In Namibia, middle and upper-class families often celebrate the twenty-first birthday of a daughter or a son with an especially splendid birthday party. During these occasions, one or more keys are given to the birthday child. The key(s) symbolize the opening up of his or her future. This ritual practice reflects the legal fact that in Namibia, the age of majority is twenty-one. Only a person who has reached the age of twenty-one can independently bring or defend a court case or enter into a civil marriage without parental consent, among other rights (see Coomer and When I heard about