Why do we have names? What do they say about the people who carry them? In northern Namibia every forename is unique. The names tell stories, they are reminders of individual families, of a whole country, about war and colonisation; they tell of beliefs, lifestyles and family traditions. If you ask a person their name, you don’t just find out how to address them but, at the same time, whom you are addressing.

It has already been almost 25 years, but since then the so-called Madgermanes have been holding demonstrations in Mosambique’s capital, Maputo. They want their money back; money that they earned in the 1980s as contract workers in the GDR. The Mozambican government withheld an estimated 100 million dollars of salary and social insurance transfers from Germany. Alongside their collective struggle against injustice, they are also united by their memories of the time in Germany.