Mpungu Explained

Mpungu
Settlement Type:Settlement
Pushpin Map:Namibia
Pushpin Label Position:bottom
Pushpin Mapsize:300
Pushpin Map Caption:Location in Namibia
Subdivision Type:Country
Subdivision Name: Namibia
Subdivision Type1:Region
Subdivision Name1:Kavango West
Subdivision Type2:Constituency
Subdivision Name2:Mpungu Constituency
Population Blank1 Title:Ethnicities
Timezone:South African Standard Time
Utc Offset:+2
Coordinates:-17.667°N 18.233°W
Blank Name:Climate
Blank Info:BSh

Mpungu is a settlement and a former mission station of the Finnish Missionary Society in the Mpungu Constituency in the Kavango West Region in Northern Namibia. It is located ca. 40 km south-west of Nkurenkuru and is inland as opposed to other former Finnish mission stations, which were located along the Kavango River. Today, a tarred highway from Ovamboland to Kavango connects Mpungu to other places in northern Namibia.

History

The mission station was founded in 1951 by Hellin Elomaa, a nurse, who also founded a small clinic there.[1]

In Mpungu, the Finnish missionaries were also in touch with the local San population.

Infrastructure

Today there is still a health centre in Mpungu, as well as the Himarwa Iithete Senior Secondary School. Mpungu is situated on the B15 national road that connects to Angola via the Katwitwi settlement and border post to the north, and to Tsintsabis and Tsumeb to the south.[2] It also connects to Okongo via the C45.

Notes and References

  1. Book: Peltola , Matti . Sata vuotta suomalaista lähetystyötä 1859–1959. II: Suomen Lähetysseuran Afrikan työn historia. . A hundred years of Finnish missionary work 1859–1959. II: The history of the Finnish Missionary Society in Africa . 1958 . Suomen Lähetysseura (The Finnish Missionary Society) . Helsinki . 240 .
  2. News: The forgotten settlement of Tsintsabis . Itamalo . Marx . . 20 July 2016 . 6 .