DECEMBER - Filemon Liyambo - Namibia

​About the author:

​Filemon Liyambo is a Namibian writer and former newspaper columnist for the Namibian Sun Newspaper. He has also contributed social commentary articles for the New Era Newspaper.

​A qualified geologist, he is now an educator. His work was included in Erotic Africa, an anthology of short stories published by Brittle Paper in December 2018. He is currently working on a novel.

​Episodes / sub-episodes

1. September's arrival from the U.K. (p84-86).
2. December's psychiatric condition. (p86-88).
3. Ezekiel Shikongo's dreams and taboos. (p85-90).

​SYNOPSIS

December is a story about a girl named December, unconventionally, by her father, Silas Shikongo. The story is set in a town in Namibia.

December has a younger brother named September. According to their grandfather, Ezekiel, there are traces of idiotism in September, his grandson, for he takes after his youngest brother, Josef.

December nurses September when he is young, but there is a mishap in which she injures the boy accidentally with hoe, and the boy bleeds. Flhe old man then forbids her to eat chicken, saying that is how things are. September suspects that his grandfather is hiding something because he cannot explain the reason clearly. However, the two siblings are academic geniuses.

Suddenly, just before joining a Teachers Training College, December develops a psychiatric condition and her grandfather, Ezekiel, insists that she is bewitched and there are dark forces behind it. He takes her to the hospital and dumps her there.

September, who now studies in the U.K., visits his sister at the hospital, but the nurse intercepts him for being late. However, Tshuuveni, a supervisor, and a familiar face appears and begins talking with him. This light chat makes the nurse calm, and ​the guards are sent away to allow him some time. The nurse softens when she learns that September is December's brother who studies abroad.

September finds his sister in a horrible condition, but they have a warm moment, and he hands her the gifts: a jersey, a pen and a book full of puzzles, a t-shirt, and yummy chips from KFC.

​Meanwhile, Tatekulu, their grandfather Ezekiel, has dreamed of a pond where leopards drink and Josef is seated on the edge, eating. A search party is sent, and Josef is found at the exact place in Ezekiel's dream.
​
The next day, September buries his grandfather, with his secret, next to his father in the village graveyard. 

​Questions for reflection on 'Title' of the story and themes

1. How relevant is the title of the story, December? 
2. Does the Naming convention of Silas Shikongo affect his children?
3. Why do you think Ezekiel refuses to tell why he forbids his granddaughter to eat chicken? 
4. Do you think Josef gets lost? Explain.
5. What does the Union jack symbolize in the story, December? 6) Explore and analyze the following themes in December.
   1. Mental illness and child neglect
   2. Superstitious beliefs and taboos
   3. Healthy living, eating iv. Hope/optimism

​Thematic concerns

Consequences of superstition on mental illness
December, the story's title, is also the central character's name. The name is given to her by her father against his own father's wishes, who calls it idiotism. Conventional or not, this naming creates confusion and distortion of facts simultaneously. (p85-86).

• The story itself is mixed with a patched-up plot which renders the storyline unclear. The plot is not linear. Like in most Namibian, there was indifference towards those who didn't reside there. Sticking out was a serious crime: (p84 - 90).
• When Ezekiel Shikongo faces death and illness, anxiety, fear, and despair creep in, engendering adherence to delusions that have no logical or scientific explanation and lead to superstitious behaviours caused by a false notion of the causes. (p84 - 90).
• It is rooted in human ignorance and significantly affects people's culture and health, prevents them from beginning restoration, and harms individuals and society. The mundane illogical beliefs derived from ignorance cannot be proven objectively and scientifically. Ezekiel forbids December to eat chicken due to the mishap. (p85 89).

• The extended family of Ezekiel grapples with hereditary ill patients (Josef and December), and the old man blames their mental illness on superstitious thoughts such as "evil eye" or "dark forces."
• This pandemonium is created by Silas, December's father, to show his divergent opinion and disbelief in his father's taboos. (p85). 
• Their disagreement, therefore, gets complicated when December is born in September and September in July. Then when September returns from abroad, his grandfather dies in October. (p86).
• Ezekiel refers to the naming as 'idiotism', and indeed his younger brother Josef exhibits traces of the problem when he starts to lose track of time in his teens; days of the week are a blur to him. The fact that September is absent-minded at times complicates the matter more. (p84 - 86). 
• Ezekiel's superstitious belief could be premised on an archaic generational and cultural illusion that other forces cause problems. (p86).
• Josef eventually loses himself. He is lost for a month. In his dreams, Ezekiel tells where exactly to find him but does not say what he is eating until he exits the life stage. Ezekiel's death signifies the end of the old traditions and the beginning of civilization. (p89). 
• When September breaks the news to his grandfather that he will study abroad two and a half years earlier, Ezekiel is happy. September had cried. "My sister..." (p88). 
• The old man reassured him. "I will take care of her." "She's been at the hospital for six months. (p88).
• Superstition makes him believe that mental illness is caused by other forces not normal or conventional in nature. He takes her to a traditional healer, and she comes back looking skeletal as if the healer had tried starving out the voices in her head. (p88).
• Ezekiel represents intensely superstitious African people who turn to indigenous treatments such as charms and witchdoctors to treat their illnesses. Modern technologies have not been able to reduce their superstitious tendencies. (p88)
• "There is no brother listed in her file," the nurse said. "Only a grandfather." This is child neglect. (p88).
• Superstitious thinking becomes harmful when it enters the health domain, affects people's well-being, and becomes part of the family's health beliefs. The values that society believes affect the quality of life and treatment choice during illness. Ezekiel's beliefs affect all family members. (p84 - 90).

​Hope/optimism

​Their life of hope begins when September arrives at the hospital from the U.K. December, who is at the hospital probably being discharged to start her life free of her grandfather's superstitious interference. (p87).
Remember when September comes from Europe, he brings December a T-shirt with an imprint of the Union Jack, representing modernity or a form of enlightenment. But still, this is confusion on ideologies: between

​colonialism and civilization.

​The T-shirt is precisely the same as the one December had ripped up all those years before to stem September's bleeding. This implies that her ordinary life is restored by her brother's hope and concern for her well-being. (p89).

The two reminisce their puberty days when September got himself a puppy named Kali to keep off boys who pursued December when she was younger. Tshuuveni enquires whether September is bringing home an oshitenya from overseas, but he says he still hasn't found the right girl. (p87).

Professional medical practice should be relied on to guarantee the quality of life, control and treatment of diseases, and complications is not a secret to anyone.
​
The medical fraternity should fight these superstitious thoughts to lower their adverse consequences. will bring hope. Hope is also symbolized when it rains after Ezekiel Shikongo's burial. Then Josef is also found. (p89, 90)

​CHARACTERS

1. Citing evidence from the text, describe the character traits of the following characters.
   a) December
   b) September
   c) Ezekiel Shikongo
   ​d) Silas Shikongo

​Style and Language use

• What does the coming of September from Europe and the dying of Ezekiel in October symbolize?
• How is sarcasm employed in Filemon Liyambo's December?
• Examine the use of irony and paradox December.

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