Namibias Himba no water & food soon due to Covid19
Donation protected
Traditional Himbas in Namibia in need as Covid19 reaches Africa!
Dear all,
it is with great sadness to see my friend John (32) his family and his people in urgent need of food and water!
I reached out to him a few days ago, during this Covid19 crisis and found that the situation is not good!
Their water pump is burned out and they are relying on a water truck delivering water.
They have a 150m deep water bore with good water and a good tank.
Currently they pay for the water truck to come in and fill the tank. However, the supply may dries up when advised stricter travel bans are imposed due to the Covid19 spread.
With their own water supply their survival and the survival of their animals would be secured.
This is urgent!
John created an amazing traditional living Ovahimba Museum Village to mitigate the disruptive impact of visitors into the traditional surrounding villages.
It also became a safe spot for mistreated sexually abused young woman with children , older woman and people who lost the support of their tribe for one reason or another. They build a campground for visitors as well! He is currently looking after over 55 people, (11men, 44 women and children), with food, water, medical supplies… accommodation and communication.
There is great risk that they are running out of water and food soon and there is no Government help! The closest town ( Opuwa ) is 42km away, with the only Supermarkets, medical service or petrol available in the area. All money they had earned was wisely spent on infrastructure, a camera, a new phone with internet data to set up a fb page, a youtube channel and website to prepare for the coming tourism season! Now with no visitors in sight for the rest of their season, the situation is looking pretty bad!
Tourism is dead! It’s their Tourism Season and no income in sight for month.
We urgently need funds for:
1) Waterpump: AU$ 3000 ( approx Nabibian $33,000 )
Their Dunfoss submersible waterpump is broken and the quote for a new one is AU$2700 ( approx: Nabibian$ 29,500 )
2) Food AU$ 2000 ( approx Namibian $22,000 )
Immediate help to buy flour, cooking oil and other urgent needed food items for over 55people
Additional Info:
My wife Eske and I helped John and his siblings in 2018, when we visited Namibia.
May I introduce you to John, a man we came to deeply respect and like.
Rimunikavi Tjipurua is his real name, but we know him as John!
He is from a traditional Himba Village in Nambias North West, near Opuwa.
John is one of the very few true leaders, we all would like to see and so deeply miss in our current situation, totally committed to help his people!
Out of nothing, with his bare hands, a picket and a shovel , he created a traditional Himba Museum and a camp ground to help his family and people.
At the age of 14 he cleared part of some land his uncle gave to him, to create a spot for him and his siblings to live. Soon after, he learned of tourism growing in the area and people being interested in the traditional life of these interesting people.
Himbas are known around the world for their red hair and skin, which they rub with a red mineral called Oka. Their wide friendly smile, almost naked appearance and amazing hairstyles have visitors from around the world in their spell.
So John learned English and worked as a Himba Guide showing foreigners, how his people in simple Villages live their traditional life. However, he soon realized that this was not working, neither for the Himba, who were disturbed by the visitors, nor for the tourists, who felt uneasy as they intruded into the Himbas routine of life and privacy.
His idea and solution to this problem was a living Himba Museum!
Here people from the surrounding villages could come and “work” by showing their traditional life style to paying visitors, but at their leisure and to their availability.
This worked amazingly well, but he soon realized that the people, who came out of the villages nearby, were also looking for a safe place to stay!
Mainly abused and sexually misused woman with their children, old women and men alike who were expelled from their villages for one reason or another.
They had nowhere to go!
John created a safe space, a place where they could regroup!
He empowers women by earning a small income, which gains the respect of their husbands and men in their villages. Their social status changes and so they are able to look after themselves and minimizes Domestic Violence and tension in the surrounding villages.
Kids can go to school and take part of an education!
John has built over the past 5 years a museum village and an adjacent beautiful camp ground, where travelers can stay.
Eske and I were such travelers. We were blown away by the set up and people in the Living Ovahimba Museum Village! Our experience there and the camp was amazing! A cave with ancient rock paintings, a massive boab tree, nestled in an mesmerizing valley. We got to know John and his siblings as well as his closest friends. We helped them rewire their electrical Solar System and taught them how to connect it all up correctly, so they could help themselves. We repaired the system and bought a few items, which made their life much easier.
Since then, John and his team managed to work hard to build a new reception, new camps sites and upgraded the cultural village to look after even more people in need.
But, whenever I speak to John, he is full of joy, never complains and is always asking how we are going and still thanking us!
So here it is my friends! John, his family and village needs our help, to help themselves. This is not a blanket request for money. This is going to people Eske and I personally know and personally support, but we can’t do it on our own!
We believe in Johns leadership, his business project and that it is capable of looking after itself, once this Covid19 situation is over and visitors return to this amazing place.
However, at the moment they are in dire need of food, water, communication, PPE and some basic tools to help themselves.
Please see if you can find some spare $, so that we can help them to get the certainty, ensure that these people survive and be able to look after the even less fortunate of these already poor communities.
Maybe someone can assist with a new pump, or other help?
Thank you!
PS: Please feel free to contact me if you have any questions or ideas how else we can be of help to John and his community.
Dear all,
it is with great sadness to see my friend John (32) his family and his people in urgent need of food and water!
I reached out to him a few days ago, during this Covid19 crisis and found that the situation is not good!
Their water pump is burned out and they are relying on a water truck delivering water.
They have a 150m deep water bore with good water and a good tank.
Currently they pay for the water truck to come in and fill the tank. However, the supply may dries up when advised stricter travel bans are imposed due to the Covid19 spread.
With their own water supply their survival and the survival of their animals would be secured.
This is urgent!
John created an amazing traditional living Ovahimba Museum Village to mitigate the disruptive impact of visitors into the traditional surrounding villages.
It also became a safe spot for mistreated sexually abused young woman with children , older woman and people who lost the support of their tribe for one reason or another. They build a campground for visitors as well! He is currently looking after over 55 people, (11men, 44 women and children), with food, water, medical supplies… accommodation and communication.
There is great risk that they are running out of water and food soon and there is no Government help! The closest town ( Opuwa ) is 42km away, with the only Supermarkets, medical service or petrol available in the area. All money they had earned was wisely spent on infrastructure, a camera, a new phone with internet data to set up a fb page, a youtube channel and website to prepare for the coming tourism season! Now with no visitors in sight for the rest of their season, the situation is looking pretty bad!
Tourism is dead! It’s their Tourism Season and no income in sight for month.
We urgently need funds for:
1) Waterpump: AU$ 3000 ( approx Nabibian $33,000 )
Their Dunfoss submersible waterpump is broken and the quote for a new one is AU$2700 ( approx: Nabibian$ 29,500 )
2) Food AU$ 2000 ( approx Namibian $22,000 )
Immediate help to buy flour, cooking oil and other urgent needed food items for over 55people
Additional Info:
My wife Eske and I helped John and his siblings in 2018, when we visited Namibia.
May I introduce you to John, a man we came to deeply respect and like.
Rimunikavi Tjipurua is his real name, but we know him as John!
He is from a traditional Himba Village in Nambias North West, near Opuwa.
John is one of the very few true leaders, we all would like to see and so deeply miss in our current situation, totally committed to help his people!
Out of nothing, with his bare hands, a picket and a shovel , he created a traditional Himba Museum and a camp ground to help his family and people.
At the age of 14 he cleared part of some land his uncle gave to him, to create a spot for him and his siblings to live. Soon after, he learned of tourism growing in the area and people being interested in the traditional life of these interesting people.
Himbas are known around the world for their red hair and skin, which they rub with a red mineral called Oka. Their wide friendly smile, almost naked appearance and amazing hairstyles have visitors from around the world in their spell.
So John learned English and worked as a Himba Guide showing foreigners, how his people in simple Villages live their traditional life. However, he soon realized that this was not working, neither for the Himba, who were disturbed by the visitors, nor for the tourists, who felt uneasy as they intruded into the Himbas routine of life and privacy.
His idea and solution to this problem was a living Himba Museum!
Here people from the surrounding villages could come and “work” by showing their traditional life style to paying visitors, but at their leisure and to their availability.
This worked amazingly well, but he soon realized that the people, who came out of the villages nearby, were also looking for a safe place to stay!
Mainly abused and sexually misused woman with their children, old women and men alike who were expelled from their villages for one reason or another.
They had nowhere to go!
John created a safe space, a place where they could regroup!
He empowers women by earning a small income, which gains the respect of their husbands and men in their villages. Their social status changes and so they are able to look after themselves and minimizes Domestic Violence and tension in the surrounding villages.
Kids can go to school and take part of an education!
John has built over the past 5 years a museum village and an adjacent beautiful camp ground, where travelers can stay.
Eske and I were such travelers. We were blown away by the set up and people in the Living Ovahimba Museum Village! Our experience there and the camp was amazing! A cave with ancient rock paintings, a massive boab tree, nestled in an mesmerizing valley. We got to know John and his siblings as well as his closest friends. We helped them rewire their electrical Solar System and taught them how to connect it all up correctly, so they could help themselves. We repaired the system and bought a few items, which made their life much easier.
Since then, John and his team managed to work hard to build a new reception, new camps sites and upgraded the cultural village to look after even more people in need.
But, whenever I speak to John, he is full of joy, never complains and is always asking how we are going and still thanking us!
So here it is my friends! John, his family and village needs our help, to help themselves. This is not a blanket request for money. This is going to people Eske and I personally know and personally support, but we can’t do it on our own!
We believe in Johns leadership, his business project and that it is capable of looking after itself, once this Covid19 situation is over and visitors return to this amazing place.
However, at the moment they are in dire need of food, water, communication, PPE and some basic tools to help themselves.
Please see if you can find some spare $, so that we can help them to get the certainty, ensure that these people survive and be able to look after the even less fortunate of these already poor communities.
Maybe someone can assist with a new pump, or other help?
Thank you!
PS: Please feel free to contact me if you have any questions or ideas how else we can be of help to John and his community.
Organizer
Axel Passeck
Organizer