: Amazing that you started this company. Tell us about it. AH: We offer courses in software engineering, in IT. We also diversified recently and are now offering courses in business administration and management, as well as human resources and education.
MYD: We are delighted to have you join us, Aron, to talk about keeping traditions alive through digitising traditional practices. But first, tell us a bit about yourself. AH: I grew up in the village in the north, and went to the University of Namibia. My dream was to study engineering, but in my first year at UNAM I was introduced to a subject that teaches you how a computer thinks, and I decided to specialise in computers. I enjoyed it very much and realised that this is what I love. I was already thinking about computerising our traditional games then, and I wanted to do it so badly. I started asking my seniors, but that wasn’t their speciality. So I decided to study software engineering. I applied for a scholarship through the Ministry of Education and was lucky to get the scholarship to study information science and computer engineering in Russia.
MYD: It’s incredible that you took the learning of your studies and created a space for others to learn. Where services weren’t here, you created the solution. You followed your dreams and now traditional games are available in a digital format. Tell us about how you digitised Owela. AH: Owela is a traditional game. I’ve been playing this game since I was very young, and since university I imagined how one could do this on a computer. I managed to create it in 2012 and a lot of people were so interested, they wanted to buy the game. But I felt it was not the right time. In the end we created a platform, the Owela Touch Table, which allows people to play in the same manner that they used to play long ago on the ground and in the sand. With the touch table, people come together and play on one platform.
MYD: What was it like living in Russia, coming from a warm environment to an icy-cold environment? AH: I was not worried about the conditions – maybe it was because I was so focused on what I really wanted to do. At the end of my first year I created one game, then in my second year I created another. Because of this, I ended up getting a part-time job working as a game developer in Russia. That gave me a lot of experience and exposure. When I finished my degree I was offered a job in South Africa, but I turned it down because I wanted to come back and pursue my dream in Namibia. When I came back it was very tough because I didn’t have money and many people did not understand what I really wanted to do. I had to push through, but with God’s help
MYD: That’s incredible. Why did you want to digitise traditional games? AH: I feel that we need to preserve our traditional values, we need to be able to carry them forward to the next generation, and traditions are at risk of becoming extinct because they are not digitised. With technology moving forward so fast, people are moving away from the traditional way of doing things, so there was a need for us to move traditional games along as well. MYD: What sort of response have you had with your game?
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