Wednesday 9 December 2020

 Writing Samples of Jacqueline Wilson Asheeke


Jackie Wilson Asheeke, Published:  observer.com.na March 2020

 

Tourism is too big to fail

…banks must step up in this time of crisis

The financial crisis that the country has experienced over the last three years is heightened for the tourism sector due to COVID-19.  The sector is drowning right now with a lockdown and closed borders.  There will be major business contractions in 2020; this is unavoidable.  But, some industries are “too big to fail”.  Tourism (including restaurants/cafes, professional hunting and communal conservancies) is one of them.  The banks must take the lead, along with government and the private sector, to make tangible, well-considered bailout plans to save the stronger parts of the industry before it is too late.

We note that Standard Bank has stepped up and offered a loan repayment grace period for tourism businesses.  This is an excellent start, but more is needed, and all banks must get on board.

Being “too big to fail” is a US-coined economic term that applies to companies that are bell-weather enterprises whose existence within a sector is vital to the wider economy.  The ripple effects of the precipitous shut down of tourism mean tens of thousands of families will be left with significantly reduced income.  Thousands of suppliers in the value chain will lose business.  Entire towns, villages and sections of cities will be thrown under the bus as rate-paying households connected to the bell-weather industry, move away or are unable to pay for municipal services. 

Even insurance companies will take a hit as premiums default or are cancelled by tourism companies.  The collapse of tourism in Namibia means there will be a disruption to the national tax base.  In addition, there will be precipitous mass unemployment.  There will be reduced foreign exchange inflows that will impact significantly on the government’s already ailing cash flow.

South African banks have made a financial killing in Namibia for decades.  And yet, they are too hesitant during this impending tidal wave of financial distress.  This is unacceptable.   They must wake up to the reality that half of a pie is better than no pie at all. 

Banks should begin offering immediate relief such as extended overdrafts for viable tourism companies.  A loan repayment holiday must be implemented across ALL banks.  Other solutions can be debated after a bare-knuckles consultation with the tourism industry.

The government is not a spectator in this.  Let the industry unselfishly identify a shortlist of the top three large-scale policy/regulatory actions that will save as many tourism businesses as possible.

This is the time for successful private sector operators to shine.  The country has hit the wall, and the industry is being trampled.  That said - the company owners and executives in the industry must not be the baby bird with its mouth wide open in the nest waiting for government and bank money to feed them.  Hard personal lifestyle and risk decisions must be made.  All Namibians must sip from the COVID poisoned chalice; tourism is no exception to that rule.  Sometimes, going down a notch or two can save the base of the company.  Choose to live to fight another day.    

Consider this:  last year’s profits, ‘rainy day’ money, VAT returns, and capital accounts should be spent on half-salaries to selected employees for as long as possible.  Generous retrenchment packages must be given when downsizing becomes inevitable.  It means a particular business owner may not have enough profits to ‘live large’ in 2020-21, but it guarantees that some families will have food on the table for a few more months. 

A caution to the banks and the industry:  This is a crisis; it is time to be extraordinary.  A hungry man is an angry man.  A hungry man with a gun isn’t hungry very long.  Tourism does not thrive in economic collapse, instability or uncertainty. 

Communal conservancies and farmers with game on their land have made money in hunting and tourism rather than illegally poaching wildlife on their land.  With such revenues gone, will wildlife in Namibia survive?  What can banks to do pay the salaries of communal game guards, make cash donations to conservancy management committees or fund the anti-poaching squad?   Against the billons that banks make in profits, the money that will make a difference in rural areas is peanuts.

The tourism industry is too big to fail – though a few companies will.  Over 100,000 direct and indirect cross-cutting jobs exist to some extent due to hospitality, travel and tourism.  A total loss of those revenues could affect a fifth of the population of Namibia.  Banks working with government and private sector could be the lynchpin for tourism’s survival.  With all due respect to Standard Bank which has seen the light to a certain extent, will the financial institutions step up or just hand out branded t-shirts and caps while tens of thousands are reduced to penury?


Sample two

Marulas and memes published in Observer Connect Magazine, December 2019, Bid Document for Air Namibia Flamingo Magazine, January 2020

Jackie Wilson Asheeke

 

So, you want to look beautiful, youthful and have that facial glow? You want to get rid of that aching back and tight neck muscles from a long flight or hard day at work?  In Namibia, we have the secret. We know all about it.  Do you want to learn what we have known for centuries?

Marula oil is the key.

There is a colloquial saying that, “black don’t crack” when some people marvel at the seeming agelessness of older black women and their lack of as many wrinkles and crevices/age spots on their skin.   Namibians have been using the products from the Marula tree for as long as living memory and stories from the past record.   There are 90+ year old women in villages that could be 40, 50 or 70 due to the oils they have been using traditionally for their entire lives.

The Body Shop, a worldwide cosmetics store well-known for its fair trade product development work with local communities to bring natural, organic products to the market.  They package these locally-sourced products in a sexy way to please the modern world-wide shopper.

Namibian marula oil has been used in several Body Shop products since the year 2000.  Through this product supply chain, Namibian woman benefit, customers around the world benefit, and local jobs are created. There’s nothing better than that!

The Body Shop’s website tells the world that Namibian marula oil is a key ingredients in Colour Crush™ Lipsticks. It is sourced from Eudafano women’s co-operative since 2000.  The skin-smoothing marula oil is obtained from Ondangwa in Namibia.  March/April is marula harvest time.  The community trade supplier, Eudafano Women’s Co-operative gets busy collecting ripe, juicy fruits that have fallen from wild marula trees.  The process to extract the nutty kernels from which the oil is cold-pressed is on!

The Eudafano Women’s Co-operative (EWC) has 22 associations in Namibia's Oshana, Omusati, and Oshikoto regions.  A 2010 report noted that there are between 2,000-2,500 active members providing oil for Body Shop products.  The EWC sells its marula kernels to EWMM, synonym for the factory owned by the cooperative. This production arm of the EWC processes the kernels into crude marula oil that is then sold to cosmetic ingredient export markets.

In 2010, the EWC and EWMM began producing a higher grade of marula oil (with better equipment and training from development partners) and launched that product for the national market. Their next production step is to make their own final products alongside their production of the marula oil raw material.

EWC marula kernels are exclusively harvested and processed by women.  Traditionally, women have ownership over this resource. Marula oil is an indigenous natural product (INP). The trees bearing the fruits occur mostly on peoples’ farms in the northern regions of Namibia. Nevertheless, local people have a tradition of sharing this bounty with their neighbours.  Even someone without a fruitful marula tree on their plot can benefit from this traditional product.

Neighbours invite each other to process marula wine under the trees and all are allowed to take the nuts of the processed fruits home. This tradition has not died with the increased commercial opportunities around marula. Commercialization is managed carefully, ensuring that the primary steps of harvesting the fruit remain in place.  Men usually show up and insert themselves into any endeavour when there is real money to be made.  The tradition of processing marula, so far, has remained controlled by Namibian women in the North. Bravo for them!

As with many traditional activities, in modern times, younger women choose not to take part. This means that the majority of those involved in marula oil processing are older women.  The tradition and skills to decorticate marula kernels may suffer if younger women are not encouraged to sit at the base of a tree and learn how it is done.

“They separate the fruit from the stone, and dry it in the sun before the stones are cracked open, the kernel is removed and taken to be cold-pressed. Our trade has helped these women to gain financial independence.  This trade is empowering the community to sustainably harvest marula fruit and protect the trees for the future.” #TheBodyShop #CommunityTrade #Marulaoil.

The highly-valued Marula tree, Scelerocarya birrea, is ancient. Its history extends over 10,000 years.  Archaeological evidence shows that the marula fruit was an important food in Southern Africa in ancient times.

The marula fruit, which ripens from January to March/April, is the size of a small plum and has four times more Vitamin C than an orange.  The entire marula tree, bark, leaves and roots have many wonderful medicinal and nutritious uses, check out: www.healthline.com.

We want to focus your attention on the oil that Namibian women who live in the North, extract from the nuts.

Nela from Omatunda village in northern Namibia says, "The ripe fruit has a light-dark yellow skin and the flesh on the inside is white and succulent, with a distinctive sweet-sour flavour.

"The ‘stone’ or inner seed inside the ripened fruit is the size of a walnut and brown in colour on the outer layer.  If you crack open the thick and woody top lid, you will usually find two or three oblong kernels.  These are white in colour and covered in light-dark brown skin.

"Traditionally, women use cow horns to squeeze Marula juice out of the ripe fruit, which comes in two different forms: Oshinwa is freshly squeezed and consumed the next day, especially by children as it contains a sweet taste. Omaongo is Marula juice that has been fermented for two-four days.  It is enjoyed by elders as it is higher in naturally occurring alcoholic content.

“Stones left from the juicing period are piled up or evenly rested on a large sack in the homestead yard to dry in the sun.  The women rotate between the homesteads in their little community, to help each other to process the dried stones.  They sit under the shade of a hut or tree, cracking Marula stones and removing kernels, as they share and enjoy the latest hot gossip in the village.

“Finally, the kernels are manually pounded, and cold-pressed for oil.  The oil is clear, pale golden-brown and has a nutty aroma”, says Nela.”

Marula oil can be used for various purposes and contains nutrients and antioxidants, such as essential amino acids, Vitamin C, Vitamin E, flavonoids that assist in renewing cells and phenolic compounds.

Namibians use it because it has always worked to keep skin smooth.  In modern science-speak, it is explained that when applied to the skin regularly, the oil helps to build healthy collagen and protects against premature ageing. The essential fatty acids Omega-9 (oleic acid) and Omega-6 (linoleic acid) moisturise the skin, improve skin elasticity, increase smoothness and reduce trans-epidermal water loss.

If your shoulders and neck are tense as you cannot seem to sit properly at your desk while you tackle some work, Marula oil is a great massaging oil.  Ask someone to give you a marula oil massage.

Lydia of Omafo Village in Namibia offered an insightful tale about marula oil in Oshikwambi, a language of a subgroup of the Oshiwambo speaking people in the North of Namibia.   Her story speaks of the traditional links between marula products and culture. 

In the translation of her response, she says, “I feel good and proud of my tradition of making marula oil.  It’s our pride and it gives us confidence and security. It is something our mothers taught us at a young age. We also have to pass it through to our daughters and granddaughters.”

She spoke about the process of collecting the nuts from which they make the oil. “We usually start in December depending on the tree. We have the first ones that become ripe in December and last ones in April. You must make sure it's clean under the tree and they will start falling from the tree on their own.  It will take two weeks to get enough fruit. When you collect enough fruit, you will gather all the girls in the house. You can also invite your friends and neighbours to help to remove the nuts from the pulp also to have omagongo, a traditional alcohol that is mostly liked by men. It will take 1 to 3 days for the beverage to be ready to drink.” 

“We use cow horns to remove the nuts from the pulp.  After removing it from the pulp you will put the nuts in the sun for them to get dry. It's only after the harvesting somewhere in May or June that you are allowed to open the nuts for marula kernels found inside the nuts. We use those fresh white kernels to make cooking oils or we rub on our skin. Sometimes we sell the oil or the kernels,” says Lydia.”

 

Written with supporting information from www.nbri.org.na, mcanamibia.org, www.gondwana-collection.com/blog, thebodyshop.com/en-us/ingredient/marula, and www.sabisabi.com


Wednesday 7 October 2020

Episode 56: Why Human Wildlife Conflict?, Desert Lion Conservation Trust





Check out this entire series on YouTube.  It is AMAZING!  Since travel to see these animals

is a challenge right now during the pandemic, follow all of these videos and see

amazing footage and learn lots of good stuff!



Jackie


Wednesday 6 May 2020

Tourism on hold due to COVID-19

Dear Readers,

There is no doubt that the Covid-19 outbreak means that tourism is in a holding pattern...for now. That holding pattern will likely mean precipitous unemployment or reduced employment for about 80-90,000 people by the end of June 2020.  There could be 400-500 hospitality, travel and tourism enterprises in various parts of the value chain - direct or indirect participants in the sector - that go bankrupt, merge or are mothballed.  By the end of August or September, that number may top 700.  By December, that number can level off at 1000 enterprises, formal and informal, direct and indirect, that provide services to tourists on some level, that will no longer exist in Namibia.  I am being conservative with my thumb-suck estimates.  I use no science, just observation and my informed opinion.

This is no one's fault.  This is the downside of a totally unforeseen global pandemic.  Just as no one is at fault for an earthquake, tsunami or volcano eruption, no one is to blame for COVID-19.

Regardless of what steps are taken in Namibia (the country was already drowning in a deep economic recession) global world travel from Europe and North America will not restart in 2020.  We will be lucky if bookings begin trickling in for peak season (approx June - October for overseas travellers) 2021.  People, right now, are in too much shock and financial worry to accept this reality. They are screaming for immediate relief that actually, won't much matter until the world opens up again.

"And, this too shall pass." is the mantra I hold on to.  We can only do what we can.  Then, we must have a good cry, wipe our eyes and begin Plan B, C, D all the way to Z.  It may mean we leave a business or job we spent our hearts and savings to build and start something else in another sector completely.

It is time for damage control and cold decision-making.  The Namibian government has allocated (but not yet disbursed) N$400 million to assist tourism enterprises that are facing closure due to the pandemic.  That low amount cannot save the sector as a whole.  How these pennies are allocated is the problem that is likely delaying implementation.

Those Namibian tourism, travel and hospitality sector enterprises that are paid up-to-date on their Tourism Board bed levies, Paye and Social Security fees,  Income Taxes,  Affirmative Action reports, and are fully owned by Namibian citizens, should be in the pool for receiving the limited bailout funds available.

A certain percentage of the money must be held aside for wholly Namibian black or majority Namibian women-owned small businesses.  Communal conservatives with viable businesses must be in the pool for consideration for the funds.

After borders are re-opened, I implore that anyone still with the disposable income to travel, consider a week-long trip to Namibia.  The country is absolutely BEAUTIFUL...the wildlife viewing is outstanding.  The people, while not always smiling and may be slow on the customer service side, are, for the most part, good people just trying to feed their families. After the borders re-open will be a GREAT time to get value-for-money airline tickets and discounted booking prices.  Plan ahead and come to this wonderful African country.  Help revive our industry!


Friday 28 February 2020

Stop the abuse of cheetahs!


Cheetahs are beautiful and magnificent.  But, this is what is getting them killed by people who are murderously ignorant and selfish.  Check out https://edition.cnn.com/2019/08/28/africa/somaliland-cheetahs-gulf-intl/index.html - people are again treating animals as props and toys and not living, breathing animals that are deserving of admiration from a distance and respect for nature at its best.



People are killing cheetahs out of vanity and of course, the animal smugglers are more than happy to provide the cubs for a price.   

Google Namibia's Cheetah Conservation Fund (CCF).  I serve on their board of directors in Namibia and I urge anyone reading this to find a way to support their work, financially or by educating yourselves and your circle of family and friends or by advocating for tighters laws against people having cheetahs as 'pets'. 

For those planning a visit to Namibia, make sure you go to the CCF headquarters outside of Otjiwarongo (about 2.5 hr drive from Windhoek).  They have high-level tourist accommodation at their vast education and training facility.  Cheetah research, medical care, rehoming projects, and other wildlife programs are underway.  Visit there to support the work of CCF.  They have a great dairy and products from herds of special sheep and goats.  They sell bush blocks made from compressed brush and invasive flora cleared from the land sustainably.  This is to be used instead of chopping down trees for cooking or campfires at night.  This is a part of their income-generating effort that helps finance their very important work. 

CCF trains the world-famous Anatolian sheepdogs and gives them to farmers to try to stop the landowners from shooting cheetahs that may threaten their herds.  The sheepdogs are a deterrent to the cheetah predation.  This is a must-see stop on a tour of Namibia.  Check out CCF online and make a plan!

Let's strangle the market for these glorious animals (and others that are illegally smuggled) and then the poachers and animal stealers won't make any money, so they will stop.

Monday 2 December 2019


Quick nice panorama video of Namibia - enjoy!


https://www.facebook.com/NamibianPhotography/videos/1784693591784730/

Thursday 22 August 2019

Humpback beaches itself on Namibian coast

It is so sad to see great animals of the sea in distress and mortal danger.  On Wednesday, a magnificent humpback whale beached itself on Namibia's coast near its main port of Walvis Bay.   After officials and concerned people rushed to its aid, it was found that the whale has a severely damaged fin which is preventing it from swimming in a straight line.

It was unbeached several times, but could not go out to sea and only ended up swimming in circles and re-beaching itself.

Sadly, it was reported today that the animal will be humanely euthanized as its wound makes its survival impossible.  It would otherwise face a long term, agonizing, frightening death over days as it remains stuck in the shallow beach waters slowly starving to death or allowing an infection from the wound to fester.

Sad indeed.  But, many whales swim off the Namibian coast where the food supply is plentiful.  Occasionally, these mighty leviathans run into trouble and the humane response after all else fails must be the answer.

Visit Namibia and enjoy the wonderful coastal wildlife...nature rules, for better or worse.