Development through sport

Last year while we were exploring different avenues to make use of ourselves I sent my CV to the Namibian Olympic Committee to see if there were any opportunities to provide voluntary support to sports teams in Namibia. My idea was to offer clinical support and health education to disadvantaged groups through sport.

I was contacted by the Namibian Netball Association and in December I joined them for a training camp and then travelled with the national squad to Singapore for the 2010 Nations Cup. Namibian netball gets very little government funding, about £8000 annually, and took part in the African Nations Cup last July without any medical support. The current squad is very young with most of the girls being from Katatura, a predominantly black and economically disadvantaged area north of Windhoek. The exposure of an international tournament, travelling outside of Namibia and professional coaching, health and fitness advice was a great opportunity for the girls to expand their horizons beyond life within their community. For me the experience was very enjoyable. Memories of singing the Namibian national anthem during the opening ceremony and watching the girls dance and sing African songs before games make the hairs on my neck stand up.

In April I was asked to join up with the Namibian women’s football team for their 2012 Olympics qualifier against Nigeria. The squad were again a group of young girls mostly from Katatura and one girl from a Himba tribe in the north. The Himba’s are one of Namibia’s most marginalised groups. During the training camp I delivered a couple of education sessions on injury prevention and healthy lifestyles. Making the right lifestyle choices is a major issue among young girls in Namibia with alcohol misuse, violence and unsafe sex common problems. Jackie the national team coach does a lot to promote good lifestyle choices during training camps and this message is being spread at grass roots level through the Gals and Goals programme which one of our friends Toyah is volunteering with. We lost the qualifying match against a much more physically developed and experienced Nigeria team so unfortunately I will not be going to London in 2012 with the team. 

Being busy!

At last, a blog update!!!  It’s been a long time and finally I have got myself into gear to update you on all our goings on here in Nam.  It feels strange to say this, but we’ve actually been quite busy here…all things are relative, it’s still rather quieter than life back at home, and it’s possibly because we have adjusted to the pace of life, however, things are definitely looking up!

One of the plans was that I should spend a week a month back in Okakarara.  This was to provide training and clinical support to the volunteer who is keeping the rehab department open, in addition to providing assessment and treatment to patients with more complex conditions.  All good in theory, but transport has been an issue due to the overspent fuel budget.  However, I have managed to get there to help allocate some wheelchairs that were donated to the local council, and to attend the presentation event in the town hall which is up a flight of 6 steps…very helpful for people using wheelchairs! 

I also went on a trip into the bush for a week, attending most of the secondary schools in the district to perform hearing screening on the grade 1 learners.  I have trained 2 nurses so that next time around there will be others who know how to press the buttons in the correct sequence and complete the screening – an important but rather laborious process!  It was an eye opener going into the schools and seeing the perception of teaching staff around students who had behavioural difficulties (some due to hearing or visual problems) and their approach to managing it – inclusive education has a long way to go!

All being well I am off to Okakarara again this week, this time to support our volunteer, Eben who is singlehandedly keeping the rehab department open with nothing but a free lunch and a pat on the back in return.  She’s doing a great job, it’s just a shame that currently she cannot get any other remuneration for her work.  Hopefully that may change though as we’re in the process of a national Ministry of Health restructuring and we have motivated for some significant changes in the rehabilitation structure so that it can function more effectively and be sustainable – otherwise there’s very little hope of Community-Based Rehabilitation ever working - fingers crossed.

We decided that as there is a lack of rehab staff across the country that a good way of increasing rehab skills in the workforce would be to try and influence the student nurse training programme.  The head of school thought this was a great idea and we were invited to deliver a week of lectures on the central and peripheral nervous system and special senses.   Neither of us has ever done any university lecturing before, and didn’t know what to expect from year 2 nursing students.  However, our preparation paid off, we received some positive feedback and have been invited back to deliver some more modules, including our own, designed specifically around disability awareness and rehabilitation.  

Final day quiz to test the nurses!

The main purpose of our work here is supposed to be to implement Community-Based Rehabilitation (CBR).  Clearly this has been a huge challenge for a variety of reasons, not least because it relies on a network of highly motivated local volunteers who want to get more out of the role than the skills and standing within their community.  With 50% unemployment in Namibia and high levels of poverty, these people want to get paid – fair enough! However, there are some areas where CBR volunteers are motivated to work and generating their own income and are keen to learn new rehabilitation skills.  One of these areas is Osire, the refugee camp mainly consisting of refugees from Angola, DRC and Burundi.  The 4 CBR volunteers based here already provide a basic level of rehabilitation to their community but haven’t received any training since 2007.  We have agreed to visit Osire once a month for a few days and deliver some training and assist with any patients with complex problems.  Equipped with our tent, some food rations and a flipchart we made our first visit in March.  The 2 day training workshop went well and we even learnt some Portuguese in the process as everything had to be translated for the Angolan committee members!

Teaching the committee about muscles

Practical training session

This week we had the pleasure of attending a public service induction course – as exciting as it sounds.  We were pleasantly surprised by the trainers who were really interactive and tried to tackle the issue of ineffective 4 hour meetings (very much needed). However, it was shocking to see how many members of the regional management team were learning for the first time how many annual leave days they (and their staff) are entitled to, how to write a ‘to do’ list and the fact that driving a government vehicle under the influence is a major offence! 

Enough about work – we’ve continued to make the most of our time at weekends travelling around seeing the country.  The bat photos uploaded a few weeks ago were from a weekend away with a couple called James and Ursula, volunteers who we met during our UK VSO training course.  It was great to catch up with them and we went on a tour into Arnham cave, Namibia’s largest cave with 6 species of bat.  It was tricky making our way down into the cave without any rope or safety gear except for head torches as there were a few steep drops into bat poo hell!  The smell of the ammonia was incredible, but it was all worth it when we were ducking through low tunnels and bats were swooping past us, and then when we entered the large cavernous areas and there were thousand of bats flying around above our heads.  It definitely cured Ant’s phobia!

A couple of weeks ago we were down in the Namib Desert providing medical support for the Namib Desert Challenge.  Our friend, Mike, headed the medical team and we spent the week manning the checkpoints for the runners, pushing rehydration fluid, lancing blisters and treating some aches and pains.  The competitors complete 226km over 5 days, the longest day of which was 56km including climbing a huge sand dune at the end in up to 49 degree heat.  Absolute nutters.    It was great meeting some new people and hearing all the stories of why people choose to enter a race like this.   The Namib desert is an awesome place, unlike anywhere else we’ve ever been.  It is vast and the rust-coloured sand dunes seem to go on forever.  The Springbok and Oryx outlined in front of the dunes are iconic to Namibia and it’s definitely been added to our list of places to recommend to visitors.  Ant climbed Big Daddy, reputedly the largest dune in the world and reckons it’s the most amazing place he’s ever been (I was manning a checkpoint in ‘Deadvlei’ at the time, not just being lazy!).  

On top of Dune 45

Checkpoint 1, day 1

Across one of the pans in Sossusvlei

On top of Big Daddy/the world

We had a great time with all the staff and have been invited back next year and hopefully we’ll meet up with them in Cape Town before then too.  We had a celebratory night out in Windhoek with some of the guys from the challenge and had our first surreal experience in a totally Africana club.  The music was Africana pop mixed with old school rock like Status Quo and the dancing was based on ballroom with couples twirling each other around in a circle around the dance floor – all very weird!

Gary, the race manager also invited us to the Knysna Festival, a Champagne and Oyster festival in South Africa which combines with a whole range of outdoor activities and races which sounds great.  Ant’s entered the marathon and I’m hoping to be able to enter one of the trail runs depending on how training goes!

Weather wise things are starting to get a bit cooler here now.  There is still a lot of rain around and some areas in the north of the country have had to be evacuated because of flooding.  There hasn’t been this much rain in Namibia since records began and our clay house has sprung a few leaks so we’re hoping it won’t just collapse into a soggy heap.  There seems to be different insects appearing each week, and when they arrive, they come in large numbers.  One of the most recent is the armoured cricket which is about 6-8cm in length and looks like it belongs in a horror movie.  It’s apparently harmless, except it is a cannibal and will eat its friends – nice.  We have a family of these who keep trying to get into our house.

Armoured cricket sneaking into our house!

Dolly, our adopted cat, is about to have kittens.  Her last litter can only be about 6 months old so the poor dear seems to be a bit of a breeding machine.   She seems to have made herself at home here so I think we may be overrun in our little clay hut soon!

Our first visitors, Sarah and Adam, are coming out in less than 3 weeks time so we’ve been busy planning the trip.  I can’t wait, it’s going to be great seeing them and having a slice of home here in Namibia.

Well, that’s enough for now, I seem to have written a lot so I definitely won’t leave it as long next time!  Keep us posted with news from home.

Julia xx

The Namib Desert Challenge 2011

Following a week of lectures to the nursing students they thanked us with some songs!

Bat hunting!

The proposal!

So, for those of you who haven’t already heard the tale of Ant’s proposal, here it is!

It was Thursday 27^th January and I had just returned from a 4 day stint in Okakarara.  Whilst I’d been busy at work during the days, the evenings had been quieter with only my Kindle and podcasts for company.

Ant decided that we should have a ‘date night’ on our return and was preparing to cook me a surprise 3 course meal.  With a glass of wine poured and starter being served, I had no idea that this was going to be anything other than an evening at home with good food and good company.  After we’d finished our starter Ant suggested we go out for a drive to a place that he’d found to take some good scenery and sunset photos.  He wanted to try out the new monopod that he'd bought in Singapore and, despite several attempts, we’re not very good at low-light shots yet.  I agreed although I questioned how much of the sunset we would actually see as there were heavy grey clouds…Ant remained very optimistic though, so I reluctantly agreed to go.

We drove about 15 minutes out of town, eventually down a dirt road leading to a farmhouse and empty campsite.  It just so happened that Ant had sussed this out before and knew that there was a good spot through a field of cows where we could sit and ‘get some good photos’.  Sure enough, it was a lovely view across the African bush with hills in the background.  Still totally unsuspecting, I went for a quick loo stop in the bushes whilst Ant nipped back to the car to fetch the surprise 4^th course to our meal and with the cool box….

Bent down on one knee, Ant opened the cool box to reveal some champagne on ice, glasses and a little white box.  At that point I though blimey, I think he might be going to ask me, but I didn’t want to give it away, just in case it was a necklace or something else and he then felt bad.  However, a moment later he popped the question and of course I said of course!  Several tears were shed in the moment along with long-arm photos of ourselves whilst drinking champagne.  We did try to take some sunset shots (fairly unsuccessfully) but this was not the main objective after all.  

The ring is beautiful, and it apparently took Ant several visits to the jewellers in Singapore to select the right one...who'd have thought the netball tour was a decoy?!  Being a gentleman, he'd sneakily asked my dad's permission first whilst paying the bill at the telecomm shop, so of course my mum and sister were in on the secret as well.

We’re waiting until we come home to the UK before having the wedding, so plenty of time to plan all the details (I didn't fancy a tribal wedding, apparently you have to slaughter at least 6 cows for it).  It's looking like it will be December 2012….very excited!!! xxxxx

Optimism for 2011

We have started the new year at work with increased optimism. By no means does this mean that our resource will not continue to be underutilised or that our placement will in any way be cost effective, but we do now have more opportunity to make some progress with some of the projects we have identified.

January saw the end of the region’s transport budget for this financial year with two months to go. This represents an improvement on last years budget management in which the funds available for transport were spent by October. Funds are now only available for essential activities, of which rehab unfortunately is not one.

However we have both been able to conduct outreach exercises by hitching rides with colleagues whose work is deemed of higher importance. Julia has been back to Okakarara and spent a week undertaking service delivery, supporting Eben, the CBR volunteer who is still diligently turning up to the clinic everyday to support the community, and organising the acquisition of some donated wheelchairs. She will be returning next week for an event to present the wheelchairs to their lucky recipients and will hopefully be able to continue monthly support visits. This should also give her an opportunity to keep her Otjiherero up to scratch as it was getting a bit rusty. (Afrikaans is more useful in Otjiwarongo).

I have been to Otavi, a small town an hour north of Otjiwarongo. Rachel, a Peace Corps volunteer, has been doing a great job supporting community members with disabilities by establishing a disability committee and gaining much needed donated wheelchairs. Unfortunately Rachel does not have a rehab background, nor is she supported by a Ministry of Health rehab worker or with any rehab equipment. I visited to address a rather politically sensitive mess regarding donated wheelchairs. Without going into details all is now sorted and I am hoping to perform monthly support visits and to engage the disability committee members in some training. The main language spoken here is Damara Nama. I’ll give it a go but I think the clicks might be beyond me! Further benefits of my visits will include a great lunch spot and fresh veg market.

Demonstrating new found Occupational Therapy skills... I'll be basket weaving next!

Last week we managed to visit Osire, a refugee camp about 90 minutes from Otjiwarongo. The majority of the refugees are Angolan, with others from Burundi, Congo and Rwanda, and the widely spoken language is Portuguese – another language to master! There are 6000 refugees and the camp is now in a process of repatriation for these people. We met the CBR volunteers and it was like a breath of fresh air. Three volunteers make up the committee providing rehab for 125 people with disabilities (they even had a record!). They get support from Diomede, a nice chap from Burundi with physio assistant training. They expressed the usual needs of support, resources, incentives and training, but in a much more optimistic way than other committees we have met. They are the only committee we have met that I would describe as active and it will be good to finally have an opportunity to work with a group that are motivated and receptive to training. We should have no problems with monthly support camping trips to Osire as transport is provided by the UN.

We have also been busy getting our fingers into some pies in Otjiwarongo with limited progress. Julia is providing clinical support to the rehab worker at the hospital here. I’m sure she would be a delightful lady if the world was not against her and people just got off her back. Unfortunately Julia’s progress has been slowed due to this ladies attendance at the hospital being affected by spending most of her time ‘working in the community’. We have had some meetings regarding other projects including providing disability awareness and rehab training on the Nursing diploma course. We are awaiting feedback from these meetings.

Me and one of our volunteer friends Toyah enjoying the rains last year

January also saw the most rainfall in Namibia since records began in the 1890s. After seeing one of the clay walls in our complex collapse and experiencing a few leaks in the house we did get a bit concerned about our clay home surviving the rainy season. However all seems ok so far and fingers crossed we make it through to the end of March.