Passion, Support and Commitment.

7th July 08 – 10th July 08

I have been to many places during my time with North Star Foundation but by far my favourite place has to be Walvis Bay, Namibia. I have also been to and lived in a few very small “Sleepy Hollow” type places but Walvis is not one of them places. It’s really hard to put into words what type of impact the people of Walvis Bay and Namibia have had on me but I hope that if I share with you the events of the past week it can give you an idea to why this place appeals to me so much.

A few months back I was here to do a KABP (Knowledge, Attitude, Belief and Practice) survey to identify exactly where the hot spot of commercial sex workers and truckers operate in. (See this blog entry about that trip) I got to interact with a lot of people during that trip and there support and commitment for what we were doing was just out of this world back then. So I am now back in Namibia to place the first Wellness Centre in Namibia, in Walvis Bay. The hard work of the people that helped me out on the survey has paid off. During this visit to tie up all the lose ends to get the centre operational I have been visiting various stakeholders who have played vital rolls in there own little way to help get centre to where we are now.

It’s these stakeholders that have truly amazed me. Yes these stakeholders work for large companies in the Walvis Bay area but the individuals own excitement and enthusiasm for this project is unreal. Every one and I mean every one is just so eager to see this project work.

On Thursday we had to move the container from its first placement to its correct placement to comply with the municipality building regulations. No problem……… just get a 50 ton crane, a modified front end loader with forks on it to pick up 6 concrete sleepers for the container to sit on and job done. Sounds easier said than done don’t it? Well I thought it was way too easy. Just speak to two key people and a few phone calls later every one knows what it needed to be done and it was done just as easy as the written text in this blog. I kid you not!

I arrived with Paul Matthew (North Star Foundation – Operations Director SA) at the site at 7am to find a mass of people had arrived to ensure the success of this mini operation. The operations manager and HR manager from Westbank Transport were there. They had arraigned for the 50 ton crane to come from another project to help move the container. The General Manager from Rennies Consolidated (one of the largest warehousing and container logistic companies in Walvis) was there to over see the moving of the sleepers by the Stevedores that he had arraigned to move with the big modified front end loader. And a few other managers for good measure where there too. All of them were really excited about the prospects of this centre being open in the area. The whole operation was done with military procession and with out any fuss. Just so slick, I could not have done it any better. (You can find photos from the operation here.)

Then there was the sorting out of the site plans for the site. OK this was not as easy as the moving of the container but it was done with out any hassle what so ever. There was a lot of confusion to the site that the container was sitting on. Some time back there use to be 5 sub plots to this peace of land but now they are all gone and just one open peace of land remains. The confusion was with the earth number of this plot. But the health department with the municipality and the arrcutec that did the plans just got it sorted. No real headaches at all. It was all in hand. Submitting the plans and getting the company registered in Walvis Bay took less time than it did for me to type this blog entry. Again this was done by people who are so committed to the success of this project in Walvis Bay.

Getting the water sorted was fun though. Getting all the paperwork in order for this took a little longer than planed. I got to the municipality with minuets to spare, actually less than that! No problem our man from the municipality health department was on hand to smooth things over. When we got to the cashiers to pay the deposit to get the connections made they had actually closed! NO! Still no problems, smile nicely at the lady behind the counter and explain the problem and all was sorted. Paid my deposit and was on my merry way again. You just can’t do this in a big city they would have chased you away or just ignored you. Everyone was just so helpful and friendly. To quote a line from the movie “Madagascar” and a personal favourite of my mom and mine “Smile and wave (boys) smile and wave” seems to do the trick no matter where you are.

It’s just goes to show that when people believe in what your doing they too will do any thing to help make the project a success. The people of Walvis Bay know how important it is to protect their work force from the spread of HIV and STI’s. Sick staff members are non-productive staff members and that will impact on business and the economy. Every one is aware of this fact and are willing to pull out the stops to try and make a difference. Even a small difference makes a big difference in the big picture of things.

I have a lot of respect for the people in Walvis Bay for there help and support to us with our Wellness Centre. I am looking forward to going back to Namibia in the coming weeks to put the finishing touches on this project and opening the doors to the truck drivers, sex works and the people of Walvis Bay. So that we can all work together to fight the spread of HIV and STI’s.

Speaking your mind…….

I have never been a big fan of politics. I just feel that life is way too short for all the bureaucracy that goes hand in hand with politics. But since I have been in South Africa I have been some what entertained by South African politics. Well the politicians have been keeping me entertained.

Some time back I blogged on Deputy Security Minister Susan Shabangu, who said police "must kill the bastards [criminals] if they threaten you" (click here to see the full blog) She was speaking her mind and I commend her and respect her doing so. Yes she got a lot of flack for saying what is on the minds of many South African’s.

Then recently the ANC Youth League (ANCYL) President Julius Malema has vowed that the youth of South Africa would die in supporting ANC President Jacob Zuma. Julius Malema actually said he would “Kill for Zuma” again taken very much out of context. In this day and age in South Africa you can’t go around saying you will kill for any one or any thing. It’s just not done. People get nervous. Julius Malema was just trying to emphasize his commitment to the cause, the cause being to get Jacob Zuma into power to be SA’s next President. He was miss quoted, a young politician who was just a bit over zealous. Maybe or maybe not I am not one to judge on this one. You can read more about this here

(Click on image for full size)

But South African political figures are not the only ones to fall pray to being miss-quoted. Hillary Clinton said she arrived in Bosnia in 1996 under sniper fire, directly contradicting Her own book's account of the incident. ( there is loads of sites about this issue – click here to see a google search result) Hillary apologized and said she had “Miss-spoken” about the events.

It happens and we have all done it at sometime in our life. It just takes a bigger person to put there hand up and admit that they are in the wrong. I have a lot of respect for people in the public eye who can do something wrong and stand up and say “Yip I did say that and I am sorry” Or not say sorry and stand by there word. That’s the African way. “Yes I said it and I am proud to have said it!” Both ANC Youth League (ANCYL) President Julius Malema and Deputy Security Minister Susan Shabangu have spoken out about what they have said but they did not apologise for what they said. It was more a case of they meant what they said but just not in the way it was meant to be interpreted. I guess I could have called this blog entry “Lost in Translation”

The Paid Tourist

I have been called many things in the past but “The Paid Tourist” is a new label to me. Granted I am being paid to go to some really beautiful places in Southern Africa. Swaziland, Zambia, Namibia and even Zimbabwe (for a few hours but I was there) I have even been put up in some fantastic accommodation too. Kiambi Safari Lodge in Zambia where I saw loads of Elephants and Hippo’s and the Beach Lodge Hotel in Swakopmund, Namibia where the beach was only a few meters away from my room. All great stuff I assure you and with the South African Rand and UK Pound exchange rate all very cheep places to stay. But these places to come at a price to my self. Long hours of travel and the solitude.

Don’t get me wrong on the solitude bit. I do have friends here but it’s not a case of them just being around the corner. South Africa is a vast place. No longer am I just a 2 hr drive from one coast line to the other coast line. It’s more like 5 hrs just to hit the coast of Durban and 13 hrs to get to Cape Town. Hell you can drive the whole length of the UK in just over 13hrs. So it’s a little harder to just jump in the car and go round to your mates for a meal or a chat.

So what have I been doing while I have been enjoying the wildlife in Zambia and the rolling dunes of Namibia? I know a lot of you have seen loads of fabulous photos of wild life and sunsets and it does look like I am on a holiday but that’s far from the truth. I don’t really have a regular 9 – 5 type job at the moment. I like to say I have a job that needs to be done. What is this job that needs to be done I hear you cry? Well its jobs actually. My first task when I got here was to look at and over hall the current IT infrastructure that is in place. Currently we have clinics that sync to a centralized database here in Jo’burg. This is done via 3G wireless technology, but not every Southern African country has 3G so we have got the software developers to develop an application that will do the syncing to a USB memory key so that we can manually do the data transfers. So this is one of my responsibilities, to ensure there is a robust IT infrastructure and solution in place to record every thing that happens in our wellness centres regardless of there location.

My next responsibility is the rolling out of these wellness centres. Once a location has been identified we can start the project rolling. This starts with meeting with stakeholders (key people in key positions to help aid in the roll out of the Wellness Centres (Minister of Health, Transport Ministers and other aid groups) ) to gain there support for the project and to basically drum up awareness of what we are trying to achieve. We then have to ensure that every key member is kept up to date with progress and if they have agreed to add any thing to the project that they deliver. We then need to ensure that the container has been converted to specification and that we have all the equipment ready to go into the container. By this time the logistics of getting the containers (Wellness Centre) to its destination has been completed and all that will required to do is load the container and get it picked up and shipped. All the stakeholders will be notified of the container’s movements so that the site is ready for the centres arrival.

Once the container has been placed in its new home ready to become a Wellness Centre there is still a lot of work to be done. Staff need to be recruited (Peer Educator and Nurse) Water and electricity to be connected. The stakeholders are also sensitises to what is going on with the centre and to ensure they start to let others know that the opening of the centre is imminent and to offer as much support as they can to the centre. After a lot of negotiations and hard work from every one the centre is ready to open.

Once open the Wellness Centre will be offering education on HIV/AIDS its risks and preventative measures that can be taken to help reduce the risk of infection. Also as part of this education is the STI (Sexually Transmitted Infections (STD’s – Sexually Transmitted Diseases)) If you can curb the spread of STI’s then you will also aid in the spread of HIV. In addition to the education part of the centre there is the clinic side. The nurse will help truck drivers, drivers assistance, commercial sex workers and the local community with there primary health care, occupational health and STI treatment.

So a fair bit of work goes into one of these Wellness Centres right from the start and ongoing. But this work is not just done by me. There is a team of motivated people working next to me to ensure the sustainability of these projects. I admire the dedication and the motivation that each and every one of these people put into these projects. So I guess at the end of the day all the long days of travelling and the bit of solitude is all worth it in the end. I have got to go to some really awesome places, met some really amazing people and do a very worth while job all at the same time. Not many people get to do that!



I am currently in Namibia but I was here a few weeks back and took these photos. Click here to view some stunning shots of a sunset near Walvis Bay