Well the Walvis Bay Wellness Centre had its official opening on the 1st of December 08. I was not able to attend this function due to commitments in the UK. But I did feel like I was part of the event. Both Paul and Ian who did attend kept me up to speed with proceedings and Ian even sent me a message to my phone when the ribbon was cut at the centre.
The event was well attended from what I can tell representatives from Nam Port (Namibian Port Authority), The Walvis Bay Corridor Group and members of the Walvis Bay local government were in attendance.
Its great to know that there was many people there to see the opening and to hear how important projects like this are to the industry and the community they operate in.
But it seems that this is not enough.
Last week (End of Feb 09) I had an email from Ian (North Star Foundation, South Africa) to inform me that the Walvis Bay Wellness Centre has had to close its doors. This is due to the lack of funding. It seems that even projects like this are not even safe from the global credit crunch. I do hope that this will only be a temporary thing. I am sure it is.
Although I was a bit gutted to hear this bad news but one must remember the good that the centre has done in the short time it was open. During the time it was open it did get to make a fair bit of difference in the community. No matter how small the difference is it’s still a difference that has made some good in the community. People will remember this in time and when they do I am very hopeful that the doors on this centre will be open again soon.
The team did a great job in a very short time and I am still very proud to have been a part of this project.
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