Eenhana

History

Eenhana was founded around New Year's Day 1930 by the Reverend Paulus Hamutenya. He was one of the first seven Ovambos to be ordained pastors in Oniipa, Ovamboland, in 1925 by the director of the Finnish Missionary Society, . The name Eenhana comes from the word calves in Oshikwanyama and is a reference to the calves that used to water at the small water pan where Eenhana is now located. Hamutenya had earlier lived in Edundja, where he had built a church. However, the area became crowded, and he decided to found a new settlement for the Oukwanyama people in the woods, to the east of Engela. Ovakwanyamas from Angola had already begun to move in that area. The South West African government made Hamutenya the local head of the tribesmen of Eastern Oukwanyama. In 1932, Hamutenya built a church in Eenhana. He died the same year after a short illness. The Eenhana mission station was founded by the nurse Linda Helenius in 1936. Eenhana thus became the centre of medical care in Eastern Oukwanyama for several decades. Teacher Suoma Hirvonen soon joined Helenius on this new mission station. Before Namibian independence it was a military centre of the South African Defence Force without public infrastructure. It was proclaimed a settlement in 1992, and a town in 1999.

Most-observed species

• Blacksmith Lapwing

  Vanellus armatus (Burchell, 1822) · Aves
  2
• House Sparrow

  Passer domesticus (Linnaeus, 1758) · Aves
  2
• Gray Go-away-bird

  Corythaixoides concolor (A.Smith, 1833) · Aves
  1
• Meyer's Parrot

  Poicephalus meyeri (Cretzschmar, 1827) · Aves
  1
• Ring-necked Dove

  Streptopelia capicola (Sundevall, 1857) · Aves
  1
• Fiery-necked Nightjar

  Caprimulgus pectoralis Cuvier, 1816 · Aves
  1
• Thorn Bitter Apple

  Solanum lichtensteinii Willd. · Magnoliopsida
  1
• Zambezi-teak

  Baikiaea plurijuga Harms · Magnoliopsida
  1