Namibia Report 2024
We are called to stand
Electoral Education for Nov. 2024
Strengthen the Office Base in Windhoek and Networking
with Visolela Rosa Namises and Heike Wegener
This time the main focus was to support the local team in Windhoek to support especially people in rural areas how to register to get a voters card for the elections in November 2024 as an individual and collective empowerment movement to have more political impact to address their basic needs for food and water security, safe and healthy living conditions, education, work.
At the same time we were building upon a network for a bigger local and international Umbrella Foundation in co-operation with SOHA: Visolela`s gardening Project on her farm, supporting people to start and continue her own gardens, WSN (Women Solidarity Namibia) work, counseling people in the different communities, Dolam - the children’s home in Katutura, needs of the most vulnerable, gender based violence issues, facing the issues of being landless in the own country, trauma-informed leadership training, creating individual and collective healing spaces.
We cleared the space in the head-office of WSN in Windhoek West to offer accommodation for people in the network and a healing space. Some treatments were taking place. Also Visolela received her Amnanda Process Oiling treatment by Heike.
Steppingstones of Networking and Empowerment-Training
March 10-15th - Preparation:
Women Gathering from a local church society in Windhoek
Meeting with the local team to prepare the Training Journey
Ongoing Preparation for the journey, planning, shopping Flyer production
Inviting people in the different regions
Youth Council Meeting in Windhoek, Ongoing clearing of the office WSN
TV Talk of Visolela about human rights, meeting different influential people
Day off at Dan Viljoen
Collecting Material from the Electional Commission of Namibia (ECN)
March 16th-21st - Implementation
Travel and Workshop at Swakopmund, Usakos, Atsas, Karibib, Ouijo to find local people to work and network with. We met issues like domestic violence, difficult and costly transport to go to the registration offices where named, unemployment, health, water, mal nutrition issues and hunger. We informed where and how they can register for the election. We brought awareness how important it is to bring in the own voice in to support democracy national and local. At each place we had a contact person where we stepped deeper into a sharing of their live situation, had dinner together, slept there.
March 22nd - 24th - Farm time for the Dolam Children
dolamchildrenshome.com
Outing with the 20 children of Dholam (3 to 15 years old), the orphanage on Visloelas Family-Farm in Ovitoto. Teaching how important it is to stay connected with our nature, living with it, balancing and regulating the nervous system to open up for a new future for this people who where living on the street before. The three year old was born on the street in Katutura and directly passed on to the children home by his mother. Dholam is mostly founded by BIAS from Germany. Usually the cases of the children has to be financed by the Namibian Government. The national governmental social Work often are laying back into the local NGO`s. Just one child of twenty is officially financially supported by the Namibian Government.
March 25th - Supervision in the Office with the local team
There is a common struggle how to remain a stable team without having a reliable payment. WSN is working on donation. SOHA is the only organization who is supporting with money at the moment which is just taking care for the maintenance of the office. Since July/ August 2023 the team-members are volunteers with a little pocket money to survive. This kind of money issues is creating a constant tension. With Fabiola, Francina, Cowen we have a team who is deeply connected and committed to the work and still they need money to take care for their families. Visolela also is not paid. There is a tiredness to write applications for donations to Europe where all the resources of Namibia went in the past and goes to. On the way back it feels like begging which is very frustrating.
March 26-27 - Electional Education Katutura 3 to 6 pm
All together we had about 80 people we trained these days with the „We are called to stand - Electoral Education“-Programm in seven different venues.
The whole stay we had some other gatherings at different places in the Khomas region honoring the 8th of march world women day. The biggest event was with about 80 women who worked at Namibia correctional service which was very touching delayed on march 27th at 10am. Visolela was invited to talk and got a touching resonance for her standing in appreciation for the work women are doing in the country, especially this women who are working in prison with the most excluded people
Future steps
As we planned mid September 2024 as Visolela was continuing her network with her local team more than 4000 people where reached by this information how to register partly and receiving an empowerment training at the same time. There where several gatherings in 7 regions of the country where different projects where named (f.e. Karibib Community Center to be renovated, pic. below, left). They traveled with very poor budget to the poorest regions of the country and did an amazing job!!!
