Kirsten Elisabeth Alnæs

Jeg kjente ikke Kirsten, men leste om hennes virke i et Namibisk tidsskrift. Hun har tydeligvis gjort er stort arbeid. Legger link ved her, så noen kan få oppdatert Wikipedia om henne: https://www.namibian.com.na/99139/read/Living-with-the-past-of-the-genocide https://neweralive.na/posts/opinion-in-remembrance-of-kirsten-alnaes

Tusen takk for flott seremoni! Jeg er sikker på at mange med meg lærte Kirsten enda bedre å kjenne. Jeg møtte Kirsten første gang i Uganda i 1996, da hadde hun unnsluppet Bundibugyo og stridigheter, Hun var sammen med Violla og Bamusedde Bwambale, som hilser fra Kasese med disse ord: "Oh! It´s very sad, the lady has passed on, the Almighty God rest her soul in peace". En annen felles bekjent i Uganda, Arthur Syahuka Muhindo skriver: "To the Bakonzo people, late Kirsten Alnaes was a very higly valued individual. They knew her as Nyamusoki. They are very saddened by the news of her passing. May her soul rest in eternal peace!" Kirsten vil bli husket som det engasjerende og varme mennesket vi er mange som har hatt gleden av å kjenne.

Kondolerer så mye til deg og familien Patji

Kirsten var et vennlig menneske det var godt å komme i nærheten av. som den yngste av oss kusiner og fettere i Alnæs-slekta kom jeg bare mer sporadisk i kontakt med henne før hun til slutt flyttet hit til Oslo. Men jeg har alltid beundret den modige damen for hennes modige innsatser i Afrika. Så derfor takk for den fine sermonien i Kampen kirke i dag. Den ga også mye bedre forståelse for et utrolig menneske og det spennende livet som Kirsten førte. Patjis tale var både rørende og spennende, og de andre innslagene var også veldig givende for oss som fikk være til stede. Beste hilsen til alle dere som sto henne nær Ivar

At the start of the funeral, I was thinking about Kirsten having been a teenager when the Nazis occupied Norway, and how she used to speak with pride about having supported the resistance. She always knew where she stood on racism. Of course, because she was the person she was, she never blew her own trumpet, and I wish I'd asked her more. In his graceful, nuanced, loving elegy, Patji filled in some of the gaps in the story. I think what was also part of the Kirsten story was the excitement and hope of the decades when she was working in Africa. Through their own efforts, Africans were throwing off the cruelties and indignities of colonisation, and taking control of their lives and destinies; Kirsten was fully part of that excitement and hope, and wholly part of the liberation struggle. That she found other ways to express the pain of the past, and the joy and potential of the present, as in her prizewinning children's novel, is just one of the many expressions of her creative intuition, and her ability to actualise it. Thank you to her much-loved children and grandchildren for the very beautiful adieu to Kirsten on the next stage of her journey.

Dear Patji, Beni, Muhindo and Maja, It is with sorrow that I write to extend our sincere condolences to you all on the passing of dear Kirsten. No words can fully describe how we all feel about this loss. She was such a remarkable person who touched the hearts of those who knew her. She was a devoted and caring mother, and also an insightful, vigorous academic. I told the Norwegian Consul in Namibia, Klaus Endresen, about Kirsten's passing. He recalled meeting Kirsten in Botswana during her research work in the 1970s and acknowledged the important work she was doing. Her stay in Africa opened her eyes to the social and economic conditions under which people lived and she felt deeply about the injustices inflicted on people. Her work in Botswana in particular revealed the realities of people's lives. In particular, her pioneering interview with the old lady, who remembered the 1904-08 genocide and gave an eye witness account of the Battle of the Waterberg, contributed to greater knowledge of the plight of the Namibians exiled in Botswana. It is wonderful that you, Patji, have been able to digitize Kirsten's interviews to make them accessible to researchers. Kirsten left a strong impact on all of us who were close to her. Her love, devotion, compassion and faith were remarkable, as was her strong sense of what is fair and just. As we bid farewell to Kirsten, we pray that her soul will rest in peace, and we ask the Almighty to comfort you during this difficult period of mourning. We love you all, Peter, Jane, Kavesorere, Uanaingi, Perivi and Isabel

To a remarkable woman, whose inspiring legacy will live on - truly a life well lived, Please accept sincere condolences from all of us at the University of London. Our thoughts are with you.

Kondolerer så mye til deg og hele familien, Patji. Moren din var en kvinne med et spennende liv og en imponerende forskningsinnsats. Hun fikk oppleve at du også fikk PhD, men fremfor alt fikk hun oppleve ubegrenset kjærlighet fra dere livet ut. Jeg lyser fred over hennes minne

Kirsten was so kind and generous to a new anthropologist coming in to work with Herero - simply a lovely woman all around. I adored her smile! It was her amazing piece on Herero songs ("Living with the past") that inspired my own design of a research project. Thank you so much, Kirsten. -- Deborah Durham

I treasure a memory of you, young, beautiful and enthusiastic in Africa many years ago and later in London.

Takk for gode minner, for dine gjestfrihet og vennlighet i London mange år siden og diskusjoner på livet og antropologi fra 1960ene til 1990ene..

Dear Patji, I wish I had the gift of offering you, Mohindo and Bene and Maia some consolation. Kirsten was so lovely and loving for us all. I believe I even had a sweet smile from her when I last visited her in her final times of much silence. She had great inner strength, and to the amazement of my kids, Pnina and me, too she could be so calmly brave that she rowed us out from dusk to the dark of evening across a lake somehow knowing where she was taking us. It was all fearfully dark for us. So, on my own behalf and on Pninas too, I say let us continue to share through our dark times that light of Kirstens and may she rest in peace. With much love Dick