Ottilie Abrahams
Mrs. Otilie Abrahams joined the SWA Student Body as a founding member in 1952, which was reconstituted 1955 as the SWA Progressive Association (SWAPA) to campaign for improved "black" education facilities. Its newspaper, the South West News, was banned for its nationalist content in 1960. 1957 she became a Member of the Cape Peninsula Student's Union. She joined the Ovamboland People's Congress (OPC) in 1957 and SWAPO 1960. In 1961 Ottilié Schimming married Kenneth Godfrey Abrahams. While the couple studied at the University of Cape Town, they belonged to the secret Maoist Yo Chi Chan movement as well as the National Unity Movement (NUM) which rivalled the African National Congress (ANC) in strength among Cape Coloureds in the Western Cape. After her completion of her studies at the UCT, she taught at the Trafalgar High School and Alexander Sinton High School at Cape Town. In 1962 the couple moved to Rehoboth where Kenneth opened a medical practice. The couple settled then in Lusaka in Zambia, where Abrahams practised as a medical doctor and Ottilié taught at the Chizongwe Secondary School and Lusaka Girls' School. Political pressure eventually led to the couple being declared prohibited immigrants. 1968, Abrahams evaded the Zambian Police and fled to Tanzania while his wife was arrested and imprisoned with their youngest child. Accompanied by much public furore over the popular "doctor freedom fighter", Ottilié was released and rejoined her husband in Sweden where they lived until 1978. While in Sweden, Ottilié continued her university studies. She obtained a MA degree from Stockholm University in 1974. However, she didn't complete her Ph.-D. thesis at Stockholm University (1974-1978). Otillie Abrahams became the Chairlady of the People's Action Committee (anti-conscription in the South African Army) in 1981, in 1984 she was active in the Action Manpower Bureaus and in the Action General Sales Tax. In 1985 she was involved in the Action Site and Service. In the same year she became the Director of the Jakob Marengo Tutorial College in Khomasdal. She was also active in the Namibia Nationhood Co-ordinating Committee and a member of the Namibian Educational Forum (NEF). Ottilié Abrahams also edited the "Namibian Review".
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