Results - YA Namibia

Highlights YA Otjiwarongo
1. As of March, Olivia (see picture below) joined the Young Africa Namibia family as centre manager for Otjiwarongo. She immediately organized a strategic session to make clear all staff understood and lived by Young Africa’s mission, vision and core values, and to create a team spirit and mutual sense of responsibility and ownership. 
2. Our volunteers Stephan and Judith Zuiderwijk (and assisted by their sons Rens and Guus) and Wilbert Ribot (see group picture below) uplifted an old glass house at the centre in Otjiwarongo into a beautiful green technologies demonstration building. Our solar technology students also contributed to it by installing solar PV off-grid and on-grid systems on the roof, as well as a solar water heater, under the supervision of our solar partner Solsquare. On 5 July, the Finnish Ambassador, Ms. Anna Salorante whose Embassy funded our work to promote green technologies for the past 2 years, inaugurated the uplifted building. This festive ceremony was combined with the graduation of 20 students and a seminar with the theme " Accelerated access to inclusive green economy in Namibia."
3. After our building trainer went on a 1-month natural building course in South Africa, we started training young people in green construction, combining conventional Bricklaying and Plastering with green building, using natural and waste materials for construction.
4. In December, all YA Namibia staff went for a three-day Improve Your Business training, focusing on turning the training departments into independent businesses operating as franchisees at the Young Africa centre, combining training with production and services.




Highlights Walvis Bay
1. We started the teacher training programme with two best graduates in Solar Technology: Valde (m) and Vivian (f)
2. Representing all Young Africa affiliates, we gave a presentation at and participated in the East, Central & Southern Africa Employer Organizations Conference: “Training for Development and Job Creation, especially for the Youth”, resulting in the Walvis Bay Declaration whereby the Employer Organizations commit to Skills Development for Youth Employment.
3. We received the grade 6 students (see picture below) of the International School of Walvis Bay (ISWB) for a hands-on introductory workshop in solar technology. After a demonstration of a solar PV system and wind energy and explanation of their potential in Namibia, the ISWB students, guided by the YA students, learned to:

- mount solar panels on the training roof
- wire an off-grid PV system to run lights and mobile phone chargers
- connect pipes of a solar water heating system