Participating in the liberation of the country was a voluntary exercise, although it came with threats to your life and that of one’s family. However, this did not deter many Namibians who joined the struggle en mass, some leaving the country to take up arms, while others faced the repressive regime from inside. One of Namibia’s liberation struggle veterans, living at Tses village in the //Kharas Region – says participation to free the country from the then apartheid South Africa’s regime was completely voluntary. Willem Gariseb told NBC News that Swapo did not make any promises of reward to people who joined them to liberate the country.