Sun, Sand, and Uranium

Authors: Claire, Kristen, Patrick
Week 6: 21-27 February

This week was a busy one for CGE students. After a partial week of classes and internships, we headed to the Atlantic coast. It was relaxing to sit on the beach and climb Dune 7, but we also dealt with such topics as ethical mining practices, disabled children, and the Export Processing Zone.

One of the experiences that stood out to us the most during our trip to Swakopmund was the tour of the Rossing Uranium Mine. (Open pit at Rossing Uranium Mine, over 400m deep)

The Rossing Uranium Mine is just outside the town of Arandis, about 70 km inland from Swakopmund. It is the third largest producing uranium mine in the world and contributes to Namibia being the fourth largest uranium producer in the world.

I (Claire) work in a health clinic for my internship, so hearing about the health clinic at Rossing was really interesting for me. At my internship, the clinic is understaffed and they do not have the resources to provide the necessary services. There is a shortage of qualified nurses and doctors in Namibia, and the services are lacking as a result. Many nurses and doctors go abroad to work because the pay is better. In addition, the private sector draws talented health professionals away from the public sector. However, at Rossing there was a fully-staffed health clinic that provided necessary services to the mine employees. Every employee receives a full medical checkup every year and then are referred to other health professionals as needed.

Rossing’s clinic is most likely contributing to healthcare professionals working in the private sector as opposed to the public sector. I wonder if instead Rossing can invest money into a local clinic and refer their employees there in order to support the local community as well as their staff.

Another aspect of the Rossing Uranium Mine that stood out to us was the positive economic impact that the mine has on the local economy. According to our tour guide, the mine is “tied to the prosperity of the Namibian people,” and this certainly seemed to be true, at least for the region of Erongo. Rossing employs over 1500 permanent workers, and over 98% of these are Namibian. Rossing also contributes to many different programs in the communities of Arandis, Swakopmund, and Walvis Bay. Some of these include the Erongo House of Safety, Project Shine, Swakopmund Neighborhood Watch, and the Namibian Women’s Summit. All of these programs provide necessary services to society and are largely funded by Rossing.

Learning about the positive economic impact that Rossing has on the community complicated things for me (Kristen). I have always been firmly convinced of the negative environmental influences of mines, and believe that there must be alternative energy sources that would not negatively affect the environment. While I did not learn about the environmental impact of Rossing, hearing about all the good they are doing for the community has forced me to reevaluate my opinions on mining. I can no longer just think that mines are terrible, and mining as an economic practice should be abandoned. Instead, I have to balance this opposing information to figure out what I think about mines now.

Another aspect that stood out to us was curiosity about how the communities of Arandis, Swakopmund, and Walvis Bay will be affected by the eventual closure of the mine. The life of the mine keeps being extended, partially due to the increased worldwide demand for uranium, but at some point the mine will close. How will these communities survive without the mine? Once the mine closes thousands of people will be affected, from those suddenly unemployed to the social services that no longer have funding. For now the mine has a positive impact on the community, but the future of these communities seems too dependent on a mine that will close in the near future.

Another interesting aspect of the week was religion class. The religion class visited Christuskirche, the 100 year old German Lutheran Church in the middle of Windhoek. The congregation is primarily white, German-speaking Namibians, and their church services reflect this ethnic heritage. Pastor Rudolf Schmid talked to our class about the history of Christuskirche and the issues surrounding the congregation today.

(Plaque at Christuskirche commemorating German Lutherans killed in conflict with Hereros from 1904-1910).

This congregation has strong links to Germany and, as a result, individuals seem reluctant to adapt to the non-German population in Namibia. The role of the pastors also contributes to this reluctance to adapt. Generally, pastors at Christuskirche come from Germany for six years and then return to their churches in Germany. Several members of our class thought that the six year limit on pastors at this church did not allow the pastor to become involved in the community. Pastor Schmid commented that he found it difficult to attempt to change his congregation, partly because of the short time frame he could be in leadership.

This statement, along with other comments about how the congregation is still very white and has not adapted to the end of Apartheid, was controversial for our class. Some students were very critical about Pastor Schmid, asking why he did not work harder to change his church. Other students have experienced how difficult it can be to change churches, especially when their members do not want to change. We all recognize that the lasting effects of Apartheid can still be seen in Namibian society but when it comes to religion, we have different opinions of how the church as an institution should be changing and adapting.

Another controversial aspect of Christuskirche was the plaque on the wall of the sanctuary that listed the German Lutherans killed between 1904 and 1910. This was controversial for us because we have learned about the Herero War in history as an ethnic cleansing by the Germans, in which thousands of Hereros and Namas were killed. Does this memorial belong in a place of worship? Some students compared it to commemorating Nazis killed during World War II. Although this memorial honors their ethnic heritage, it does so at the expense of those who were massacred.

This last week has given us new perspectives on the role of mining in the Namibian economy and the conflicts surrounding the different churches in Namibia.

(CGE group after conquering Dune 7. Dune 7 is outside of Walvis Bay, and is one of the tallest sand dunes in the world)

Addressing the Needs of the People of Namibia

Authors: Hannah, Helen, Amy
Week 5: 14-20 February 2011

During week five each class delved further into the historical background of the modern-day Republic of Namibia, revealing complexities which translate into genuine needs of an overwhelming proportion of the population living in Namibia currently. Each class – political science, religion, history, and development - emphasized a different need category and ways in which various individuals, communities, and institutions have sought to address those needs.

{HANNAH} This week in religion class we visited the home of a traditional healer. Expecting a house shrouded in strange mists, with odd smells and sounds to be sensed upon our approach, all of us were a touch surprised when we entered a normal home with an average looking middle aged woman welcoming us into her living room. To add to our shock, Ms. Tsholeka is a follower of the Christian faith, not a practitioner of a more African traditional religion. The phrase traditional healer invokes an image of haunting chants, eye of newt and gaseous potions, but this was not the case. Ms. Ms. Tsholeka uses special medicines to heal people, which is why she considers herself a traditional healer. She was very secretive about these remedies, unwilling to even tell us the types of herbs and roots she uses. But the herbal concoctions are only part of the healing process, arguably less important than the prayer aspect. She prays to understand the nature of the ailment, and through prayer she knows how to best heal the client.

Her faith is unwavering. She seems almost blinded by it; unable or unwilling to answer some of the more probing questions, but this could also be attributed to the language barrier, a difficulty commonly faced when talking with speakers of a different language. Whatever the reason, “One must believe in Jesus Christ” was the main message of the interaction, which left a few lingering questions. Most obviously, what if there is no God, or, what if Jesus is not the Son of God and she happened to pick the wrong religion? Is her healing a farce? She stated that no person seeking her help has ever gone unhealed, though it may take more than one session. Her refusal to tell us the ingredients to her medicines was another point of confusion. If faith in Jesus Christ is the most important component to her healing, why not share the names of a few plants with us?

As my inner skeptic grew more and more irritated, I remembered that I was sitting in the house of a woman who made her living healing people without personally using modern medicine. This meant that people would come to her and pay money for her services, leading to the conclusion that there must be some merit to her claims. Whether she happened to use herbs and roots that are also cures for head and stomach aches or the Lord works through her to heal the sick, in this lifetime we may never know.

{HELEN} This week in history class, we learned about the tragic Herero Genocide, which occurred in Namibia between 1904 and 1908. We were appalled to hear about the mass murders committed by the German colonists that wiped out approximately eighty percent of the Herero population, a local native tribe. A woman came to speak to our class about this historical event – Georgina Katjiongua, a descendant of those killed in the genocide. She explained that the German settlers who originally migrated to South Western Africa traded with the local people in order to gain mass amounts of land, minerals and cattle. Such activity increased over time, and the newcomers eventually issued an order of extermination to wipe out the entire Herero population. Ms. Katjiongua’s personal opinions on the issue were especially intriguing to our group. She explained that the German’s bloody violation of Herero land and people continues to affect black Namibians today. The original white population in Namibia continually oppressed and abused the native people, denying them land and access to resources. Decades of whites instilling feelings of worthlessness into the black population has led to a “modern inferiority complex” that continues to linger today.

After learning more about the long term effects of the genocide, we visited the National Museum of Namibia: Alte Feste. We were interested to find that the museum’s exhibits did not mention the Herero Genocide at all, aside from a single sentence in a brochure. The Genocide was a crucial turning point in Namibian colonization, yet it has been erased from most written accounts. To this day, no memorial exists to commemorate the Herero deaths, and the Germans have yet to refer to the incident as “genocide” in their recurrent apologies. The denying of an ethnic cleansing has certainly allowed us to realize how Westernized and biased many history accounts are here in Namibia. Post-colonization and apartheid has led to independence, yet the dominant white minority continues to ignore the original cultures that inhabited the area long before the European invasion.

{AMY} This week in development class we had a speaker from the Basic Income Grant Coalition. The Coalition’s proposal for a national Basic Income Grant (BIG) would apply to every Namibian each of whom would receive N$100 per month, exceptions being people age 60 and over who will not receive BIG as they already receive a higher amount from their pension. The income re-distribution would take place through adjustments to the country’s tax rate system. This proposal is rooted in goals of alleviating poverty and giving back rights of land ownership and resources (albeit slowly) to the people of Namibia.

Beyond the Coalition’s mission for a national BIG, they conducted a pilot project from January 2008 through December 2009 in the Otjivero-Omitara region of Namibia. “The Namibian BIG pilot is the first universal cash transfer pilot project in the world” (page 19, “Basic Income Grant Pilot Project Assessment Report, April 2009”, ISBN: 978-99916-842-4-6). In regards to improved dignity, empowerment, community bonding, alcoholism and crime rates, school attendance and payment of school fees, malnutrition - especially in children, visits to the health clinic and payment of clinic fees, and consistent treatment of HIV/AIDS with ARVs, there were statistically significant moves in the right direction.

From the great success of the aforementioned pilot project one asks: ‘Is the Basic Income Grant really feasible to implement nationwide – for all of Namibia, not just in Otjivero-Omitara?’ BIG Coalition’s lobbying efforts to convince the government to adopt and implement a national BIG, in my perspective, could benefit from a campaign focusing on the children of Namibia – investing in the children’s future is investing in Namibia’s future, and there is no future without investment in the present. In my opinion an effective way of building up the Republic of Namibia is based on investing not just in a few children, but all Namibian children. A national BIG would help provide food, water, shelter, and education to the children of Namibia – so that they grow up to be strong, healthy, productive citizens contributing to the infrastructure, development, and economy of Namibia!

For some of us students interning at orphanages, we have encountered issues with something we have taken for granted – registered, legal birth certificates. Orphans and vulnerable children (OVC) would theoretically benefit from a national BIG, but without a birth certificate he/she would in practice not qualify. How could the requirements be modified so that OVC without registered birth certificates would still receive a BIG? Furthermore, how can we ensure that all babies born from now on have registered birth certificates and how can we eliminate the roadblocks for todays’ children without official birth certificates?

[Further information can be found on the BIG’s website www.bignam.org.] {BIG Bumper Sticker http://www.bignam.org/Publications/BIG_bumper.pdf}