(Thanks to the New Year’s resolution the first post of the year – and many more to come)
On the 4th of February I am going to leave Switzerland for quite a while. My new home for the next three years will be Namibia and a town called Outapi, the capital of the Omusati region which is far in the north of the country and borders on Angola.
Early retirement? Not yet. Although Namibia is (African standard taken) exceptionally well developed and known for its breathtaking nature the country has huge problems too (HIV rate: ~15%, most unequal income distribution in the world). Several western development cooperation NGO/NPOs are in place. The one that I am going to work for is called INTERTEAM a organization largely funded by the DEZA (Swiss Agency for Development and Cooperation / Federal Department of Foreign Affairs). The project I am assigned as an IT consultant is with the Omusati Education Directorate a branch of the Ministry of Education.
On this blog and in my printed (yes, believe it or not, on real paper! okay, okay, they will also come as a PDF) newsletters I’ll try to provide an insight into my work and life in the south. Most people who get lost on this site will be friends or people linked to Interteam in some way therefore you might come across some German text.
note: fell free to drop a reply (especially if you think that the postings are nuts). The purpose is to provide information which might be interesting for YOU – I’m not writing a diary for myself.
Drop me a line. I can put you in touch with German-speaking guys who have done similar assignmensts in Namibia. Rui