FlyNamibia April 2023

Fyodor Dostoevsky

Need To Knows. with

FlyNamibia

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www.flynamibia.com.na

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Cash payment at: Eros Airport, Ondangwa Airport, Oranjemund Airport

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You can also purchase from:

Windhoek Eros Airport Office

Ondangwa airport office

Rundu airport office

Katima Mulilo airport office

Hosea Kutako airport office

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All major travel agents

Luggage restrictions

Online check-in opens 24 hours before departure of the flight on Fly Namibia

Check-in opens 1h 30min before domestic flight and 2 hours before international flight.

Check-in CLOSES 30 min prior to domestic flight and 50 min prior to international flight.

Items NOT allowed in hand luggage:

Lotions and aerosols above 100ml, flammable aerosol, sharp objects, i.e. nail files, nail scissors, Leatherman, matches.

MAX 20kg Per person

Ondangwa - Toivo ya Toivo

Eros Airport

Cape Town

FLIGHT SCHEDULE

CONNECTING YOU TO

Windhoek, Ondangwa, Rundu, Katima Mulilo, Oranjemund, Walvis Bay, Cape Town, Sossusvlei, Swakopmund, Twyfelfontein and Etosha

DOMESTIC FLIGHTS

REGIONAL FLIGHTS

SAFARI FLIGHTS

www.flynamibia.com.na

+264 83 339 0011

Schedule as per date of going to print. Please check the FlyNamibia website to stay updated on flight destinations, routes and schedules.

Not For Persons Under The Age of 18.

Welcome on board

The FlyNamibia team set off for Berlin, Germany at the start of March to attend and participate in the world’s largest tourism expo - ITB Berlin. In partnership with the Namibia Tourism Board and a host of other tourism operators, the FlyNamibia team had three days of packed B2B meetings with global tourism operators to promote Namibia as the ultimate travel destination. On the first day alone nearly 40,000 visitors graced the halls of the massive convention centre where over 10,000 exhibitors from more than 180 countries and regions got together for the three-day event.

At ITB, we were excited to launch a new partnership with beloved Namibian artist and personality - EES. We believe that EES, a proud and larger than life personality and Namibian icon, is the perfect person to be a brand ambassador for our FlyNamibia Safari product. Over the year-long partnership our goal is to collectively promote and share the wonders of Namibia as a holiday spot with the world. Namibia is the most iconic and diverse safari destination in Africa. The country is vast and has so much to celebrate. From nature, landscapes, wildlife to people and cultures. With FlyNamibia Safari, visitors to this land of never-ending vistas can access the very best of Namibia with daily shuttle flights to the country’s top destinations.

From Hosea Kutako International in Windhoek to Sossusvlei, Swakopmund, Twyfelfontein and Damaraland, Etosha National Park and the wonderful Zambezi Region. FlyNamibia Safari operates a Reims F406 aircraft between these destinations. The departure from Hosea Kutako International Airport means that visitors coming to Namibia via the large international carriers can depart directly to their preferred safari destination shortly after landing from Europe, the Middle East, or further afield. This gives them more time to explore the very best of Namibia, without unnecessary stopovers.

Through our partnership with EES we wish to celebrate everything that makes Namibia special, and ensure that Namibians, our German core tourism market, as well as the rest of the world celebrates with us.

In March, through our Independence Day celebrations, FlyNamibia gave away 10 free return tickets to any of our destinations. We had a fun competition which ran on social media where we challenged Namibians to sing their national anthem with as much pride and joy as possible. Our winner was Ndayola Ulenga with her beautiful and soulful rendition of the anthem. Future Media, through their various stations including Radiowave, Fresh FM, Omulunga and NOVA, also ran competitions on Independence Day where four lucky winners walked away with more free flights!

We would like to thank our loyal returning passengers, as well as new guests we are excited to welcome on board, for choosing FlyNamibia to get you where you need to be. We are dedicated to serving our customers and to flying Namibia’s colours with pride.

FlyNamibia currently operates domestic routes from Eros Airport in Windhoek to Ondangwa, Rundu, Katima Mulilo, Walvis Bay and Oranjemund, as well as a regional route between Hosea Kutako International Airport and Cape Town International. Flights can be booked through all major travel agencies, or directly via FlyNamibia’s 24/7 contact centre at +264 83 339 0011 . Customers can also visit www.flynamibia.com.na for online bookings.

Happy flying!

The FlyNamibia Team

SHOP LOCAL -ish

Unique local lifestyle brands and products that will guide, motivate and inspire you to express your identity.

Members of the pixie dream club will be delighted to know that everything you need for space clearing, sound healing and aromatherapy can be found at Pixi Oasis. This small shop in Windhoek’s Olympia suburb supplies the holistic community with essential oils, sage and palo santo smudge sticks, crystals and eastern ornaments. Pixi Oasis is gifting galore for the fairies and elves in your life. Their product offering is ever expanding to include more esoteric goodies, including authentic singing bowls, oracle cards, incense and Himalayan salt lamps. Find Pixi Oasis on the corner of Gerald Dreyer and Hella Kuppe Street, Olympia, Windhoek

OH SHIFT

Getting a hit of dopamine and endorphins shouldn’t be so laborious. Enter Oh Shift, a dance and movement studio in the heart of Windhoek focussed on reigniting the connection between you and your body. Owner and head instructor Sven-Eric Müller is qualified in the ballet, tap, jazz, contemporary, freestyle and ballroom disciplines. Oh Shift’s airy studio offers weekly classes including Barre-it, a ballet-based workout for toning and strengthening, and Contemporary Feels, teaching you how to move with intention. They also offer one-on-one private training classes and packages for wedding couples to prepare for their big day.

@ohshift_studio | www.sven-eric.com

COLLECT

Transforming your space from a house to a home has never been simpler! Collect brings you the trendiest decor items, shoppable online and delivered to your door in Windhoek, Walvis Bay and Swakopmund. Cute coffee tables, striking area rugs and illuminating lighting options are just some of the beautifying home decor items that Collect stocks. Their website is a dream to navigate, brilliantly curated with must-have lamps and ottomans, making it ridiculously convenient to fill your cart with the items that will reinvigorate a sense of style in your space.

@collect.com.na | www.collect.com.na

EXUBERANT CINEMA

Date night crisis, birthday party dilemma or company event conundrum resolved! Entertaining just got a whole lot easier with Exuberant Cinema. This mobile movie theatre offers pop-up cinema experiences, complete with a pull-up projection screen, sound and popcorn. Cinema buffs can experience a film of their choice either in an indoor or outdoor environment without having to sneak in a handbag full of snacks. Exuberant Cinema also hosts their own movie screenings, so you can get the theatre experience among strangers, just on a whole new level!

@exuberant_cinema | +264816028357

Are you a Nam or SA-based small business lifestyle brand? List your label with us for only N$400 per month. fly@venture.com.na

Latitudes Supporting Emerging Voices

From 26-28 May 2023, the Latitudes team will bring together artists and exhibitors from across the continent to transform Shepstone Gardens, a magnificent three-acre property in Johannesburg, into a curated celebration of art from Africa.

The central curatorial theme for this year’s edition is co-emergence. “In the context of African art, coemergence refers to the complexities embedded in the interaction of various cultural and aesthetic influences on the creation and interpretation of African art,” says Latitudes Special Projects Curator, Nkhensani Mkhari. In "looking both ways" practitioners working on the African continent or beyond explore how these diverse aesthetics and cultural influences echo each other in the diaspora and African contemporary art.

Latitudes understands that programmes focused on fostering professional practice skills for young curators in Africa are

rare. In order to support emerging voices, Latitudes founded CuratorLab in 2021, a practice-based, online curatorial residency for emerging curators.

For the 2023 iteration, RMB has supported this impactful programme, which has allowed the Latitudes team to extend their reach and offer participation to curators from not only South Africa, but also Botswana, Ghana, Nigeria, Namibia and Mozambique.

The programme is facilitated by five instrumental mentors from the arts industry, who offer professional practice sessions and one-on-one guidance to support and shape the mentees’ exhibitions. This group consists of Makgati Molebatsi, Luvuyo Nyawose, Nantume Violet and Latitudes’ own Nkhensani Mkhari and Nina Carew.

"The art ecosystem is evolving and more artists and artworks are entering the art space. There is an increasing need for

Tsholofelo Radebe South Africa

Basadi Dibeela Botswana

Denzel Nyathi South Africa

Carina Ubisse Capitine Mozambique

Photography: Latitudes team

critically discerning and knowledgeable curators who will bring new and fresh perspectives to exhibition-making while contributing to the nurturing of artists’ career trajectories, their cultural relevance and connection to audiences.

CuratorLab is a necessary platform for providing a foundation for curators’ creative ideation and an opportunity for learning and honing their curatorial practice", says Molebatsi.

Nyawose expands on this by stating that the CuratorLab mentorship programme is significant because it provides curators with a platform to critically engage and network with creative practitioners of various levels, on strategies ofexhibition-making from a multi-lensed perspective.

The ten curators selected for 2023 are Tsholofelo Radebe, Motheo Mamabolo, Denzel Nyathi, Gemma Hart, Nonzuzo Gxekwa (South Africa); Laschandrè Coetzee (Namibia);

The 2023 RMB Latitudes CuratorLab shows will go live on 5 April on Latitudes Online, running for 6 weeks.

Latitudes team

The Project Room - Namibia www.theprojectroom.com.na

Jadesola Olaniyan Nigeria

Gemma Hart South Africa Kezia Ouomoye Owausu-Ankomah Ghana

Nonzuzo Gxekwa South Africa

Laschandre Coetzee Namibia Motheo Mamabolo South Africa

Basadi Dibeela (Botswana); Jadesola Olaniyan (Nigeria); Kezia Ouomoye Owusu-Ankomah (Ghana); and Carina Ubisse Capitine (Mozambique).

RIDE FOR RHINOS

TOUR 2: 29 MAY - 2 JUNE with Dan Craven & Jan Braai

Join us for Tour 2 of the RMB Wilderness Ride for Rhinos cycling safari, co-hosted by Namibian Olympic cyclist Dan Craven and celebrated South African chef Jan Braai. Only 18 mountain bikers across Namibia’s most incredible landscape for 4 days, in aid of black rhino conservation.

All inclusive luxury camping. N$ 22,000 pp sharing. More info: www.venture.com.na/ride-for-rhinos | To book: elzanne@venture.com.na

FINANCE YOUR SUSTAINABILITY COMMITMENT

MAKE A MEASURABLE DIFFERENCE

Our expert teams and ecosystem of innovative products enable market-leading Sustainable Finance and ESG Advisory solutions.

By gaining a thorough understanding of your sustainability strategy, we provide advice and structure the appropriate financing solutions for you to reach your goals.

10 minutes with local taste makers

Penehafo Vaeta

These days, more than ever before, our collective society seeks balance between the stimulation of both the left and right brain. While one is always dominant, inherently we all have a bit of both – the left brain being the logical, pragmatic and rational side, and the right brain being the creative, divergent, and eccentric side. Left brains help our world function optimally; right brains make it worth living in.

Enter Penehafo Vaeta, a lawyer by profession, and stylist by necessity. In a blazer and chunky loafers, this pint-sized Ongwediva native is trailblazing the local fashion scene with elevated minimalism and a headstrong sense of professionalism.

Stylist to Namibian stars, Penehafo has worked in commercial, corporate and print media, to name but a few. One of her favourite projects to date was conceptualising edgy looks for local artist Lioness’ Tala music video, a venture for which she was granted plenty of creative carte blanche, and a swanky budget to bring her visions to life. In true left-brain fashion, her process begins with a comprehensive understanding of the client’s needs, followed swiftly by a presentation detailing research, reference and attention to hair and makeup –styling elements that truly complete a look.

Well versed in the avenues of the industry, Penehafo has been styling since 2017. She draws a good deal of inspiration from her sister, who Penehafo says is the most rational shopper and dresser she has ever come across. Her sibling’s once-a-year shopping spree has undoubtedly driven the stylist to a more minimalist approach, something we can all take notes on. Penehafo’s portfolio has grown to include big-gun corporates like MTC and Nedbank, as well as the everyday individual in need of a polished look for black-tie and social events.

While she is (very) small in stature, Penehafo is not letting anyone walk over her, particularly fashion designers who don’t meet her high standard of timeousness and attention to detail. She has a cherry-picked roster of trusted designers who, if the deadline allows, creates one-of-a-kind garments for Penehafo’s clients. In this space, the stylist also dabbles in designing, sketching out ideas to aid the unique creations. Her pragmatic nature manifests in control over every aspect of the stylist job description, reaching as far as the finish on a hem. Penehafo winces at unintentionally puckered fabric. Distressed fabric stresses her out.

Her daytime profession as a lawyer forces Penehafo to dress rather rigidly, noting that an outfit often either pulls in or pushes out a seat at the table. But this fashionista makes due with the limitations of her profession and is slowly integrating more colour and playfulness in her free-time wardrobe. Penehafo says her die-hard staples remain a flare denim, white button-up and classic blazer. And, of course, a stylish pair of sunglasses because she never forgets about the details.

She offers a range of services from creative consulting and event styling to costume design and visual art direction. The stylist’s dream client, unsurprisingly, is the one and only queen Beyoncé. Stating that if Penehafo had her hands on what the mogul wears, the fashion police would let her reign free.

Penehafo is every bit a passionate lawyer as she is an inspired stylist, hoping to never forfeit one profession for the other. If you happen to be caught up in the corporate world, may you find a side hustle that challenges creativity and vice versa. We are taking notes from Penehafo on a brilliantly balanced brain stimulus.

Charene Labuschagne

Dip Photos Dip Photos

400 g boneless, skinless white fish

Salt BATTER

250 ml self-raising flour

Pinch of salt

1 egg

200 ml water

Oil for frying

SAUCE FOR PICKLING

15 ml oil

125 ml spring onions, chopped

100 ml mixed red, green and yellow peppers, finely diced

10 ml medium curry powder

30 ml brown sugar

A good pinch of salt

100 ml blended white vinegar

50 ml lemon juice

100 ml water

CHEAT’S PICKLED FISH

• Cut the fish into smallish, neat portions and sprinkle lightly with salt.

• Place the flour into a bowl and add the egg and enough water while beating with a wire whisk until a smooth, medium-thick batter is formed.

• Pour sufficient oil into a large, shallow saucepan to make it about 25 mm deep and heat to moderately hot.

• Dip the fish portions into the batter to coat all over.

• Lift out with a fork to allow the excess batter to drip off, and fry a few portions at a time in the oil until golden and crisp on both sides and firm and cooked inside. Drain on absorbent paper and arrange in a single layer in a shallow dish.

• To make the sauce, place the oil, peppers, spring onions and curry powder into a saucepan and cook gently while stirring for 5 minutes.

• Add the sugar, vinegar, lemon juice and water and bring to the boil.

• Simmer gently for 5 minutes and adjust the salt, sugar or vinegar as necessary.

• Pour the sauce over the fish, cover and refrigerate for at least 2 hours – preferably longer – to allow the fish to become well chilled and saturated with the sauce.

Discover more of Antoinette's delicious recipes in Life on a Table

To order your copy contact Bonn Nortjé at Venture Publications: bonn@venture.com.na

Hentie Burger

- MIDGARDA PLACE LIKE HOME

Have you not, at some stage, felt the need to get out of the city, to escape the everyday hustle and bustle and to take time out with family and friends?

Nestled in the stunning Otjihavera Mountains, a mere 85 km from Windhoek, Midgard is the perfect place to escape to and has been so for many generations who enjoyed the farm feeling, the vintage cars, the beautiful gardens, swimming pools and Loki’s playpark. Many Namibians fondly recall their days at Midgard where parents could relax, spend quality time with family and friends, while the children played in a safe environment.

Bridal couples reminisce about their unforgettable wedding in the Midgard Kapelle and that beautiful reception afterwards, while nature lovers enthuse about the walking and hiking trails, bike trails and the many additional experiences such as game drives and self-driving 4x4 trails.

And then there are those who have been lucky enough to spot one or more of the ugly five that Midgard is home to, namely the hyena, vulture, warthog, wildebeest and marabou stork and one or more of the little five – elephant shrew, ant lion, rhinoceros beetle, buffalo weaver and leopard tortoise. What a wonderful world we live in!

Midgard has undergone a beautification but has kept its unique weekend getaway vibe and remains true to its purpose of catering for family and friends with scrumptious farm style, comfort food in the restaurant or on the stoep, while the sun sets behind the mountain.

Isn’t it time that you spoil your loved ones for a weekend or a day at Midgard?

After all – the name Midgard is popularly thought to mean “A paradise where the earth rises again, fertile and green, creating a protected world and a safe empire for the people” and that is exactly what we offer – a paradise where you can relax, unwind and recharge in a safe and protected environment.

Book today for that home away from home experience at Midgard. We look forward to spoiling you.

What sets you apart?

How many of us either give up or berate ourselves if we don’t get something right immediately? The common assumption is that if we’re not succeeding we must automatically be failing. Where does this come from?

A growing body of evidence is pointing the finger of our comparison culture at social media, which teaches us that success is the only thing worth sharing. If we lived a life according to social media, our hobbies are meant to be our side hustles and we should be able to juggle and have it all, all while looking perfect along the way.

It’s a toxic way of thinking that leads to anxiety and stress and is having a massive impact on our self-esteem. In todays world, comparing our lives with others seems to hold the position of being the number one culprit robbing us of a healthy self esteem.

Its odd because we live in the age of self-esteem where young kids are told they can be anything they want, and developing your self-esteem is seen as valuable, where it wasn’t in generations before. Conversely, we also live in the age of photoshop where thirty-two years ago the tool was developed to make people blemish free and toned. This means young people today have grown up surrounded by images that are not real.

What makes this more complicated is that we know innately that social media isn’t ‘real’. Statistics show that for every selfie we see, around ten attempts at that selfie have been made. We comprehend this in theory but our self esteem still takes a bashing because our brain is hard-wired to prioritise what it sees in front of it.

Whether we realise it or not, this drives a desire to chase a standard that doesn’t exist and this pursuit can take a massive toll on our mental health.

Fed by our need to be perfect, as the yardstick to being ‘good enough’, we have a belief that being the best at something will somehow make us more acceptable.

Psychologists explain that perfectionism is a coping mechanism, usually learnt from childhood. At the heart of most perfectionists is a deep fear of disapproval, of not being ‘good enough’. We live in a world where everything is rated, liked and followed. This is what we use as the measurement of what ‘the best’ is. It’s leading us to develop unrealistic expectations that can make life torturous.

We perceive our value as being based on external factors, usually the approval and acceptance we receive from others.

We feel good about ourselves when we get other peoples approval. Where this becomes unhealthy is where we put our self-esteem and confidence levels in the hands of the people around us.

It’s not social media that has invented comparison for us. Comparison is an instinct that starts early. From an early age, toddlers are looking to see what other babies are playing with. In fact, a paradigm study by Frans de Waal showed many years ago, that monkeys were perfectly happy exchanging their stones for cucumbers until other monkeys started getting grapes for their stones and the cucumber monkeys lost their cool.

Whether online of in-life, comparison can be a trigger for negative thinking and foster a never-ending stream of negative self-beliefs.

Comparison shoots our egos up or down at the behest of others opinions. The gains of feeling better than others by comparison is a temporary ego-boost. Once it fades our insecurities resurface, triggering the need for outside reassurance once again. It’s an unstable existence that fuels anxiety.

Our need to be online is disguised as keeping in contact with others, sharing, interacting and keeping up with trends. Being online has become so prevalent that few people today are without some form of social media presence.

So how do we ensure we don’t fall prey to the self-esteem zapping nature of social media? How do we become aware of ourselves and our online behaviours, if they are feeding into the comparison culture? And how can we ensure we don’t succumb to social media anxiety?

Experts agree there are two main areas to focus on :

1. Boundaries - this means we need to mute or unfollow people or groups that trigger negative feelings in us. It also means doing things like limiting your time on social media or having a digital detox day every week.

2. Engage with healthy content - this means curating the kind of content you engage with. It’s liking pages with uplighting messages or cute kitten videos - it’s following things on social media that make you feel good and avoiding things that make you feel less than the wonderful and unique person you are.

It also helps remembering that there will never be someone quite like you. What sets you apart may feel like a burden but it’s also what makes you unique and what makes you unique is what makes you exceptional.

Kirsty Watermeyer

Rojo Pub & Restaurant

Amidst the local sailing clan on a Saturday, the Walvis Bay Yacht Club is abuzz with kids gallivanting by the water’s edge and adults debriefing about the morning’s excursion with an ice-cold Hansa draught in hand. This is the place where friends, foreigners and seafarers congregate. This is Rojo Pub & Restaurant.

This brilliantly located hang-out spot is an experience from the moment you park your car. Picturesque wooden boat bungalows are painted a cobalt blue, and scattered around are a few mammoth monohull vessels – their sailless masts acting as a pedestal for a few seagulls. Strolling into the sunfilled space, you tread on original timber flooring, making the occasional creak as you survey the restaurant for the perfect view of the ocean. Whether in their domed dining room lined with windows, outside under a big umbrella, on the deck, or at the old-school sailor’s bar, Rojo dishes up a lively atmosphere.

Page through their extensive menu and find yourself overcome with endless options. This is the kind of place where a three-course meal just makes sense! For starters, choose between fresh Namibian oysters or something more indulgent like their three-cheese-stuffed jalapeno poppers served with guacamole. If you are in the mood for a light lunch, Rojo’s small-bites menu includes tacos, southern-style chicken served with potato salad and a mixed basket filled with tantalising nibbles of their fan-favourite finger foods.

On to the mains, where you are positively spoilt for choice! Try a familiar classic like their seafood platter, or venture beyond your comfort zone for a deconstructed sushi bowl consisting of sushi rice, Kewpie mayo, radish, wakame, nori, avo, salmon and prawns. It’s a mouth-full in every sense, and a generous alternative to the rolls we know.

Should you choose to indulge in turf rather than surf, a wide selection of excellently grilled steaks topped with mouthwatering sauces is sure to surprise. Think T-bone escargot, blue cheese and bacon rump or classic fillet topped with cheese and mushroom sauce. Throw in classics like oxtail and Eisbein (pork knuckle), and “salivation inducing” becomes a serious understatement!

If you have any room left for dessert, an American-style banana split or ice cream sundae, along with all the regulars like cheesecake and peppermint crisp tart, will surely put any sweet tooth to bed. Be it their kiddies’ menu, a burger or a pizza, there truly is something for everyone at Rojo.

An integral part of the Walvis Bay experience is dining in the crisp Atlantic breeze. And if you pride yourself in exploring our historic harbour town like a local, Rojo Pub & Restaurant goes uncontested. Watch the tide ebb and flow, live vicariously through the sailors of all ages and feast your belly at the honorary landmark that is the Walvis Bay Yacht Club.

Charene Labuschagne

WALVIS BAY INTERNATIONAL AIRPORT

The Walvis Bay International Airport is the second major gateway that is developed and managed by NAC. The Airport is strategically located in the dunes of the Namib Desert about fifteen (15) kms from the harbor town of Walvis Bay. The Airport will give you easy and timely access to the mesmerizing Namibian coastline which also hosts the historic town of Swakopmund as well as the famous dunes in the Namib Desert.

Boasting a revamped state of the art terminal building opened in 2016, the Airport handles daily flights to Windhoek, Johannesburg and Cape Town, while enjoying the spectacular scenes of the Namib Desert, the world’s oldest desert.

Walvis Bay International Airport is a prime leader in cargo handling for marine, coastal and mining activities in the area.

For travel schedules and more, contact the airport information office at: Tel: +264 64 271 100 | Email: communications@airports.com.na Find us at and www.airports.com.na

ROYAL HUSTLERS

The CEO of the Institute of Chartered Accountants of Namibia (ICAN) is the first woman from a previously disadvantaged background to hold that position. Talking to 99FM, Fenni Mghikevali shared the unconventional story of firsts that fostered her passion for intentionality and living up to one’s potential.

Though 100% Namibian, she was born in Angola before independence, lived in Germany for the first seven years of her life and came home to Namibia before starting school. Since she was fluent in German she attended German schools as part of the first cohort of Owambo children who were enrolled after independence.

Her unusual childhood shaped Fenni into someone who is liberal in her worldview and determined in her pursuit of better and best. “No one is coming to make things easy for you,” she says. “It’s up to you to make something of your life.” Fenni lost her father at a very young age and gained the insight that nobody owes you anything in life the hard way. “My dream is to be intentional in everything I do and to convey that message to others”, she shared.

iCAN

planning and refining, being better, faster, more efficient, more structured in everyday life, always self-improving and adapting to change, because change is really the only thing you can bank on." And when things don’t go according to plan, Fenni has some sobering advice: “What is the worst that can happen? The worst possibility is death. But anything else is workable.” Adapt, regroup, try again.

Fenni credits her primary school principal for her early self-trust and bravery. “He saw my potential from the beginning and that helped me to see it, too.” She also had a defining opportunity at the age of 17, when she met Nangula Uaandja (currently the CEO of NIPDB). Uaandja was the managing partner of PwC and herself a shining example of firsts: the first chartered accountant in Namibia and now the first woman from a previously disadvantaged background in the position of ICAN President. “She was the first of many,” Fenni said, “and I thought, I also want to be the first of many.”

This hardworking woman is also a mother and a wife. She is motivated by the possibility of growth and bettering herself. She enjoys “finding better ways to do things,

In conclusion, her thoughts were: “Be intentional in everything you do, just surviving is not enough. And check your mindset, because your mind determines your success, your accomplishments, your attitude on each and every day.”

Here’s to a tenure of firsts at ICAN.

Proudly Sponsored by

Laschandré Coetzee

Fenni Nghikevali

CEO, First of Many

MENTAL HEALTH MATTERS

Millions of people are pushing through what often feels like a struggle against themselves, and millions are trying to understand what mental health disorders entail. Awareness is the first step to closing that gap. Mental health disorders affect everybody regardless of race, colour, gender, age, or nationality. Some mental illnesses can be treated, while other conditions can be rehabilitated to improve quality of life.

Visit our page https://www.rmanam.com/healthmatters/ or scan the QR code for an introduction to Mental Health Awareness. Join Our Namibian specialists in video seminars on unique topics surrounding mental well-being and gain access to an expanding library of mental health articles.

MENTAL HEALTH FACTS

One in ten people lives with a mental health disorder.

According to research, up to 26% of the Namibian population suffers from mental health disorders.

A Higher percentage of females report suffering from mental health disorders compared to males.

More than 792 Million people live with mental health disorders worldwide.

Poor Mental Health can increase the risk for long-lasting, chronic conditions like heart disease.

If you do not experience mental health issues, you likely know at least one person who does; if you struggle with any mental health disorders, you are not alone.

Two years ago, at the Book Den, I picked up a copy of Beauty Boois' debut novel /Namgu's Escape Theory, excited to read a fictional work from a young Namibian author. We meet |Namgu at a transitional time in her life, as she moves from an affluent private boarding school in South Africa to a government school in her home country of Namibia. |Namgu faces many struggles in high school, including issues of self-acceptance that lead to her suffering from an eating disorder and eventually sinking into depression. As a young Khoekhoegowab woman, |Namgu also grapples with an inability to speak her native language, which causes a disconnection with her family. But then she meets Sophia, who enters |Namgu's life like a breath of fresh air and brings an entirely new perspective into play. |Namgu not only finds a close companion in Sophia, but also gains a brand new and different outlook on life, which she admires.

As |Namgu transitions to university she chooses a double major in drama, which is her passion, and feels obliged to take psychology to try and appease her conservative African parents, especially her father, who had hopes of his daughter becoming a lawyer. This is yet another aspect of |Namgu's life that young Africans will find relatable. |Namgu settles into her university life with a conservative Christian boyfriend and her free-spirited high school best friend, Sophia. However, tragedy strikes, causing |Namgu to interrupt her tertiary studies to seek mental help after attempting suicide.

Although fictional, this book is an important read that I hope will stir up uncomfortable conversations in African homes. This work delves into subjects that are far-ranging

|Namgu’s Escape Theory – Beauty Boois

and important, including coping with traumatic experiences, culture, identity and psychological well-being.

Doek! Literary Magazine stated that "Her novel, /Namgu's Escape Theory (UNAM Press, 2020), has been hailed as a landmark work of Namibian young adult literature that will thrill local and international readers." And I would agree.

Beauty Boois is in a class of pioneering young African authors who are changing the narrative of the continent, telling our stories from our perspective boldly and fearlessly. I would go as far as to say that they are helping to change the African narrative, and Aimé Césaire would be proud. It is exciting that with each passing year more and more African authors are emerging on the literary scene, bringing with them new perspectives and fresh ideas about what it means to be African.

Laimi Elago

Photography Feature:

Unlimited expression of your imagination

Karin Retief is a seasoned photojournalist with over 35 years of experience. In her early days she worked as a news photographer, covering a wide range of events from gang violence to parliamentary sessions to sports. Her last fulltime job was as chief photographer at The Cape Times, a daily newspaper where she had the privilege to meet her favourite person of all time – Nelson Mandela.

As a freelance photojournalist, Karin has had the opportunity to travel extensively on assignments for leading magazines and NGOs. Her expertise lies in documenting human rights abuses, socio-economic struggles, subcultures and environmental protection. However, after being diagnosed with PTSD, she shifted her focus to lighter human-interest stories and launched the lifestyle magazine Life in Namibia, which is now available online. During this time she also published a coffee table book, Beyond Ochre: My Life with a Himba Family, chronicling the life of a Himba family she visited over a 10-year period.

At the beginning of this year Karin decided to sell her heavy photography equipment with the intention of buying lighter gear. However, before she could purchase her new equipment, she found herself on holiday in Mozambique –without a camera. It was then that she began experimenting with AI art, which fascinated her with its limitless possibilities. Suddenly, a new world opened up to her imagination. AI art offered her the freedom to create images without the constraints of photojournalistic rules, and she found it therapeutic, providing a sense of hope and calmness that she had not experienced before.

With her newfound freedom to create images without any constraints, Karin dives into her dreams and experiences, often recreating images she has seen in real life but did not photograph, or dreams she has had. She also loves to

experiment with crazy colours, settings and worlds that don't exist, including people and animals. She always asks herself, "Does it make me happy?" She believes that the only criteria for AI art is to always state that it is AI-created, so that the viewer is not deceived into believing that it was created without any assistance.

Karin sees AI art as a democratising force that allows anyone to participate in the creative arts, regardless of their background or formal education. It is an accessible technology that does not require expensive equipment: all you really need is the internet. Although some may criticize AI art for departing from traditional art forms, Karin views it as an exciting new frontier for artistic expression, with the potential to create new jobs and opportunities in the creative industry.

Among the many useful tools which AI technology offers is the fact that it can help individuals with dyslexia, autism, Down Syndrome and many other difficulties to express their creativity. With the use of AI-powered assistants and tools, people with disabilities can now overcome the barriers that they may have previously faced when trying to express their thoughts. This newfound freedom to express themselves can be empowering and transformative, opening up new opportunities for self-expression and communication through not just creating art but generating an income.

Karin is originally from Cape Town but she considers herself Namibian, as she has lived in her adopted country longer than in her country of birth. She resides in Swakopmund with her spouse and two children.

If you are interested in Karin's artwork, it is available for purchase on her Instagram handle, karin_retief or Lightseeker_Art. Additionally, her lifestyle magazine, Life in Namibia, can be viewed on www.lifeinnamibia.com. If you would like to commission Karin for photojournalistic or digital artwork, you can contact her at +264 81 627 7692 or karin.retief.media@gmail.com

The crumpled skin of the earth

Four billion years ago, at its formation, Earth was entirely uninhabitable – excessive amounts of carbon dioxide, unbearable temperatures and no solid ground to walk on. Earth’s crust has been observed since the first appearance of our remote ancestors, but even after decades of research and computer simulations, modern scientists are still trying to answer the fundamental question: How did Earth develop into a dynamic surface that sustains life? The formation of Earth's crust is a complex and fascinating story that spans billions of years and is the result of geological processes and events which are still not fully understood. The evolution of our planet has remained a subject of intense debate among scientists.

In recent years, scientists have made ground-breaking discoveries that have shed new light on the formation of the Earth's crust. The initial state of Earth was very hot – a fiery ball of lava being constantly bombarded by debris from the solar system’s formation. But eventually, after about half a billion years, the planet began to cool and solidify. Again and again this initial crust was ruptured by meteorite and asteroid impact, as well as by gravitational influences of the moon which then was much closer to earth than it is now, but gradually, things began to settle down and constructive forces dominated over destructive ones. Torrential rains followed the furnace-like conditions and oceans formed –before long, that is after another 100–200 million years or so, the first very primitive life forms appeared in the depth of the newly formed ocean that spanned the world.

One of the most significant events in the formation of the Earth's crust was the formation of the first landmasses, called cratons. They looked nothing like today’s continents, and they were swimming on an ocean of liquid rock – growing and shifting, drifting apart and colliding. In processes lasting hundreds of millions of years, the supercontinent of Gondwana formed, which combined the landmasses of Africa, South America, Australia, Antarctica, Arabia and India.

The formation of mountains are other significant events in the evolution of the Earth's crust. The crust consists of tectonic plates which float on top of the semi-liquid mantle. Mountains are created when tectonic plates collide, and one plate is pushed up and over the other. This process is called subduction, and it creates towering fold mountain ranges such as the Andes, the Himalayas and the Rockies. In the past, such tremendous geological events also happened in what became southern Africa, for instance the creation of the Damara Orogen of central Namibia some 550 million

years ago. Then erosion took its toll and reduced these mountains to their present-day state – remnants of this particular range include the Otavi Mountains, Chuosberge, Rössing and the Naukluft.

The Earth's crust is also shaped by volcanic activity, which is often related to the mountain folding events. Volcanic eruptions can cause massive changes to Earth's surface, such as the creation of new land and the formation of new mountains. The release of gases and minerals into the atmosphere may change the climate for years or even decades (e.g. the Krakatau eruption on Java, Indonesia, in 1883).

Other mountains are formed by masses of molten rock rising through the Earth’s crust and cooling as they near the surface. Examples in Namibia are the Brandberg Massif with the country’s highest peak, as well as Spitzkoppe and Erongo, which consist of weather-resistant granitic rock that remained when erosion removed the surrounding softer sedimentary rock like schist.

All this goes to show that Earth’s crust is not just a static layer of rock, but a dynamic and constantly changing entity that has evolved and changed over billions of years. Most of these changes occur through incredibly slow processes, but over sufficiently long periods of time they create Earth's features and properties as we know them today. While some processes are constructive, like the slow deposition of massive layers of sediments on the ocean floors and the building of mountains, others are destructive. As soon as new features have formed, erosion attacks them with wind and rain, or temperature changes, which weakens the rock and eventually reduces it to rubble once more. A well-known erosional feature is the Vingerklip near Khorixas, a remnant of rock which weathering has shaped like an upraised thumb. Or the even more famous Finger of God (Mukorob) near Asab, which toppled over in 1988. Partly erosional and partly tectonic (the latter means shaped by forces at work in the Earth’s interior) is the Fish River Canyon. To a large part it was excavated over millions of years by the longest river in Namibia – hard to believe if one looks at the Fish River today, which for much of the year is but a trickle of water. This continuous process of birth and destruction is the geological cycle.

With its crumpled and textured surface, Earth’s crust is a living record of geological events. As we continue to explore it, we gain a deeper understanding of the history of our planet and the forces that continue to shape it.

Victoria N Nakafingo

Where to next?

Onandjokwe Medical Museum in Oniipa

Just outside of Ondangwa lies the charming town of Oniipa, named after the African Ebony tree. Established in 1872 by the Finnish Mission Society, the presence of the Finns is still felt in corners of this quaint town today. Something synonymous with Finland, and the only Finnish word to make it into everyday English, an authentic Finnish sauna is listed as one of the tourist attractions in this northern Namibian town.

Another distinctive milestone achieved in Oniipa is that one of the first hospitals was established there in 1911, and the first nursing school in 1930. With this history it is not surprising that Oniipa also boasts the country’s first medical museum, now a non-profit museum that highlights these and other events in the history of this unique town.

A monumental event was the arrival of Dr Selma Rainio from Finland. She was the first medical doctor in this part of the country. Soon after her arrival in 1908 she started treating patients, usually seeing around 40 a day. They quickly spread word of her medical skills – at a time when people strongly relied on traditional local herbalists and healers. But more and more patients started to flock to Dr Rainio's door because her treatments were affordable and very effective.

Dr Rainio proposed the idea to build a hospital in Oniipa to the Finnish Mission Society. Thus Onandjokwe hospital was established, the first hospital in the far north, and the first building in this part of the country to sport a corrugated iron roof.

Later, Dr Selma Rainio affectionately became known as Kuku gwaNandjokwe (Onandjokwe’s grandmother). She spent the rest of her life working many long hours at this hospital. When she passed away in 1938 she was buried with special honours behind Onandjokwe. She is still held in high regard for her historical significance in northern Namibia.

Another first for Namibia that started in Oniipa was the establishment of the Onandjokwe Medical Museum which showcases the history of medical practices in the region. It houses a collection of real medical equipment and pictures dating back to 1908. Permanent exhibitions feature the role of the hospital during the liberation struggle. Another highlight is the Traditional Medicine Garden which shows the use of medicinal plants.

Steeped in history, from a traditional as well as medical point of view, Oniipa is well worth a visit. When you next visit northern Namibia be sure to make a turn at the Onandjokwe Medical Museum, open Monday to Friday from 8h00 to 17h00. Or contact the Museum’s curator, Kleopas Nghikefelwa, on +264812755616 for more information.

NAMIBIA DISCOVER

1. Popa Falls Resort

2. Onkoshi Resort

3. Namutoni Resort

4. Halali Resort

5. Okaukuejo Resort

6. Olifantsrus Camp

7. Dolomite Resort

8. Terrace Bay

9. Torra Bay

10. Khorixas Camp

11. Waterberg Resort

12. Gross-Barmen Resort

13. Mile 4 Campsite

14. Sun Karros Daan Viljoen

15. Sossus Dune Lodge

16. Sesriem Campsite

17. Naukluft Camp

18. Hardap Resort

19. Duwisib Castle

20. Shark Island Resort

21. Fish River Canyon & Hobas Camp

22. /Ai-/Ais Hotsprings Spa

23. Mile 72

24. Mile 108

25. Jakkalsputz

Popping with Culture

The biggest pop culture event in the Mother City is shaping up to be even bigger than fans expected.

The first annual Comic Con Cape Town is around the corner and organisers have been making waves online with some big announcements. Convention-goers can look forward to seeing some well-known celebrities at the event and they might even get the opportunity to take a few snaps with them.

One of the biggest announcements so far is that Ross Marquand will be one of the main international celebrity guests. Marquand, known for his roles as Aaron in The Walking Dead and Red Skull/Ultron in the Avengers movies, is excited to join fans in Africa at the event and hopes to make lifelong friends.

Another major celebrity guest to attend is DJ Elliot. The celebrated disc jockey has been part of Comic Con Africa and has played at dozens of comic book conventions around the world. DJ Elliot will host interview segments with the other celebrities and also open the floor for some questions from the audience.

Apart from the celebrity guests, Comic Con Cape Town also invited award-winning international cosplayers. Italian cosplayer Leon Chiro will be showing off some of his hard work at the convention. He will also be part of a judging panel during a cosplay competition.

Joining him is Elizabeth Rage. She is known for her stunning cosplay creations which range from iconic movie and comic book characters to original designs. Some of her iconic work includes costumes such as Poison Ivy from the Batman movies and Triss Merigold from The Witcher

Luke Andalis, award-winning cosplayer from Cape Town, will also form part of the judging panel. Better known as Ludus Cosplay, Andalis left his daytime job to become a fulltime cosplayer. Last year he walked away as the champion of Comic Con Africa’s cosplay competition. He will also represent South Africa at C3E2 competitions later this year. Cosplaying is not just for the professionals, though. There will also be competitions for the casual cosplayers, who are free to wear whatever they like and to represent their favourite fandoms at the convention. Game developer Ubisoft will host a special competition for those dressed up as their favourite Ubisoft character.

In case you were wondering, the organisers did not forget about the gamers and streamers. There will be a dedicated space for video game enthusiasts, streamers and e-sport athletes, known as StreamerCon. This part of the convention will also host panels with full-time and casual streamers.

Still unsure what to do with your children at the event? Worry not! They will have their own special area called KidsCon. KidsCon will have its own gaming, entertainment and play areas. There will also be opportunities for the youngsters to dive into their favourite fandoms.

In addition, there will be different events and convention spaces dedicated to artists, illustrators, writers and comic book creators. Street and graffiti artists will also showcase their work at StreetCon. There will be so much going on over the four days that boredom will not be an option.

Find out more about Comic Con Cape Town at www.comicconcapetown.co.za.

Namibian journalist Barry de Klerk, also known as The Movie Guy, will report directly from the convention, as he has been invited to form part of the media team at the event.

Cosplayers can show up in whatever costumes they can come up with

Street and graffiti artists are going to showcase their work at StreetCon.

This

Photography: Elzanne McCulloch

The internationally renowned Etosha National Park – undoubtedly Namibia’s most popular tourist attraction – is the heart of the north-central region. The park serves as the ultimate stopover before heading for the arid northwest, the water-rich northeast, or the largely unexplored culturally rich Land of the Awambo People.

Etosha owes its unique landscape to the Etosha Pan, a vast, shallow chalky white depression of approximately 5 000 km2 that forms the heart of the park. Once a large inland lake fed by the early Kunene River and rivers from the north, it began drying up about 3 million years ago when the Kunene was diverted to the Indian Ocean. A series of waterholes along the southern edge of the pan guarantee rewarding and often spectacular game viewing. In good rain years the pan fills with water draining southwards from Angola via a delta-like system of shallow rivers and oshanas, drying out in the winter to become an austere expanse of white cracked mud, shimmering with mirages and upward spiralling dust devils.

What we call Etosha today was proclaimed as Game Reserve No 2 in 1907 by the then German Governor Friedrich von Lindequist. With subsequent additions it became the largest game reserve in the world, covering a vast area of ±80 000 km2. For political considerations its size was progressively diminished, until by 1975 it had been reduced by 77 per cent to its present surface area of 22 912 km2. Nevertheless, it is still one of the largest game reserves in Africa.

Of the 114 mammals species found in the park, several are rare and endangered, such as black rhino and cheetah, and the lesser-known blackfaced impala, which is endemic to northwestern Namibia and southwestern Angola. Etosha’s current population of black rhino represents one of the largest populations of black rhino in the world.

Other large mammals in the park include elephant, giraffe, blue wildebeest, mountain and plains zebra, hyaena and lion. Cheetah and leopard complete the trio of ‘big cats’. Antelope species range from kudu, gemsbok and the large and stately eland, to the diminutive Damara dik-dik. Smaller mammals include jackal, bat-eared fox, honey badger, warthog and the ubiquitous ground squirrel. For the greater part of the year (the dry season) Etosha’s animals and birds are dependent on about 30 springs and waterholes. These provide excellent game viewing and photographic opportunities. A good policy before setting out is to enquire from camp officials what the current game movements are. During the rainy season, the bird life at the main pan and Fischer’s Pan is well worth viewing. Etosha’s vegetation varies from dwarf shrub savannah and grasslands, which occur around the pan, to thorn-bush and woodland savannah throughout the park. Eighty per cent of all of Etosha’s trees are mopane. West of Okaukuejo is the well-known Sprokieswoud – Fairy, Phantom or Haunted Forest – the only place where the African moringa tree, Moringa ovalifolia, grows in such a large concentration on a flat area. Etosha is open throughout the year and is accessible by tarred roads via the Andersson Gate on the C38 from Outjo, the Von Lindequist Gate in the east from Tsumeb on the B1, the Galton Gate in the west from Kowares on the C35 and the King Nehale Gate located on the Andoni plains just north of the Andoni waterhole, which provides access from the north-central Owambo regions on the B1 from Onyati.

Find

FlyNamibia between Hosea Kutako International Airport and Cape Town, Sossusvlei, Etosha and Swakopmund, as well as between Eros Airport in Windhoek and Ondangwa, Rundu, Katima Mulilo, Walvis Bay and Oranjemund.

TO ETOSHA AND BEYOND

Did you know our logo is based on an

African

Basket?

The basket encapsulates wholeness and completeness. The basket is essentially a circle, and circles are very important symbols in most African cultures. They represent continuity and connectedness. At FlyNamibia we aspire to offer Namibians more opportunities, more potential for growth and more connections, within Namibia and with the rest of the world.

Let’s

www.flynamibia.com.na

The robots are coming FOR OUR JOBS

“The robots are coming for our jobs!” is a phrase that has been bandied about for many years, but increasingly so in recent months –thanks, in large part, to the release of AI models such as ChatGPT that have many people worrying just how secure their once ‘plum position’ actually is.

Having considered trying to prove my point by getting ChatGPT to write this month’s column for me, I instead decided to ask it if the robots really are coming for our jobs, to which, at the end of a very long, diplomatic sounding answer, it said: “Many experts believe that there will always be a need for human workers to perform certain tasks that cannot be easily automated, such as those that require creativity, emotional intelligence, or physical dexterity.” So that’s a relief!

The use of AI models can make a lot of things easier, for example by handling a lot of the ‘busy work’, analysing complex datasets or years and years of case law, or analysing medical images and other data to accurately diagnose conditions such as cancer, heart disease and neurological disorders, among other things.

In terms of news (which is what I do) AI offers many ways of making life easier, such as using ChatGPT to rewrite stories in various different styles, suggest interview topics, or provide background information on a topic or person in much the same way as an online search would, but in a more user friendly, summary form. Other types of AI models can also be used for transcribing audio into text, translating stories, or creating summaries and newsletters of the previous week’s stories. There are AI models that can clean up audio faster than sound technicians would be able to, and others that can learn to speak in a specific person’s voice (which could come in handy if I ever want to fool people into thinking I’m in the studio when I’m actually out riding my bicycle).

In what I was told was a threat to my job, and indeed the entire ‘business’ of journalism, there are even companies like NewsGPT or Artifact that claim to offer “unbiased and factbased news” that is “personalised to your interests.” Ignoring for now the echo-chamber effect this kind of content can end up creating in consumers, these companies’ claims also ignore the fact that AI models and the algorithms that run them are created by people – people who have unconscious biases they can transfer to the AI model despite their best intentions. Added to this is the fact that the news stories these services deliver to their readers were not created by their AI models but instead written by a person employed by a media house that has its own editorial policy and guidelines. Even ChatGPT, when I asked it if it would sooner trust AI-generated news or a real-life newsroom, told me: “AI-generated news

may lack the nuance and context that human journalists can provide, and AI algorithms may perpetuate bias or produce inaccurate or misleading content.”

I’ll spare you for now my rant about plagiarism, attribution and the loss of revenue suffered by newsrooms when their content is ‘recycled’ and presented by AI models, but you can probably guess that I spend a lot of time reading and thinking about where the technology is taking us and what the future is going to look like. I am reassured, though, because while AI can, without a doubt, be used to make our lives a lot easier and our workdays less stressful, we still have the edge through the fact that AI doesn’t actually think – though some may say many humans they have met don’t really seem to think either...

When AI does begin to think for itself (the so-called ‘singularity’), experts believe we will see a massive leap forward and the development of technological innovations outside of the bounds of human understanding. This in turn will lead to either the type of society envisaged by Iain M. Banks in his book The Culture, where AI is known as Minds, highly intelligent and benevolent beings that oversee the running of society and ensure that all citizens have access to food, shelter, and other necessities, or a future in The Matrix style in which the machines have enslaved us and use our combined electrical impulses to power their ‘civilisation’.

Either way, while futurist Ray Kurzweil predicts that the singularity could occur as early as 2045, many other experts believe it could still be hundreds or even thousands of years away, so you can sit back and enjoy your flight, safe in the knowledge that your pilots are still human. At least I think they are...

Until next month: enjoy your journey.

Behind the conservation lens

Jens Schneider

Jens’ journey to conservation filmmaking is entwined with his lifelong search for meaning and purpose.

He studied communication science, majoring in TV advertising, but he went on to film significant news events such as Namibia’s independence process. Jens says he has been looking for “meaning, rather than ease” over the years.

He completed various pieces in the Namibian wild before the Covid-19 lockdowns rolled in and also brought filmmaking to a halt. Against that background Ultimate Safaris approached him about applying his time and filmmaking expertise to the Covid Chronicles – a seven-month pro bono project to help keep the local guides sharp and earning a salary while tourism was restricted.

Through this project Jens came to see the value of indigenous knowledge and the communities who protect our environment while living in conflict with wildlife. He says he found his passion right there and then. ”Reality struck and now this is the only thing I want to do.”

Bringing this content to OneAfrica makes sense. The channel is focused on high quality local content and, in Jens’ words,

is “filled with meaning”. Having Wild Namibia on OneAfrica introduces viewers to the grassroots level people engaged in conservation, Jens says. People like Ou White, a 75-year-old tracker featured in episode 8, who tracks rhinos at night.

“It’s crucial to reach a larger audience and make people aware of what is happening on our front porch”, Jens says. “Namibian documentaries should be made by Namibians because we are responsible for our land.”

Having Wild Namibia on OneAfrica is also a means of enticing Namibian corporates to take on the challenge and support the conservation efforts.

Don’t miss the latest episode of this beautiful docu-series on OneAfrica on Sundays at 18h00. Missed your favourite episode? Watch OneAfrica anytime anywhere on www.oneafrica.tv

Catch News on One every weekday at 19:00 on OneAfrica.

GOTV Channel 90

DSTV Channel 284

DSTV Now

Omumborombonga

I recall that I stood barefoot and wide-eyed at one of the cattle posts on the farm when I first heard the enchanting Otjiherero word. I was listening with childlike wonder to my beloved Onkel Lothar speaking in the language of the farmworkers at the borehole that was fondly named Omumborombonga.

Iwas about seven years old at the time: years measured in seconds by the audible ticks of the old-fashioned clock in the farmhouse – punctuated by an hourly chime: a ghostly gong, gong.

On the farm Kanambo, close to Otjiwarongo in central Namibia, Lothar Wilhelm farmed with cattle. He shared the Herero people’s love of these animals. It is common knowledge in Namibia that the Herero once were nomadic pastoralists with large herds of cattle – and that they are drawn to farming to this day.

The Herero are one of roughly nine cultural groups in Namibia: the other eight are the Basters, the San, the Caprivians, the Damara, the Kavango, the Nama and the Aawambo plus those loosely grouped as people of European origin.

Visitors are fascinated by the stately Herero women in traditional late 19th century type of dresses – a style introduced by the wives of German missionaries. But few know that the shape of the headdress mimics the horns of cattle, the ultimate symbol of wealth in the Herero culture.

Much of this culture was lost in the devastating Herero rebellion between 1904 and 1905 against German colonial rule. This tragic chapter in our history gave rise to what is known as a Truppenspieler movement. It explains the uniforms which some of the Herero men still wear in what is now known as the Red Band Movement. Elements of German uniforms in the colonial era were incorporated in the traditional wear of the men. Every year on 26 August deceased leaders are commemorated in a mass gathering of Herero people wearing “traditional” clothes.

This is where you will find many words stemming from the experience with German culture. The word omunavihako vivari (the one with two stripes) speaks to the fact that

corporals and sergeants were named according to the number of stripes.

Onkel Lothar spoke Otjiherero fluently – and thereby opened a wonderland of words for me. But I did not have to fall (like Alice) down a rabbit hole to explore the origin of the word Omumborombonga

The answer lies in a large tree trunk. This is what the large Namibian leadwood tree (Combretum imberbe) is called in Otjiherero. The tree forms the centre of the Herero culture’s creation myth.

The Herero elders recount the legend that the first man and woman, as well as oxyn, came forth from this sacred tree at the beginning of time. Lesser animals, like sheep and goats, however, emerged from underneath a flat stone. The first ancestor was known as Mukuru – and the first woman as Kamungundu. Some say the tribal name Herero is derived from ova-erero (the people of yesterday).

In addition to worshiping the supreme being Mukuru, or Ndjambi, for his kindness, the Herero traditionally worship their ancestors.

While I am aware that respect for ancestors prevails in modern-day Namibia, I asked a translator and Otjihererospeaker, Richard Tjitua, which traditions were still alive today. There used to be a time when the elders still bowed reverently with the words Tate Mukuru u Zera (Father thou art holy) whenever they passed the Omumborombonga tree.

Says Richard: “Many Hereros adopted the Christian faith, and they learned from the Bible that the dead are conscious of nothing and do not exist somewhere else. Thus they cannot harm or help the living. This understanding has caused many to strongly reject customs and rituals that

promote ancestor worship. Other Hereros who believe in God know that he condemns anything to do with the appeasing of their dead ancestors. Yet, they still practise ancestor worship out of fear of the dead, and because of peer and family pressure.”

According to Richard, an uncle is viewed as a very important person. “The uncle is the brother of my mother. We don’t refer to my father’s brother as uncle, as in the Western culture. Rather, he is another father, be it a younger or elder father. He helps with the decisions in marriage negotiations, funeral arrangements and other family matters.”

Richard continues: “They wouldn’t give the bride to the inlaws without the groom’s uncle. And the bride’s uncles are the ones involved in deciding who the bride will be. The only exception is when the bride’s mother is married and the bride lives with her mother’s husband (be it her own father or step father). Even so, they would still want the uncle to be present. A younger brother is not allowed to marry before his older brother, or else he must pay with one head of cattle. This could also be converted into monetary value.” Richard says this tradition is gradually becoming obsolete.

“Another custom that is still practiced in some Herero communities is the brother-in-law marriage. When a husband dies, his wife is offered to one of her brother-in-laws. Of course, she can choose whether to marry one of them or not. This practice has its origin in the Bible. It was practiced among ancient Israelites.”

In 2017, the old clock in the farmhouse chimed my beloved Onkel’s final hour. Gone were the days of carefree school holidays on the farm, horse riding, swimming in the Bassin and sharing funny stories around the square kitchen table.

We gathered under the welcoming shade of the trees in the family cemetery at Kalkfeld – also the last resting place of my ancestors. My German-born grandfather, Hans Paul Friedrich Wilhelm, came to Namibia by ship in 1938 with nothing but a bunch of dried flowers for his Namibian bride-to-be. The cemetery also turned out to be her last resting place. The wild and willful Gertrud Wilhelm finally had to make her peace with his artistic temperament – so unfit for toiling as a farmer on African soil. She was buried right next to him, a stone’s throw from her own father, Otto Kleiber, who came to Namibia from Germany with one of the first Schutztruppe contingents before the First World War. Since then, the Herero people’s own history and stories – some of tragedy, others of joy – became intertwined with those of my family. Like the

twisted roots of the leadwood tree. They became part of the web of the day-to-day lives of my German forebears, branching into the big tree of the flawed history that shaped us all.

They were already waiting at the cemetery’s fence to pay their last respects by the time I arrived for the funeral ceremony. Upright. Proud. Stoic. Many of them were wearing suits dusted off and repurposed for the special occasion –out of my uncle’s very own wardrobe. Some of the neckties were so old-fashioned that they looked vaguely familiar. I swallowed the tears and felt a deep gratitude to these people whose culture enriched my own. During his last days on the farm, Lothar frequently lost his balance, it therefore became the norm that his workers, Itchi, Festus, Reinhard and Esay, became his watchful shadows and always walked on his left, right and back in an unspoken truce to keep him upright if need be – and to keep up appearances as to who was really in charge of the farming.

I somehow saw my larger-than-life Onkel turn grey overnight, as if cued by a ghostly gong-gong of a clock and set into fast-forward mode by a magic word in a foreign language spoken by a wizard in a children’s tale.

When it was time to say goodbye the farm workers stepped forward, one by one (like the rest of the family), and paid their respects with a simple fistful of sand strewn onto the coffin. As the coffin was placed into the grave we were all thrown off balance by the realisation that the solid earth beneath our feet was made up of mere sand too – and can unexpectedly crumble during times of grief.

When it was my turn to open my fist and let go of so much more than a handful of dust, I recalled the Herero prayer to their supreme Mukuru as a fitting tribute (in the presence of my ancestors) to a very kind man:

Place thy hand across my eyes so that I may see only good. Breathe thy breath upon my lips so that I may speak no wickedness. Whisper thy name in my ears so that what I hear will soothe my soul. For when my soul is called by thee it must come as clean and fresh as the rain thou sendest in the spring of the year.

Linda de Jager

Paul van Schalkwyk

GENERATE RENEWABLE POWER FOR YOUR OPERATIONS

MAKE A MEASURABLE DIFFERENCE

New energy market regulations have opened the door for private partnerships through large scale generation projects, providing renewable energy sources to assist corporates in both diversifying their power sourcing requirements and meeting their net zero carbon commitments. Partner with us for sustainable, renewable power using our specialised finance solutions, with the support of our expert ESG Advisory services.

How irrational decision-making impacts markets

Financial theory in the traditional sense assumes that investors act rationally, using all available information to make investment decisions. If we also assume that markets are frictionless (no tax and no costs), we should have a situation where markets are perfectly priced. What you pay for a stock should be what it is worth. In accounting terms, a company must equate their assets (minus liabilities) to their equity – the result of which represents the company’s book value. Book value is not to be mistaken with market value. These two values almost never match. Behavioural finance challenges these assumptions in order to unlock how individuals and markets actually behave. Behavioural finance in this sense attempts to identify how irrational decision-making impacts markets. How much of market behaviour is actually attributed to variables such as feelings, subjective reasoning or even cognitive errors? In this article we focus on emotional bias in the marketplace.

Emotional bias can lead us to believe in things that make us feel good even if they are not true. When it comes to stock markets, emotional bias can hinder our ability to make rational investment decisions, causing us to follow our intuition instead of making informed, unbiased decisions. This intuitive feeling is likely to be perceived as rational by a particular investor; however, in reality it might not be. This contradiction in thought often leads to suboptimal investment decisions.

Michael Pompian is the founder and CIO at Sunpointe Investments, and also the author of Behavioral Finance and Your Portfolio. Pompian refers to numerous emotional biases evident in the marketplace. It must be noted that besides emotional biases, behavioural theorists have also attributed faulty cognitive reasoning as a factor that may explain irrational decision-making in the marketplace. Cognitive errors are based on statistical, information-processing or memory errors, whereas emotional errors arise from feelings and are often more spontaneous in nature.

For this article, we focus on a handful of the most common biases we often witness from our clients and illustrate their potential impact on decision-making by way of a hypothetical scenario. The four biases that we address are as follows:

• Loss aversion bias

• Herding bias

• Confirmation bias

• Overconfidence bias

The hypothetical investment scenario:

• We consider an individual who invested N$200,000 equally into two stocks: N$100,000 into stock A and N$100,000 into stock B.

• After one year, stock A has appreciated in value to N$150,000, while stock B has depreciated in value to N$50,000.

• The investor is now faced with a financial emergency where they need to liquidate a portion of the portfolio equivalent to N$50,000.

Think about how you might go about doing this and then ask yourself if you may be experiencing any of the following emotional biases/cognitive errors.

Loss aversion bias: This bias refers to the tendency to prefer avoiding losses over acquiring gains. In this scenario, the investor may be more focused on the loss they would incur by selling stock B, rather than the potential gain they could make by selling stock A. As a result, the investor may choose to sell stock A, even though it has appreciated in value, to avoid the perceived loss of selling stock B at a lower price.

Herding bias: This bias refers to the tendency to follow the crowd and make decisions based on the actions of others. In this scenario, the investor may be influenced by the market sentiment and choose to sell stock B because it has depreciated in value, even though it may not be the best long-term decision.

Confirmation bias: Confirmation bias is the tendency to seek out and interpret information in a way that confirms pre-existing beliefs. In this scenario, the investor may have a bias towards a particular stock and seek out information that affirms their bias to sell the other stock based on their pre-existing beliefs, rather than to perform an objective analysis of the current market conditions.

Overconfidence bias: Overconfidence bias refers to the tendency to overestimate one’s abilities and the accuracy of one’s beliefs. In this scenario, the investor may be overconfident in their ability to predict future market movements and may make investment decisions based on their assumptions rather than objective analysis. This is similar to the illusion of control bias where an investor is likely to trade more than is prudent based on often unwarranted illusions of their ability to predict certain outcomes. This also often leads to inadequately diversified portfolios, as evidenced in the scenario, and is a huge concentration risk given the portfolio is made up of only two stocks.

As briefly illustrated above, cognitive and emotional biases can significantly affect investment decisions and lead to suboptimal outcomes. The first step in correcting a bias is recognising that the bias exists and labelling it as such. The purpose of this article is to raise awareness and to assist investors in recognising their own biases in order to make more informed investment decisions going forward. A qualified wealth manager may assist further in the process of removing as much bias from investment decision-making as possible.

William Rudd is a senior portfolio manager at IJG, an established Namibian financial services market leader. IJG believes in tailoring their services to a client’s personal and business needs. For more information, visit www.ijg.net.

A monthly wrap-up of News Worth Knowing

Heineken gets final approval to acquire Namibia Breweries, Distell

Heineken has received final regulatory approval from the South African Competition Tribunal to acquire control over Distell Group Holdings Limited and Namibia Breweries, paving the way for the creation of a regional African beverage champion.

The decision follows approvals from the Namibia Competition Commission, the Common Market of Eastern & Southern Africa, and all other relevant jurisdictions.

As part of its approval condition, the Namibian competition watchdog demanded that Distell's products consumed in Namibia be manufactured or at least be bottled locally, among a raft of conditions.

Heineken's CEO and Chairman of the Executive Board Dolf van den Brink expressed his excitement about the deal and the opportunities it creates: "We are delighted the Competition Tribunal has approved the deal. We are very excited to bring together three strong businesses to create a regional beverage champion, with a unique multi-category offer to better serve consumers, customers and create shared societal value across Southern Africa. We are committed to being a strong partner for growth and making a positive impact in the communities in which we operate, and the proactive and comprehensive public interest package we've put forward is testament to that."

Heineken's total investment in the newly formed company, Newco, will be approximately N$47 billion (€2.4 billion) for a 65% shareholding. The investment will include a cash pay-out of approximately N$23.5 billion (€1.2 billion) funded from bonds, existing cash resources, and committed credit facilities, as well as the contribution of its currently owned assets, including 75% of Heineken South Africa (HSA), 100% of its export businesses in certain other African markets, and its minority interest in Namibia Breweries Limited.

According to Namibia Breweries Limited (NBL), its planned acquisition by Heineken NV has the potential to attract investment worth N$10 billion for the country.

Boost for Walvis Bay tourism as luxury cruise line adds town to destinations

The tourism sector in Walvis Bay is expected to receive a boost after Regent Seven Seas Cruises announced its upcoming World Cruise for 2026, which will embark on a 154-night voyage across 41 countries and six continents, including a stop at the Port of Walvis Bay.

This marks the luxury cruise line's longest World Cruise to date, and it is set to depart from Port Miami in Florida on January 10th, 2026, aboard the Seven Seas Mariner vessel.

The itinerary showcases a selection of exotic destinations such as Bora Bora in French Polynesia, Darwin in Australia, and Walvis Bay in Namibia.

This comes as the Namibian Ports Authority is set to receive 26 more passenger vessels between March and May 2023.

Germany, Mali and Botswana sign climate change joint declaration

The German Federal Ministry of Education and Research (BMBF), the Southern African Science Services Centre for Climate Change and Adaptive Land Management (SASSCAL) as well as the Western African Science Centre for Climate Change and Adaptive Land Use (WASCAL) have signed a declaration that will see the three organisations jointly counter effects of climate change.

The Joint Declaration of Intent emphasises the need for joint efforts to improve the projection of the impact of climate change on the economic development of the African regions and the means to provide empirical evidence to policymakers on land use that will help counter these effects.

This will in turn encourage and promote research and innovation at the regional and national levels.

Namibia in record February passenger vehicle sales as Toyota dominates

Namibia experienced a record-breaking surge in passenger vehicle sales during February 2023, according to the latest data.

A total of 1,103 new vehicles were sold, which is 294 more than the revised figure for January, representing a 24.9% year-onyear increase from the 883 new vehicles sold in February 2022.

Of the 1,103 vehicles sold in February 2023, 559 were passenger vehicles, marking an increase of 17.4% month-on-month and 27.3% year-on-year. IJG noted that this was the highest monthly number of new passenger vehicle sales since July 2018.

Toyota emerged as the leader in passenger vehicle sales, capturing 37.8% of the segment sales year-to-date, followed by Volkswagen with 24.3% of the market share, Kia with 8.3%, and Suzuki with 5.4%.

According to vehicle sales data from the National Association of Automobile Manufacturers of South Africa (NAAMSA), 1,035 passenger vehicles were sold in the first two months of 2023, which is the highest number of year-to-date sales by February since 2016.

Trade ministry develops decarbonisation policy for RAC sector

Namibia's Ministry of Industrialisation and Trade (MIT) is taking steps to tackle global warming by developing a National Cooling Strategy aimed at decarbonising the Refrigeration and Air-Conditioning (RAC) sector.

According to Lucia Iipumbu, Minister of Industrialisation and Trade, the draft Strategy is complete and will be

subjected to national stakeholder consultations before being tabled at the highest policy institutional architectures for endorsement.

"We initiated the National Policy on Climate Change in 2011 to translate the government’s will and commitment to tackle global warming and recognised that achieving our targets and commitments requires sectoral approaches, thus the country has also drafted its National Cooling Strategy," she said.

Speaking at the Decarbonising Namibia Conference, Iipumbu explained that the policy was born out of the government’s commitment to tackle global warming through sectoral approaches.

She noted that refrigeration and air-conditioning are significant contributors to global warming, both directly and indirectly, and with the demand for cooling expected to grow with the population and rising temperatures, there is an urgent need to reduce and gradually phase out coolingrelated and energy-wasting hydrofluorocarbon technologies.

To achieve this, the government, in partnership with the private sector and other stakeholders, plans to implement various interventions such as licensing and quota systems. The government also plans to train customs officers on the identification and control of import of ozone-depleting substances and technician training on good and safe service practices.

Walvis Bay Waterfront

At a base in Waterberg National Park lives a special band of wildlife protectors. With a tough job, and through vigorous training and vigilant operations, this team is one of our country’s most successful contributors to the fight against wildlife crime.

Namibia's K9 Unit, managed by the Ministry of Environment, Forestry, and Tourism, is a highly trained team of canine officers and their handlers dedicated to protecting Namibia's wildlife and combating wildlife crime.

The K9 Unit was established in 2005 in response to the increasing poaching of elephants and rhinos in Namibia. Since then, it has grown to become one of the most effective tools in the fight against wildlife crime in the country. The unit is made up of a team of handlers and specially trained dogs who are deployed to wildlife crime hotspots across Namibia.

The dogs in the K9 Unit are specifically trained to detect wildlife contraband such as ivory, rhino horn, and pangolin scales, as well as firearms and ammunition. The dogs' sense of smell is many times more powerful than that of humans, making them a valuable asset in the fight against wildlife crime. The dogs are trained to track poachers through the bush, locate hidden wildlife contraband, and even apprehend suspects.

The K9 Unit's success in protecting Namibia's wildlife is due in large part to its close collaboration with other law enforcement agencies and wildlife conservation organisations. The unit works closely with the Namibian Police, Customs and Excise, and the Ministry of Fisheries and Marine Resources to intercept poachers and smugglers. The unit also works closely with conservation organisations such as the Save the Rhino Trust and the Cheetah Conservation Fund to protect endangered species.

The K9 Unit's success can be seen in the declining poaching numbers in Namibia. Since its inception, the unit has helped to reduce elephant and rhino poaching. The unit's work has

The paws on the ground: Namibia’s K9 wildlife protectors

also led to the successful prosecution of many poachers and smugglers. One of the greatest successes however, is the fact that the unit has been able to pre-emptively foil would-be perpetrators, before they could poach specially protected species.

In 2020, Standard Bank Namibia, donated a fully customised Toyota Land Cruiser V8 to the Ministry of Environment, Forestry and Tourism for use by the K9 Unit. The vehicle is equipped with special compartments in which to safely transport the canines to often far-off locations for deployment and has been instrumental in the overall success of the team. “Standard Bank Namibia operates by the brand promise, “Namibia is our Home, We Drive Her Growth”, and contributing to this special project is our way of lending a helping hand to ensure the protection and future existence of Namibia’s pride, our wild animals. Namibia’s wildlife is an integral part of the spirit of our country, as well as the tourism industry which is one of the largest contributors to our economy. Investing in Namibia’s growth also means protecting and nurturing what we already have. We are honoured to be a partner of the ministry and look forward to the positive impact we can have on our country through collaborations such as this”, said Magreth Mengo Head of Marketing.

Namibia's K9 Unit is a vital tool in the fight against wildlife crime in Namibia. The unit's highly trained dogs and their handlers work tirelessly to protect Namibia's wildlife, and their success in reducing poaching numbers is a testament to their dedication and hard work.

Watch a video and learn more about these special dogs and their handlers by scanning the QR code:

Nad Brain

Omake Moments

with the Namibia Trade Network

INNOVATION IN EYE CARE

Leading the Way with Artificial Intelligence Health Screening

Eye care has come a long way in recent years, with technological advancements making it easier to diagnose and treat a range of conditions. At the forefront of this progress is Olympia Eye and Laser Centre in Namibia, which recently started using artificial intelligence (AI) to revolutionise health screening and improve patient outcomes.

AI is the simulation of human intelligence processes by machines, including learning, reasoning, and selfcorrection. In healthcare, AI has the potential to transform the way we diagnose and treat diseases by analysing vast amounts of patient data and providing insights that would be difficult for humans to identify.

One of the key benefits of using AI in health screening is that it can help to identify conditions at an early stage, when they are easier to treat.

For example, AI can be used to analyse retinal images and identify early signs of diabetic retinopathy, a condition that can lead to blindness if left untreated. By identifying this condition early, doctors can intervene with treatments such

as laser therapy or medication to prevent further damage to the eyes.

Olympia Eye and Laser Centre is at the forefront of using AI in eye care, and is committed to providing the best possible care to its patients. By investing in cutting-edge technology and staying up-to-date with the latest research, the Centre is able to provide patients with an international level of care.

The use of artificial intelligence in health screening is revolutionising eye care, and Olympia Eye and Laser Centre is leading the way in this field. For anyone seeking top-quality eye care in Namibia, Olympia Eye and Laser Centre is the place to go.

The future of preventive eye care is...

Retinal imaging with analysis to prevent blindness caused by diabetes, age related macular degeneration or glaucoma.

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HOME

Our homes are often seen as an extension of ourselves – a physical manifestation of our personalities, values and experiences. The things we choose to display in our homes, from furniture and artwork to family photos and souvenirs from our travels, can offer a glimpse into who we are and the life we lead.

Our homes are a reflection of our personalities. The way we decorate our homes can be an expression of our personal style and tastes. Some people may opt for a minimalist approach, while others may prefer a more eclectic look. Our choice of furniture, artwork and home accessories can reveal our likes and dislikes, as well as our personal values.

Secondly, our homes reflect our experiences. Each item we choose to display has a story to tell. Family photos remind us of cherished moments shared with loved ones. Souvenirs from our travels can transport us back to a particular place and time, evoking memories of people we met and experiences we had. Even the books we display on our bookshelves can reveal our interests and what has shaped our lives.

Thirdly, our homes reflect our life stages. From the band or movie posters that used to hang on your walls (or still do, no judgement) to the inevitable transition to functional furniture and durable materials to withstand the wear and tear of tiny humans.

They say we look like our dogs. And that our music taste says a lot about our personalities, especially the parts we hide from others. In that thread of thinking I believe our homes are a reflection of our souls. Our hopes and dreams are reflected in the knick-knacks we collect and the pictures we choose to display. Our things and stuff. Thingamabobs. They tell a

story of a life lived and a future planned for. Home is family and pets and messy beds and coffee mugs on the kitchen counter. Home is truly where the heart is and where the soul is put out on display for all we welcome inside to see. And treasure. W.B. Yeats said, “I have spread my dreams at your feet. Tread lightly, for you tread on my dreams.”

I started this series not just because I am a fan of beautiful interiors and houses, but because I’m a fan of people. Their idiosyncrasies and nuances. Their portrayal of humanity. I believe their homes are a beautiful culmination of what makes them human. So, over the next months I hope to meet humans willing to take me through their unique residences and show me their hearts, whether they are reflected in family homes, marvellous mansions, quaint cottages or starter flats – home is home.

The first visit on this quest took me to the home of a friend. To me that home is the one place that you walk into and think: “This is what I want to be when I grow up.” No matter where life takes me, I want a place like this to come home to. Elmarie, Pierre and their kids started building their forever home in the quiet neighbourhood of Klein Windhoek in 2017 and moved in the following year. She notes that building from the ground up is always a challenge, but the construction style they chose certainly did not make the task easier. The contemporary design for their home (powered fully by solar) used steel and concrete for the double-storey space. This added significantly to the building timeline, but was key in creating the unique ambiance of the structure. The exterior grey concrete walls and fittings are reflected in the interior, much of which needed the highly skilled techniques of artisans who handcrafted elements of steel and wood. Artisanal construction takes time and patience, but the results are worth the wait. One would imagine entering a space built entirely of concrete and steel would feel cold and uninviting, but the reality is far from it…

With soaring 3.3 m high ceilings and more space than most people would know what to do with, the interior is bright and airy. Glass walls make up most of the bottom half of the house leading out to a courtyard, inviting the outside in. At the same time, through some act of magic, Elmarie’s home exudes a sense of warmth and comfort I have never experienced when surrounded by so much concrete. Cosy spaces, mixtures of rough and soft textiles, raw wood of various shades and ages and the most eclectic and intriguing collection of art and displays make this contemporary space what it needs and deserves to be… a home.

Elmarie’s favourite space is the kitchen and open-plan dining room. “I believe a home should be a sanctuary and not a showcase,” she says. For her it's more about what happens in a space than how it looks, though in my opinion she has certainly found the perfect balance. Cooking happens in the kitchen and you will often catch the scent of something freshly baked as it’s pulled out of the oven by their daughter

Emma. The dining room is for conversations and laughs, with the dogs snoozing under the table. For Elmarie this is the “most meaningful and welcoming space.”

In the upstairs guest bedroom stand two old copper bed frames, heirlooms with a lot of sentimental value, that were in Elmarie’s own room when she was growing up. A hand-carved wall clock from 1904, once owned by her great-grandfather, adorns the wall in the study. When I asked what among her vast and diverse collection of art was her favourite she lifted a colourful figurine off the very top shelf in the kitchen, where it was protected beneath a glass dome lest the cat get too curious. “I bought this in San Antonio in Texas close to the Mexican border. She is a Mexican La Catrina. It is a celebratory figure which traditionally represents the circle of life and serves as a reminder to enjoy life but also to embrace death.” The fine porcelain doll was difficult to transport back safely from their travels, but Elmarie carried it in her hand luggage all the way home, where it now has pride of place in her most-loved space.

Our homes and the things we choose to display in them are a reflection of our lives, our personalities and the experiences that have shaped us.

Their love of travel is further reflected on the walls of their TV room and their study. Elmarie notes how she loves the fresh perspectives one gains from travel and the introduction to new cultures. Therefore they make sure to bring home something light-weight and easy to transport. Prints and artworks from Argentina, Spain, France, Mexico and Singapore tell the story of a life lived for new adventures and experiences.

As for her children, being teenagers, their rooms are their favourite parts of their home. An escape and private space unto themselves. Husband Pierre generally gravitates towards the porch that overlooks the riverbed running alongside their property, where he can be close to the braai and enjoy the fresh air and the sounds of guinea fowl and nature.

A modern space filled with a collection of old and new. Elmarie’s house is a juxtaposition of natural fibres with mute tones and bright, colourful accents. Each crevice tells a story. Each slight crack in the concrete walls surely has tales to tell of a space designed to host friends and family, of laughter and love. Even Pierre’s hats are on display, which makes so much sense for those who know him.

Elmarie agrees that a home and the needs of its inhabitants shift along with the tides of life. One day, when the kids have grown up and their lifestyle changes, they may not need four bedrooms and as much breathing space as they currently enjoy. Then it might be time for a new adventure. Until such time though, this is home.

Elzanne McCulloch

Mashare Agri Group and a community

The Mashare story begins with a community on the Kavango River: 50 km downstream from Rundu is Mashare village, the namesake of our irrigation farm. The whole region is plagued by high unemployment and opportunities for formal employment are limited. Since 2018 the expansion of the Mashare estate has benefited its community members, with even greater prospects for the years to come.

Mashare Agri is a large-scale irrigation farm. Initially, the property consisted of only two pivot fields of 30 ha each, which produced maize, wheat and potatoes, and employed ten people. After proving the success of these cash crops that supply the Namibian market, the farm grew and took on an even greater responsibility – providing international markets with job-creating, high-value permanent crops.

The Kavango Region’s soil, with its low pH level and clay content, is not the best suited for grain production. But it suits certain permanent crop production perfectly. Still, not just any large-scale crop can grow in the acidic ground on the farm. After much deliberation and research, Mashare Agri chose a crop that would thrive in the region and bring considerable investment into the country, while simultaneously providing more employment opportunities to the nearby villages. It was to be blueberries, a fruit that must be carefully picked by hand and that can grow prolifically in the acidic soil of the Kavango. As a region, the Kavango also has a competitive advantage when it comes to timing. The crop arrives in the international markets before that of competitors, thereby putting Namibia, Mashare and its community on the map.

Since the very first blueberry harvest in June 2020, the Mashare community has become increasingly involved in farm operations. During the first harvest from the initial 20 hectares of blueberries, 30 permanent and 400 contract

workers assisted in getting the berries to far-away markets in their best condition. In 2022, with the addition of another 40 hectares, Mashare increased their numbers to 85 permanent and 500 contract workers.

Berry-picking chief supervisor, Leopoldine, has shared with us the sentiments of her coworkers, particularly the women who pick the Mashare blueberries by hand. In this region, which accounts for a large percentage of Namibia’s unemployed population, farming projects like Mashare bring great relief and upliftment. Leopoldine says that she and her fellow farm workers are incredibly grateful for the opportunities offered by Mashare. Most noteworthy to Leopoldine is the fact that a large portion of the farm’s contract workers are women. They can now be breadwinners for their families, when previously every meal, school uniform or home improvement tended to be unpredictable.

For many of the Mashare berry pickers, irrigation operators and pack house assistants, this is their very first employment experience. Community members from nearby villages who are employed by the farm are now able to provide for their families while simultaneously developing a sense of purpose and self-worth. Leopoldine says that without the existence of Mashare and prospective farms it is uncertain whether she and her co-workers would have the means to uplift themselves. She reiterates how empowered they feel to gain financial independence and how thankful she is that Mashare Agri is investing in her community.

At Mashare Agri the goal is to grow this world-class irrigation farm, involve more locals in our operations and continue to provide perfect blueberries to export markets. Without the Mashare village community, however, the irrigation farm would not be the success that it is today.

Charene Labuschagne

+264 61 245 825/6

DID YOU KNOW?

This month in history:

4 April 1949

In Washington, D.C., twelve nations sign the treaty that forms the legal basis of the North Atlantic Treaty Organisation (NATO). The signatories became allies for a common military defence against the threat of expansion by Soviet Russia into Western Europe.

6 April 1896

After a break of 1500 years, the first Olympic Games in modern times are held in Athens, Greece.

11 April 1968

A week after the assassination of Dr Martin Luther King Jr, the Civil Rights Act of 1968 is signed into law by President Lyndon B. Johnson. The law prohibited discrimination in housing, it protected civil rights workers and expanded the rights of Native Americans.

15 April 1912

In the icy waters off Newfoundland, the luxury liner Titanic strikes an iceberg and sinks with 2,224 passengers and crew on board. More than 1,500 people drowned; 700 were rescued by the liner Carpathia which arrived two hours after the Titanic went down.

12 April 1961

Russian cosmonaut Yuri Gagarin becomes the first human in space. Aboard the Soviet spacecraft Vostok I he travelled into outer space and completed one orbit of Earth at an altitude of 187 miles.

FUN FACTS ABOUT APRIL:

April’s birthstone is the diamond

April’s flower is the daisy and sweet pea

SUDUKO

26 April 1994

Multiracial elections are held for the first time in the history of South Africa. Approximately 18 million blacks went to the polls. Nelson Mandela became president and F.W. de Klerk vice president.

April’s name is said to be derived from the Latin Aprilis, meaning “to open” – a reference to the opening or blossoming of flowers and trees during this time of the year in the northern hemisphere.

The goal of Sudoku is to fill a 9×9 grid with numbers so that each row, column and 3×3 section contain all of the digits between 1 and 9.

THE LIGHTHOUSE | Standing proudly as a symbol of Swakopmund's history, the Lighthouse is a beacon of hope and possibility.

OUR DIAMONDS INSPIRE YOUNG MINDS BEYOND LANDLOCKED CAREERS.