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.