The push down experts

Have you ever worked with a person who does nothing but push you down, bring you down and try all the forms of bringing you down????.... I worked with some few.  I even decided to call them the push down experts because all what they do is try to come up with tactics to bring others down.

I thank God that I was raised in a society and home that taught me to bring the best out of others. And it real pays off to know that I did x and x for someone and now they are out there making a difference. I just wonder what the push down experts benefit from bringing others down. Do they rise to the top…. Well, maybe they do… but if they do, then they do it by pushing others down.  And they should know one day those people will rise the professional way and pass their level.

Anyway… I don’t real care about the push down experts, because there are a lot of people out there who are willing to help others and bring the best out of them. And I cross the path of such many people and I am grateful for their assistance. And like they say…. don’t mind about someone pushing you down. You could learn a few things from such an experience that can make you even stronger. There is light at the end of the tunnel, and the grass is greener at the other side!

Be blessed Namibians…. People of the land of the brave!

 

The Blaming Game

It’s the ministry of Health's fault??? Who is the Ministry of Health hano naana? Is it the Minister, the PS, the managers, the directors, the nurses, doctors…. Or who are we referring to here?

I am seriously tired of complaints, complaints and complaints, which are aimed at blaming problems and challenges on other people or the system. Let me take an example of my line of work: Public Health. The public health system here in Namibia is complex.  And one would wonder why it is complex if we are only serving a population of about 2.5 million. Well, the population is about 2.5 million, but the land is just too huge leaving people spread all over 800 000 square kilometers. And worse Namibia is a resource limited country facing some serious challenges that can hinder health care provision. Those are such as lack of infrastructures, shortage of human resources etc.

Can you imagine having a Minister of Health or Permanent Secretary sitting in his office in Windhoek and is expected to solve challenges being experienced at a health facility in Zambezi region which is about 1300 Kilometers away????? Amazing right! But ideal the top officials are just supposed to provide technical assistance in decision making and other issues such as policies or rules. But that does not seem to be the case. Go to a facility and ask why certain things are happening and then you are told “it’s the minister’s fault”. And every once in a while you see the minister running from regions to regions to address challenges such as cholera outbreaks or maternal death cases. What are the directors and the managers in the so “respective regions” doing? Where are the epidemiologists who are supposed to be in control of such outbreaks of disease? Shouldn’t they be the ones running around in the regions and updating the Minister of Health??? Maybe we need to re-visit our staff establishment and ensure that regions are fully equipped with capacity which can handle the decentralized health care systems.

I am glad I had a chance to work at both levels of the health care system. And believe me each and every level in the health care system has its own challenges and reason to blame others. The lower levels such as facility level are blaming the district level. The district is blaming the regional level while the regional level is blaming the National level. And the national level is blaming the decision makers, or the lower level which in this case will be the regional level. And this blaming game is bi-directional. This leaves one to wonder who is real at fault in our health care system.

One of the most things that seem to be misused in the health care system blaming game is “shortage of staff” or lack of time. We know that shortage of staff has been there forever and is not a challenge that one can address overnight. You need to invest in educating nurses, doctors and other staffs needed in the health care system for about 10 – 20 years before you can see the change. But the question I ask people is .... “what is the little thing that you can do to address the shortage of staff?" So now you will just sit back and blame everything on shortage of staff? We need to change our mindset and move away from the blaming game to see how we can use the little we have in an efficient way and provide health care to our people. And like one of the professors from University of Namibia once told me, “time is fixed and can never change – we have 24 hours in a day- what one can do is manage your time in an efficient way”.  

I am public health worker and believe that our health care system in Namibia will change one day if we change our mindset and think positively.

I love Namibia – our land of the brave!

Homemade Toys

Who said one has to spent moola (money) to have fun? I came across this two lovely children having fun with toys that did not even cost their parents a single cent. And I thought let me write about this. And perhaps this will bring me back to my blog that I have been neglecting for months now.

Picture number 1: this little girl is using a metal recycled from a bicycle wheel to play. Isn’t she amazing? She is lovely and she is surely enjoying that toy and is having fun.

 

Picture number 2: this boy is just too amazing! Just look at him. Does he look like a happy kid having fun? He does! And the parents spent zero because the cart he is sitting in was recycled from a water container that was used to collect water at some point.  And his brother is pulling him while he is holding on to make sure he doesn't fall. Amazing!

 

This is what I call innovation and I don’t need to say much. And the photos were taken in the northern part of Namibia of course! Land of the brave… I love you Namibia!

 

Land of the Brave….

Land of the Brave….

So much has been happening here that I don’t even know where to start.

Lemme see…. The most shocking thing for me was the so called prophet who was apparently supposed to rise from the dead after 3 days… but only died and rose after few hours…. And the sun turned black. Her followers actually witnessed this?! I did not see any difference in the sky – the sun was normal to me. But who am I to falsify such prophecy??? All I know is that the bible warned us against this type of prophecies. And my take on this is that… I am catholic and shall not be moved by such prophecies!

Another shocking thing…. A so called website that trashed Namibia and made the country look real bad. I think the idea of freedom of speech was misused here. And I somehow think that this unique website is a sister to the so called “The Seals of Namibia” account on twitter that recently amazed me when they compared seal curving to women abuse in Namibia. There is only one thing I can say about such sites…. All countries have pros and cons. Trashing Namibia and creating a cyber war will not stop tourist neither the investors!

Another thing to write about is the bizarre letter that was circulated last year in Namibia. He he… that letter apparently consists of some guys who are known to be gay. Who cares about what sexuality people choose hano naana?! I mean gay, lesbian or bisexual you are still human. But believe me…. That letter must contain something big because it got so much attention and it almost ended up in court. And worse the guy who wrote it recently started a facebook saga against the former president or should I say the founding fathers …. Tate shafaoihuna. Huh…. I am skeptical about such things and it is better that I keep my comments to myself.

Remember Olufuko festival? I do. It happened last year August in Outapi. I am not against tradition or cultural practices but showing half naked young girls in public will leave us thinking that perhaps we should not bring back the old traditional practices because they can be harmful. Remember King Kamhaku ka Huhwa….. the former king of the Ombalantu tribe. People had to carry him around under a hut as there was not transport that time…. Worse someone had to volunteer for him to spit on. His saliva apparently never reached the ground. So why can’t we display such old practices??? Why only the ones that involve displaying half naked young women???

Lastly…. I observed that there are so many theorists here in Namibia. And if one is not focused you could end up in a wrong pool of theories. I mean why should we complain if the head of the Swapo Youth League could even be older than 40 year. He he…. Is Namibia using a different definition for young people. I thought the cut off age was 35…. Or even 30. My advise ----> Be smart young people and avoid being carried away by such theorist.

That’s all for now. I have so much to say about my lovely country. And YES I love Namibia despite all the predicaments that we are going through. United we stand and shall not be moved by false prophecy, and cyber war! 

The village woman’s blog

Should I be crucified for neglecting my blog? Not at all! I should rather be praised for at least having a blog. You come to my village and ask my fellow villagers what a blog is and they will not have an idea what you are talking about. Worse even most young people in Windhoek don’t know what a blog is. They only know what sheebens and cuca shops are. For real! In fact, most of them are drinking and partying as I write this blog.

So the village woman went to America. Experience all that - while learning some new skills and knowledge in public health. This woman is now back home. Not back in her village, but she ended up in the capital city – Windhoek. Her return home was not easy. I mean who would want to move from a place where you have access to everything, to a place where access to everything is limited. But she should not complain. This is her home, and if Peace Corp volunteers can adjust to living in a village somewhere in Ovamboland, then her situation should be easy. I salute all Peace Corps guys who give up an easy life to come and volunteer for developing countries. These guys must have big hearts to want to come here. Some even chose to settle here. Why? I guess it is for the same reason why we love our country – Namibia, the land of the brave!

The village woman spent the 2 months looking for a job, attending interviews, getting offers and turning down offers.  And just like she expected, she finally found what she wanted. It wasn’t an easy process, but she is grateful to join the Ministry of Health and Social Services.

I still don’t know how to thank the American people, specific the Fulbright-PEPFAR program for the opportunity that I was give. And everyday I think of my study objectives, which were to learn more technical skills and knowledge so that I can help my country fight HIV/AIDS, TB and Malaria! And yes I have those skills and I am more than ready to put them in action. Thank you for the opportunity – I shall treasure these memories forever!

The village woman will stop here for now. She has so much to write yet she cannot put it down. And does anyone out there read her blog at all???

If yes then thank you for your time.

Street Car coversation

Street car conversation:
X: Are u from here?
Me: no I am from Africa :) ( I wonder what would have happened if I said I am from Namibia? He would have probably said Nabia or nubia... plss!!)
X: So what do you do?
Me: I am a student at Tulane.
X: So you guys have a female president ryt?
Me: us?
X: yeah you Africans. Africa is a country ryt?
Me: No.... we have several countries in Africa with different president ( explaining while looking at X and wondering.... He must be .. kidding ryt! Africa is a continent but not a country!)
X: so you guys have wild animals ryt... have u seen one?
Me: yeah! .... but they are in reserve parks. ( at the same time wondering if I could lie to this guy and tell him... yeah they are just running in the street... seriously... please)
X: I just saw them on TV and also saw the female president on TV....
Me: oki.. (mhhh the media is misleading people). But I advice that you should google and learn more about Africa... especially NAMIBIA because it is a lovely country!
X: oki... i would love to go on a safari one day.
Me: good ( I should have rather said this---> but you should be careful caz we have lions, cheetah and elephant at the airport waiting for people like you who are ignorant and not know Geography....)
LOOOOOOL :)

“The Hush Theory” or should I say "My Hush theory" :)

Mukulukadhi mwena! (keep quiet woman!)…. That’s what they would say in my mother tongue. I grew up in a deep remote village and now I am in a western world… but this change of environment will never change my identity. I am a woman… and I am supposed to hush and I still hush under certain circumstances.

Am I inferior to men? Not at all but I was raised to be a woman, to only talk when I am supposed to… to not be too verbal and outspoken in public – to keep my chin down, -seriously! Does that limit my capabilities and my function in society??? Maybe yes or maybe not…. Like they say participation is leadership. So how do you expect me to be a leader while I was raised in a hush woman type environment? Anyway… I know I can be a leader and so can any other woman out there!

I imagine women out there in my village -those who never manage to go to school or those who could not go beyond secondary education. The fact that they were raised in a “hush woman” environment does not only complicate things, but also make life difficult for them. Would things be different if those women were educated? Would they be able to be aware of their rights and know that they do not have to hush no more? Of course they would.

So now, how many gender based violence activities could we reduce if it was not of the hush woman stupid theory? How many women would ask their partners to put on a condom, and how many multiple concurrent partnership case could we prevent? A lot of course! And perhaps the HIV epidemic situation would be different in Southern Africa. Perhaps women would be able to report their husband when they abuse them physically. And physical abuse is at least visible… can you imagine what emotional and psychological abuse women go through on a daily basis? And such abuse has become a norm not because women want it to be like that, but because society has shaped itself in that direction.

This is my opinion about the “hush theory” or should I say the zip on the mouth theory. Just imagine having a zip on your mouth that someone controls – terrifying hey!…….. That’s what we call being a woman from a village in Africa J

What ever you read on this blog is my opinion and might not be evidence based… so chill J