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