DRFN

E-CAP: SITE VISIT TO THE KALKRAND VILLAGE COUNCIL (PROJECT BENEFICIARIES)

rkfn — Mon, 15 Apr 2013 08:35:49 +0000

The E-CAP project came to an end on the 31st of March 2013 after 12 months of implementation. The Donor (Finnish Embassy) and some of the DRFN project staff visited the Kalkrand Village Council on the 3rd of April 2013 to discuss the impacts of the project with representatives of the community and council.

Marika Matengu (Finish Embassy) in discussion with community members on what still need to be addressed.

The technical team showing Marika Matengu one of the problematic collection chambers in Kalkrand.

Though the community and village council representatives were happy that the sanitation problem with the vacuum sewer systems has improved since the implementation of the E-CAP project, it was felt that education and awareness raising on the use of the system needs to be strengthened. Re-use of waste water for gardening, equitable water tariffs, and replacement of old reticulation systems were other issues the community and village council staff raised for consideration in the future.

Practical training provided on vacuum sewerage systems to Village Council and Municipality employees in the South. Also, a follow up on the socioeconomic survey and awareness raising in the Stampriet informal settlement.

rkfn — Thu, 21 Feb 2013 10:44:06 +0000

The E-CAP project team travelled to Kalkrand and Stampriet together with 12 employees from Gibeon, Kalkrand, the Stampriet Village Councils and Gobabis Municipality.

The trip took place from the 11th-15th of February 2013 and the aim was to train the employees on how to maintain their sanitation sewerage systems. Vacuum sewerage systems are being used which are very technical and expensive to maintain. Most of them face challenges regarding the maintenance of the systems, the biggest one being the lack of knowledge, skills and experience amongst the Municipality employees, as well as the community members.

Trainees being trained of the vacuum sewerage system in Stampriet

A follow up on the socio-economic survey was also done in the Stampriet informal settlement. The reason for this follow up was to determine the number of new land/house owners in the informal settlement.

Awareness raising on the maintenance of vacuum sewerage systems in Stampriet.

Training for basin management committee and forum members of Tsumeb sub-basin

rkfn — Thu, 22 Nov 2012 09:55:00 +0000

Training for the Tsumeb Sub Basin Management Committee and Forum Members was held in Tsumeb from the 6th – 7th of November 2012. The training was facilitated by the Desert Research Foundation of Namibia and the aim of the training was to enhance knowledge, skills and the attitude of the Basin Management Committee.

Participants having group discussion on integrated water resources management

Various topics were deliberated on during the two day training session, ranging from the legal framework, demarcation of Namibia into basins, stakeholder participation, and effective representation. The training was held in a participatory manner, allowing participants to raise issues and participate in discussions and exercises.

Tsumeb sub-basin management committee and forum members during the training

E-CAP: Introduction of proposed dry sanitation systems for piloting in the Nuwe Fontein and /Aub!gaos communities in the Karas Region

rkfn — Fri, 16 Nov 2012 10:11:07 +0000

The E-CAP team facilitated two workshops in Nuwe Fontein and /Aub!gaos. The aim of the workshops was to introduce the proposed dry sanitation systems to the communities and raise awareness on health and hygiene.

Nuwe Fontein community members attending the workshop

The dry sanitation systems proposed for piloting were the Amalooloo and Envirosan. The awareness raising activities were done together with staff from the Directorate of Water Supply and Sanitation Cordination DWSSC and Ministry of Health and Social Services (MoHSS) in the region. The dry sanitation systems were displayed for the community members, and they also assisted with the assembly of the systems for demonstration purposes. The community members were taught how to operate and maintain the systems as well.

Enviroloo hand washing facility during the demonstrations (top) and community members assembling the Amalooloo toilet in /Aub!gaos

The importance of health and hygiene was emphasised at the workshop as an important factor in reducing diseases such as diarrhoea (pic). At the end of the workshops the community members were given an opportunity to express their opinions on the dry sanitation systems and were able to select which of the two systems they preferred.

The assembled Amalooloo toilet in /Aub!gaos (top), and the Regional Environmental Health Officer from the MoHSS of Keetmanshoop demonstrating hand washing methods

Focus group discussions introducing monitoring & evaluation in Grundorn South

A monitoring and evaluation framework for dry sanitation systems (Otji-toilets) was developed for Grundorn South and Nico Noord (Hardap Region) for monitoring the durability of infrastructure and other factors such as the presence of insects and odours. Demonstrations on how to use the systems were given to the communities.

The weekend that was!!!! Gobabeb Open day 50th Anniversary

rkfn — Thu, 11 Oct 2012 12:05:49 +0000

The Gobabeb Research and Training Centre held its annual Open Day on 22nd September 2012 to help celebrate its 50th anniversary. Six DRFN staff members supported preparations and participated in the event by arranging posters of past Summer Desertification Projects, past Summer Land Care Projects and a summary of the past participants and what they are doing now. DRFN staff also sent out the invitations on their much faster website, served as the focal point for attendance confirmations and organised participation of students who had worked with Gobabeb in various projects. DRFN also supplied some members of the volleyball team that won the floating cup initiated at this year’s Open Day.

Volley ball teams in action during Open Day

In addition to the volleyball tournament, highlights included a display devoted to the nomination of the Namib Sand Sea as a UNESCO World Heritage Site which Gobabeb had prepared; a display of the Namib Ecological Research and Monitoring Unit in support of the Strategic Environmental Monitoring Plan for the Erongo Uranium Rush; an entire wall at Amabilis Hall illustrating the many activities of Gobabeb during their 50th anniversary year; one room displaying the desert animals occupying the three habitats – dunes river and plains – and particularly the three different adder species found in these three habitats

Some of the displays in the Amabilis Hall

Other locations of note included the atmospheric sciences room highlighting recent developments at Gobabeb by the Max Planck Institute, Jena, the Karlsruhe Institute of Technology and the University of Basel. Four students currently pursuing MSc degrees displayed their research activities and NamPost launched three new stamps and a first day cover. DRFN’s energy trailer complemented the Solar Coffee Shop, one of the key attractions at Gobabeb.

Abraham Hangula from the DRFN giving demonstrations on renewable energy

The DRFN congratulates the Gobabeb Centre for fifty years of research and training and looks forward to participating in Open Days far into the future.

ECAP Project: Site visit to Grudorn South and Nico-Noord, including a meeting with the Karas & Hardap Regional Directorate of Water Supply and Sanitation Cordination (DWSSC).

rkfn — Fri, 05 Oct 2012 10:18:43 +0000

The E-CAP team travelled to the pilot sites in Grundorn South and Nico Noord in the Hardap region to collect temperature loggers which were installed in August 2012. Four toilets were installed with temperature loggers, one in the collection chamber just above the drying bucket, and the other inside the toilet. The recording was timed at 6 minute intervals and recordings were taken from the 22nd of August until the 25th of September 2012. This is a follow up investigation to see whether the temperature in these toilets reaches the optimum temperature (50°) required to speed up the dying process of any pathogens, which allows for the composting of the waste for gardening purposes.

Location of the temperature loggers in the chamber and inside an Otji-toilet

Temperature readings obtained from an Otji-toilet chamber

During the same trip a meeting was held with representatives from the DWSSC from both the Karas and Hardap Region, as well as a representative from the Ministry of Health and Social Services (MoHSS) from the Karas Region. The purpose of the meeting was to finalise the Terms of Reference for the Joint Venture initiative, as drawn up by the Karas Regional DWSSC staff, and to discuss and agree on the way forward with respect to the piloting of dry sanitation systems in the Nuwe Fontein and /Aub!gaos areas in the Karas Region.

Hand drawn maps of Nuwe Fontein and Aubgaos indicating households, water points, kraal and grave yards locations.

Members of the Joint Venture in a meeting at Tses

Fourth LISUP Newsletter

rkfn — Tue, 11 Sep 2012 13:32:55 +0000

The fourth Edition of the newsletter for the Livelihood Support Program to the Resettlement Farms of Skoonheid, Drimiopsis, Donkerbos and Sonneblom can now be downloaded from this site. The LISUP Newsletter intends to share progress made and inform you of the projects planned activities. The LISUP programmes in the Omaheke Region are implemented by the DRFN and FCEAR – HABITAFRICA.

Please click here to read the newsletter

New publication available for download

patrikk — Fri, 24 Aug 2012 13:38:25 +0000

The latest version of the CuveWaters IWRM Toolkit has been added to the report page. To download the document, just click this link. CuveWaters IWRM Toolkit: Collection of Sources for Information and Tools on IWRM – An instrument for supporting planning and decision making processes (2012).

Soccer tournament

rkfn — Mon, 13 Aug 2012 11:38:03 +0000

As part of the DRFN’s commitment to team building staff from the various themes in the DRFN partook in the Namibian Broadcasting Corporation’s (NBC’s) “Battle of all tournaments” which was held at the Khomasdal stadium in Windhoek on Saturday, 4th August 2012.

DRFN team players and coach

DRFN participated in the 7-a-side soccer tournament, although the team did not make it out of the group stage, it put up a spirited performance by winning one match and drawing another out of the four group matches. The support from other staff members was brilliant as a host of them came to support and cheer the team on.

DRFN team in action against Katutura Hospital

NID Connecting the Dots launch jingle for DRFN

patrikk — Tue, 26 Jun 2012 11:11:49 +0000

Connecting the Dots, a project conducted by the Namibia Institute for Democracy (NID) with funding from the Finnish Embassy in Windhoek, aims to enhance public knowledge about the work of Civil Society Organisations, CSO’s in Namibia. Connecting the Dots uses short films on television, community dialogue, radio interviews, articles in local newspapers and music video to inform Namibians about the work of CSOs.

DRFN is one of the CSOs that was given the opportunity to present some aspects of the work we are doing. A film team joined the E-CAP team while in the field piloting a solid waste management facility and discussing aspects of sanitation, hygiene and health together with representatives from the local community in Grundorn South in the Hardap region.

The team from Connecting the Dots also produced a jingle about the DRFN:

Below you can watch a short clip of the film that was made about the E-CAP project’s activities working with rural communities in Hardap region. The full feature will be screened on Namibian TV shortly.