The Finnish embassy donated funds in support of a dance festival in the Kunene Region. The Ovahimba of the Kaokoland Traditional Camp received N$ 42 715 early this month to support the Ondjongo Traditional Ovahimba dancing festival which will take place every weekend from 16 May to 8 June at the Ovahimba Traditional Camp just outside Opuwo.

The official opening of the festival and the Ovahimba Traditional Camp took place on 16 May 2003 and emphasized the traditional way of celebrating with traditional cattle slaughtering and dancing.

Different Ovahimba groups perform every weekend from Friday to Sunday from 8h00 to 12h00 and from 15h00 to the night. The groups will be collected from different villages and consist of different age groups in order to get some competition in dancing styles. The groups will be accommodated in the traditional huts at the campsite. The programme will be improvised for each day within the groups. Kenehama Philip Tjisuta started the Ovahimba Traditional Camp in 1999. The camp is a community-based organisation with 45 members. Through the Fund for Local Cooperation, the Embassy of Finland, among other activities, supports the promotion of Namibian culture. The support to the Traditional Ovahimba dancing festival will create more awareness about the interesting culture of the Ovahimbas - a group that is otherwise often neglected in the Namibian society.