http://viewchange.org Videos from ViewChange.org (Filtered by topics: Namibia) en-us Fri, 13 May 2011 08:44:00 +0000 Copyright 2011 Link Media, Inc. http://www.viewchange.org/videos/life-on-the-edge-trawler-girl Johanna Kwedhi is Namibia's first female trawler captain. Namibia signed up to the Millennium Development Goals, which include specific targets for women on education, reproductive health and equality. Johanna is an example of targets fulfilled, but what about her friends and relatives in the rural area where she was raised? Fri, 13 May 2011 08:44:00 +0000 http://www.viewchange.org/videos/life-on-the-edge-trawler-girl Namibia, Millennium Development Goals, Gender, Africa, Gender equality, Reproductive health, Maternal death, Namib Desert, Health, Life on the Edge >> VOICEOVER: We?re at the edge of the Namib Desert, on Africa?s southwest coast. A world of drought, danger, shipwreck -- but also, fish. Luderitz Harbor, an old port rebuilt for fishing boats. The industry is one of the pillars of Namibia?s economy. It?s a man?s world. Johanna Kwedhi is going aboard the Kanus, one of the fleet?s largest vessels. Except, Johanna is not coming on board as a guest. Johanna is Namibia?s first female trawler skipper. >> TITLE: Trawler Girl>> JOHANNA KWEDHI [Trawler captain]: At the bridge we are three: me as the Captain, a Chief Mate and a Second Mate. >> VOICEOVER: Men are not used to a woman at the wheel. Women don?t normally chart the course, literally or metaphorically. Or give orders, however pleasantly. And the crew knows their lives are in her hands.>> AARON ALWEENDO [Chief mate]: I have been working with Miss Johanna Kwedhi, who is my captain, for two years. She is the one who gives an order, what has to be done for the day, everything like that. So the orders come from him -- I mean, from her. >> VOICEOVER: For the older fishermen, it is a novelty to have an educated black Namibian as skipper.>> MAN 1: We had never seen a black person in charge of a ship. It has always been a Spanish person. Now that black people are here in command we are very proud. Since we do not know the foreign languages they can now communicate on our behalf. Today, I can just ask Johanna for anything. >> VOICEOVER: Back on land, Johanna is like any other woman -- at least, one with a paid job. But she?s not only shopping for herself, she is taking care of her small family.>> JOHANNA KWEDHI: I have a young boy of 14 months. He is lovely. This is my cousin, Aguste. So she is taking care of my boy when I am out at sea. The attention I get at sea is more than what I get on shore, because they pass by, they say, ?Hi Miss Johanna!? But here on shore when I say ?Hi? it?s just ?Hi.?>> VOICEOVER: Namibia signed up to the Millennium Development Goals, the MDGs, which aim to cut poverty by half by 2015. The goals include specific targets for women -- on education, reproductive health and equality. Johanna?s an example of targets fulfilled. But going back home, how about her friends and her relatives? En route to her aunt, Johanna?s reminded of her humble beginnings when she first came to Luderitz. Most people flock to this coastal town in search of job opportunities. Once here, they are forced to live in shantytowns with no running water or electricity and no proper toilets, at least until they can make a better life for themselves. >> JOHANNA KWEDHI: This is the room, the place where I stayed for six years when I came to Luderitz. For six years I stayed in this house where is no electricity, there is no bathroom and no toilet. We used to go out to the mountains. With peace of mind I was just happy with this. People said to me, ?Wow! An officer living in the shantytown!? But I say, ?No, I am here with peace of mind and I have health.? Life goes on like that.>> VOICEOVER: But Johanna's a child of the villages, not the shantytowns. And her journey home is fifteen hundred kilometers. More than 70 percent of Namibians are subsistence farmers and live close to the land, including Johanna's parents. Her grandmother, who still has a big influence on her, raised Johanna. >> JOHANNA KWEDHI: This is my grandmother, on my mother's side. She taught me many things, traditional things. >> VOICEOVER: Forty-three percent of Namibia's unemployed are considered 'homemakers.' And 70 percent of homemakers are women. Most women remain trapped in the rural poverty cycle. But women like Johanna are quietly breaking the mold, and helping her family back home. >> JOHANNA'S GRANDMOTHER: Now, like they say, a chick also needs to learn how to fend for its mother. Now she is taking care of me.>> JOHANNA KWEDHI: The big challenge in this country for young people is falling pregnant at an early age. So they say, 'No, just try abortion!' Without education your life is meaningless. >> VOICEOVER: Johanna was born at home, but her mother developed complications during birth and had to be brought to Onandjokwe, the local hospital. Many aren?t so lucky: maternal mortality?s proved one of the hardest Millennium Development Goal for Namibia to meet. A recent report suggests maternal deaths actually increased. That may be because of HIV, but many poor women still have problems accessing medical care during pregnancy and childbirth, and the newborn death rate is still one in 50.>> JOHANNA KWEDHI: Here in Namibia the death rate of small children is caused because young people, during their pregnancy, don?t go to the clinic. Some of them do not know the importance of going to the clinic during their pregnancy. Some have financial problems and they can?t go, because the hospital is very far. And some just ignore it. They ask, ?What for? I can even deliver at home. My mom and my grandmother delivered here at home, I can?t waste my money there.? They are not working and they did not plan for that. >> VOICEOVER: The neighbors came out to greet Johanna. So has one of her former teachers.>> HOSEA IPINGE [Johanna's former teacher]: I met Johanna just when she completed her Grade Seven at our school. We also happen to be neighbors too. She was a hard working student and that is why she has managed to achieve so much. >> VOICEOVER: Johanna used to walk 14 kilometers to Onyeka School. She learns there are now more girls enrolling than boys, and there are also more girls completing secondary education. >> HAFENI KAPENDA [Principal, Onyeka School]: How can I help you?>> JOHANNA KWEDHI: So there are more boys than girls at this school. >> VOICEOVER: School enrolment is critical, but the lesson from the captain is that you have to finish too. >> HAFENI KAPENDA: She is the first female captain. Do you know boats? >> VOICEOVER: Most girls here will most likely end up as teachers and nurses. Most boys will probably remain at the cattle post, taking care of the family's animals. For girls and boys, Johanna's a role model. >> BOY: When steering a boat, does your boat have rear view mirrors like in a car to help you look in front and at the back?>> JOHANNA KWEDHI: No. A boat has no rear view mirrors. The bridge has windows on each side to make your view easier, also windows at the back. It is big, just like this room.>> VOICEOVER: Johanna's stories are a reminder of the value of education. Coming home has shown Johanna the problems that still confront other women, even if her story proves they can be overcome. Johanna's time on land has ended. She just wants to catch fish, earn a living, and bring up her child. But in a man's world, she's also making a point not everyone wants to hear. >> JOHANNA KWEDHI: We have to do it. Just do it. Among men, you are there on top operating the wheel, they are down there. Some are saying, ?What, a young lady?? I feel -- yes! It?s a way of showing men that we women are capable of doing something at the end of the day. I enjoy it. http://www.viewchange.org/videos/ted-john-kasaona-how-poachers-became-caretakers In his home of Namibia, John Kasaona is working on an innovative way to protect endangered animal species: giving nearby villagers (including former poachers) responsibility for caring for the animals. And it's working. Wed, 17 Nov 2010 10:50:00 +0000 http://www.viewchange.org/videos/ted-john-kasaona-how-poachers-became-caretakers Kunene Region, Africa, Biodiversity, Conservation, Endangered species, Rhinoceros, Poaching, Namibia, John Kasaona, Cheetah >> TITLE: TED: Ideas Worth Spreading.>> JOHN KASAONA: In Africa we say, "God gave the white man a watch and gave the black man time." >> TITLE: February 2010. Long Beach, California>> JOHN KASAONA: I think, how is it possible for a man with so much time to tell a story in 18 minutes. I think it will be quite a challenge for me. >> TITLE: Namibia: Wildlife and communities back from the brink>> JOHN KASAONA: Most African stories these days, they talk about famine, HIV and AIDS, poverty, or war. But my story that I would like to share with you today is the one about success. It is about a country in the southwest of Africa called Namibia. Namibia has got 2.1 million people, but it is only twice the size of California. I come from a region in the remote northwest part of the country. It's called Kunene region. And in the center of Kunene region is the village of Sesfontein. This is where I was born. This is where I am coming from. Most people that are following the story of Angelina Jolie and Brad Pitt will know where Namibia is. They love Namibia for its beautiful dunes, that are even taller than the Empire State Building. Wind and time have twisted our landscape into very strange shapes. And these shapes are speckled with wildlife that has become so adapted to this harsh and strange land.>> JOHN KASAONA: I'm a Himba. As I'm standing, you might wonder, why are you wearing these Western clothes? I'm a Himba and Namibian. A Himba is one of the 29 ethnic groups in Namibia. We live a very traditional lifestyle. I grew up herding, looking after our livestock: goats, sheep, and cattle. And one day, my father actually took me into the bush. He said, "John, I want you to become a good herder. Boy, if you are looking after our livestock and you see a cheetah eating our goat, cheetah is very nervous. Just walk up to it. Walk up to it and smack it on the backside. And he will let go of the goat and run off." But then he said, "Boy, if you run into a lion, don't move. Don't move. Stand your ground. Puff up and just look it in the eye and it may not want to fight you." But then, he said, "If you see a leopard, boy, you better run like hell. Imagine you run faster than those goats you are looking after." >> JOHN KASAONA: In this way, I actually started to learn about nature. You know, in addition to being an ordinary Namibian and in addition to being a Himba I'm also a trained conservationist. And it is very important if you are in the field to know what to confront and what to run from. I was born in 1971. We lived under apartheid regime. The whites could farm, graze, and hunt as they wished, but we black, we were not regarded as responsible to look after, to use wildlife. Whenever we tried to hunt, we were called poachers. And, as a result, we were fined and locked up in jail.>> JOHN KASAONA: Between 1966 and 1990, the U.S. and Soviet interests fought for control over my country. And you know, during wartimes, there are militaries, armies, that are moving around. And the army hunted for valuable rhino horns and tusks. And they could sell these things for anything between UDS$5,000 a kilo. During the same year almost every Himba had a rifle. Because it was wartime, the British .303 rifle was just all over the whole country. Then in the same time, around 1980, we had a very big drought. It killed almost everything that was left. Our livestock was almost at the brink of extinction. [inaudible] We were hungry. I remember a night when a hungry leopard went into the house of one of our neighbors and took his sleeping child out of the bed. It's a very sad story. But even today, that memory is still in people's mind. They can pinpoint the exact location where this all happened. >> JOHN KASAONA: And then, the same year, we almost lost everything. And my father said, "Why don't you just go to school?" And they sent me off to school, just to get busy somewhere else. And the year I went to school, my father actually got a job with a non-governmental organization called IRDNC: Integrated Rural Development and Nature Conservation. They actually spend a lot of time a year in the communities. They were trusted by the local communities like our leader, Joshua Kangombe. Joshua Kangombe saw what was happening: wildlife disappearing, poaching was skyrocketing, and the situation seemed very hopeless. Death and despair surrounded Joshua and our entire communities.>> JOHN KASAONA: But then, the people from IRDNC proposed to Joshua: What if we pay people that you trust to look after wildlife? Do you have anybody in your communities, or people, that know the bush very well and that know wildlife very well? The headman said "Yes. Our poachers." "Eh? The poachers?" "Yes. Our poachers." And that was my father. My father has been a poacher for quite a long time. Instead of treating poachers' debt like they were doing elsewhere in Africa, IRDNC has helped men reclaim their abilities to manage their peoples, and their rights to own and manage wildlife. And thus, as people started feeling ownership over wildlife, wildlife numbers started coming back, and that's actually becoming a foundation for conservation in Namibia. With independence, the whole approach of community getting involved was embraced by our new government.>> TITLE: 1. Blending the old and new>> JOHN KASAONA: Three things that actually help to build on this foundation: The very first one is honoring of tradition and being open to new ideas. Here is our tradition. At every Himba village, there is a sacred fire. And at this sacred fire, the spirit of our ancestors speak through the headman and advise us where to get water, where to get grazings, and where to go and hunt. And I think this is the best way of regulating ourselves on the environment. And here are the new ideas. Transporting rhinos using helicopters I think is much easier than talking through a spirit that you can't see, isn't it? And these things we were taught by outsiders. We learned these things from outsiders. We needed new boundaries to describe our traditional lands; we needed to learn more things like GPS just to see whether can GPS really reflect the true reflection of the land or is this just a thing made somewhere in the West? And we then wanted to see whether we can match our ancestral maps with digital maps made somewhere in the world. And through this, we actually started realizing our dreams and we maintained honoring our traditions but we were still open to new ideas.>> TITLE: 2. Focusing on the solution>> JOHN KASAONA: The second element is that we wanted to have a life, a better life where we can benefit through many things. Most poachers, like my father, were people from our own community. They were not people from outside. These were our own people. And sometimes, once they were caught, they were treated with respect, brought back into the communities and they were made part of the bigger dreams. The best ones, like my father -- I'm not complaining for my father -- they were put in charge to stop others from poaching. And when this thing started going on, we started becoming one community, renewing our connection to nature. And that was a very strong thing in Namibia.>> TITLE: Stopping poaching is quite different than catching poachers>> TITLE: 3. Creating lasting partnerships>> JOHN KASAONA: The last element that actually helped develop these things was the partnerships. Our government has given legal status over our traditional lands. The other partners that we have got is business communities. Business communities helped bring Namibia onto the world map and they have also helped make wildlife a very valuable land use like any other land uses such as agriculture. And most of my conservation colleagues today that you find in Namibia have been trained through the initiative, through the involvement of World Wildlife Fund in the most up-to-date conservation practices. They have also given funding for two decades to this whole program. >> TITLE: WWF helped us scale a small program>> JOHN KASAONA: And so far, with the support of World Wildlife Fund, we've been able to scale up the very small programs to a national program today. Namibia, or, Sesfontein was no more an isolated village somewhere, hidden away in Namibia. With these assets we are now part of the global village.>> JOHN KASAONA: Thirty years have passed since my father's first job as a community game guard. It's unfortunate that he passed away and he cannot see the success as I and my children see it today. When I finished school in 1995, there were only 20 lions in the entire northwest, in our area. But today, there are more than 130 lions. So please, if you go to Namibia, make sure that you stay in the tents. Don't walk out at night. The black rhino: they were almost extinct in 1982. But today, Kunene has the largest concentration of black rhino, free-roaming black rhinos, in the world. This is outside the protected area. The leopard, they are now in big numbers but they are now far away from our village, because the natural plain has multiplied, like zebras, springboks, and everything. They stay very much far away because all these other things has multiplied from less than a thousand to tens of thousands of animals.>> JOHN KASAONA: And, what started as very small, community rangers getting community involved, has now grown into something that we call conservancies. Conservancies are legally instituted institutions, by the government, and these are run by the communities themselves, for their benefit. Today, we have got 60 conservancies that manage and protect over 13 million hectares of land in Namibia. We have already reshaped conservation in the entire country. Nowhere else in the world has community-adopted conservation at this scale. In 2008, conservancy generated USD$5.7 million. This is our new economy, an economy based on the respect of our natural resources. And, we are able to use this money for many things. Very importantly, we put it in education. Secondly, we put it for infrastructure. Food. Very important as well. We invest this money in AIDS and HIV education. You know that Africa is being affected by these viruses. And this is the good news from Africa that we have to shout from the rooftops.>> JOHN KASAONA: And now, what the world really needs is for you to help me and our partners take some of what we have learned in Namibia to other places with similar problems: places like Mongolia, or even in your own backyards, the Northern Great Plains, where buffalo and other animals have suffered and many communities are in decline. I like that one. Namibia serving as a model to Africa, and Africa serving as a model to the United States. We were successful in Namibia because we dreamed of a future that was much more than just a healthy wildlife. We knew conservation will fail if it doesn't work to improve the lives of the local communities. So, come and talk to me about Namibia, and better yet, come to Namibia and see for yourself how we have done it. And please, do visit our website to learn more and see how you can help CBNRM [Community-based natural resource management] in Africa and across the world. Thank you very much.>> TITLE: TED: New TED Talks each week at www.TED.com http://www.viewchange.org/videos/unia-0851 <p>In Namibia, a training program funded by the UN is helping local people learn new skills and start small businesses. Each dollar earned is another small step toward achieving the Millennium Development Goal of eliminating poverty.&nbsp;</p> Wed, 26 May 2010 00:52:23 +0000 http://www.viewchange.org/videos/unia-0851 Namibia, Ohangwena Region, United Nations Development Programme, United Nations, Vocational education, UN in Action, Education, Foreign Assistance, Agriculture & Food >> VOICEOVER: The artisan skills of the Ohangwena region in Namibia are famous. Men traditionally weave gigantic harvest baskets, yet there's nothing to fill them with. Persistent drought has made the years of plenty a distant memory. Goats and other farm animals now have to roam vast distances to find an open water hole. And one question looms like a dark shadow: how long will there be enough food for animals, and for people as well? Nangobe Efraim and his extended family live in this compound of huts in the village of Onamboto. Years ago, their pumpkins and zucchini piled up. This year, there is nothing left to sell. Nangobe hopes he has at least enough zucchini stored to feed his wife, seven children, and the rest of the family. Under these circumstances, being a farmer is a hopeless struggle, but luckily Nangobe found a new job. >> NANGOBE EFRAIM: Now it is different. We survive better. I earn enough money to buy everything we need. >> VOICEOVER: Nangobe went to the Eenhana Artisan Training Centre, a micro-enterprise development project, funded and supported by the UN Development Programme. It is the first vocational training program in the region and not only brings people's artisan skills to a new level of proficiency. The center also reduces poverty in the community, says Daniel Kashikola, Executive Director of the Ohangwena Regional Council. >> DANIEL KASHIKOLA: In those pilot areas where these activities actually have been implemented, we see change. People have started marketing their products. >> VOICEOVER: Besides carpentry and metal work, the center offers dressmaking classes for young single mothers. After six months, the women receive a certificate and can start their own micro enterprise. Welders and carpenters learn their skills in small groups and pay special attention to independent work and accident prevention. Graduates who can't afford to set up their own shops can rent the center's equipment for their own projects. Tools produced in the workshop are appreciated in the local community garden. The center has already signed two contracts to furnish office buildings. The cash will be used to purchase new equipment. The artisan centre is a success story, says UNDP's Representative for Namibia, Dr. Jacqui Badcock: >> DR. JACQUI BADCOCK: We must have had some impact. And I think what we need to do now is try and develop more centers, not just in that one area. It's back to the population being so scattered. We need many more such training centers to gainfully employ more people. >> VOICEOVER: Nangobe was one of the first graduates of the Artisan Training Center. Since then, he has opened his own store. Customers don't mind the long walk it takes to get a good look at the merchandise. Word is spreading, even without an expensive advertising campaign. Nangobe now earns USD$40 a month and can even afford the luxury of a new radio. His story is an example from Africa of how the UN Millennium Goal of eradicating extreme poverty by 2015 is being addressed. This report was prepared by Kamil Taha and Ingrid Kasper for the United Nations.