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HIV – SEE THE PERSON, NOT THE WORD

admin — Sun, 29 Jan 2012 15:15:33 +0000

In 1984, Andre Vanzijl was diagnosed with HIV, he is the longest living aids survivor and travels spreading word that “HIV is NOT a death sentence.”

Andre is sixty two years old and currently travelling around Southern Africa on a bicycle and doing individual talks to community members and High School children. He’s also an ambassador for Knysna in South Africa. He visited Luderitz on the 10th of January and gave a presentation at the Mayoral Hall on the morning of the 11th. Opening his presentation by asking the board whether anyone could physically see anyone with HIV in the room, receiving the answer no. He spoke seriously about avoiding HIV, life is about choices. Being sexually active is part of life but just that one time while not using protection leaves you with a 78% chance of being infected, he asks “is sex worth your life?”

He doesn’t just talk about HIV but he promotes the benefits of maintaining a healthy lifestyle as well. Small steps such as being a little more cautious on what you eat and drink everyday and making that extra effort with exercise can help you steer clear of any sicknesses. But the most important thing is that you have to live your life without overdoing it. Achieving a work/play balance as we have so much to be grateful for! Don’t take risks which can cost your life.

By being willing to open up and talk more about HIV and Aids, the more it will be accepted and become easier to deal with. Knowing your status is important, it means you can do something about it, there is medication. Learn to see and help the person and not just hide away when hearing the word.

Andre van Zijl has been infected with HIV for 28 years but has only been on medication for 7 years.

This man has travelled a staggering 146 countries and since a young age been a bit of an adrenaline junky. As of now he has broken 39 world records. Including 354 hours of disco dancing and he didn’t take the cable car up Table Mountain he went up on rollerskates instead! So far he has raised 16 ½ million rand which goes towards children with disabilities and specifically those suffering with HIV.

SPEED CHALLENGE ACHIEVES HIGH RECORDS

admin — Mon, 28 Nov 2011 14:35:35 +0000

THE SPEED CHALLENGE commenced this year on the 20th of October and came to an end on the 17th of November. After almost a month of hard going, sand, sea and surfing and of course a LOT of wind (no surprises there), the Speed Challenge of 2011 was the talk of the town.

This year was a really big success. People were arriving from all over the world and a LOT of country records were broken. As this year was a test year, because of the new trench, there were only 11 test-competitors. Out of the 11 competitors, five of them set a new record.

African record: Taro Niehaus: 51.6 knots
Namibian record: Stefan Metzger: 51.36 knots
Sweden record: Anders Bringdal: 47.44 knots
German record: Wolfram Reiners: 46.2 knots
Angola record: Humberto Torrinha: 41.2 knots
Anders Bringdal obtained the World record on Gps in windsurfing made in 10 seconds with 48.02 knots. He is the first windsurfer in the world who is getting 50.7 maximal speed.

The channel was dug just a few days before the start of the event. There were many busy helping to make sure that the channel would be completed on time. Unfortunately the kiters could not train on the channel before the Challenge started, so after a week of strong winds, they had to make a couple of changes on the channel.

They changed the angle from the start and made the sand slope up-and down-wind on the side of the channel to kill the chop. The channel can also be used for Windsurfers, so windsurfing and kite surfing fanatics have found a first class place to break records.

The changes were made and the records came in! Step by step the dream of the Speed Challenge Team has been realised over the past five years. Through all the changes and the ideal location, this place will become the perfect platform for international and outright records.

There are always changes to make and Sebastian and Sophie already have some ideas for next year so they can welcome as many sailors from all over the world as they can and make the Speed Challenge a bigger and better event for next year.

NAMDEB FOUNDATION SPONSORING GOES A LONG WAY

admin — Fri, 28 Oct 2011 16:12:08 +0000

Namdeb, since 2010 through the Namdeb Foundation has been sponsoring different projects. Namdeb Foundation have sponsored a number of important projects over the last year. The first big sponsoring project was the renovation of Luderitz State Hospital. Namdeb paid for renovating sections of the hospital as well as donating materials. This has improved the hospital benefiting both staff and patients.

Secondly Namdeb’s Project, Meekulu Mats. This was a project supplying five pre-primary schools in Luderitz with play mats and educational puzzles and posters for the children. With these materials, the children are encouraged to work harder. This is important as the first stages of education begin in a pre-primary. These basic resources are essential for the first educational steps in young minds, helping towards their success in later years.

The third project was the largest. It included the renovating and handing over of the Ontanda building in Kolmanskop to the Ministry of Environment and Tourism. Ontanda is a new veld school for children from Luderitz. It has been completely revamped and renovated, the painted artwork inside the buildings is fantastic and the place looks amazing. The children can sleep at the school and then during the daytime will go out and do veld work.

These projects were handed over on 20th October in the ‘Casion’ of Kolmanskop. It was a big event with a lot of important people, representatives of the hospital, schools and Ministry of Environment and Tourism all took their time to attend. After the ceremony, everyone went on a bus to Otanda school to take a look at the renovations and the end result of the hard work and effort that had gone into the school. It was really impressive. It will be a great place for education to take place.

Namdeb Foundation is intending to continue contributing to other projects.

Kein Flug, Kein Zug Aber Wind Genug!

admin — Wed, 28 Sep 2011 12:38:30 +0000

Finally, after two years of waiting and anticipating LÜ-KA arrived! People had spent months organising the ins and outs of the traditional Karnival weekend. The Garde girls had worked long, hard hours on their fantastic finalised performances. Not forgetting some great comedy acts, speeches, rhythms and rhymes.
Friday was upon us and everyone was excitedly chattering amongst themselves. There was an announcement of the Garde girls who were followed in by the famous Elferrat as they proudly marched through their supporters who clapped and cheered their arrival. The previous Prince and Princess elegantly walked through the crowds giving the Royal wave. The question on everyone’s mind was of course who was to be crowned the NEW Prince and Princes. As the night progressed, Zorro appeared in search of his new Princess. Inspecting the women seated at the tables, he turned to find a figure dressed in white. All eyes were fixed on the gown draping the soon to be Princess. After a few moments the question was answered! Dashing Heinz von Schweintz and beautiful Marytza Morgan were crowned as the new key bearers! The eleven rules were read loud and clear, instructing on a fun filled weekend. “Party hard or go home.” A night jammed full of dancing, drinking and a LOT of laughs.
Raining Sweets! The Parade on Saturday morning with trucks exploding with funny quirks and colourful decorations. The Royals, elferrat, and primary kids all in fancy dress crammed onto the different floats. As the Garde girls led the parade around town, children of ALL ages were swarming the streets darting for goodies being thrown. We were guided to the Mayor who kindly passed on her key to the town to the newly crowned. We then carried on to the Turnhalle where the Lukika commenced. After a grand performance by the talented young dancers prizes were drawn for best fancy dress.
Saturday night came with, many more comedy acts and even more laughs than Friday. Some hilarious outfits definitely not to be forgotten. Another fabulous performance by the Garde Girls, women in oversized nightdresses with underwear falling at their knees… Great! Our singers and guitar players gave us constant entertainment. Sunday continued with more celebrating at the Yacht Club.
A huge appreciation to all who put the effort into making the Lü-ka what it was. We two new Buchter Editors were extremely lucky to experience the Karneval and ‘LÜ-KA, LÜ-KA, LÜ-KA!’ Will always be remembered.

STOP DRUGS AND ALCOHOL ABUSE NOW

admin — Thu, 28 Jul 2011 20:40:37 +0000

Since Namibian Independence, concern for drug and alcohol abuse has risen. It has become a major problem in Luderitz and the whole country. A meeting was held at the Regional Councillors office on Tuesday 5th July to see what can be done.
This issue creates so many more problems for example a rise in crime, a loss of productivity and broken families. It is a major cause of teen pregnancy and HIV/AIDS due to unprotected sex. “Young people see alcohol as part of a normal life” said J A Scholtz opening the meetings. “It is a real struggle for a drug free society. So let’s take actions. If not now, when?”
So what can be done? was the question on everybody’s minds. And the attendees came up with lots of bright and intelligent ideas that can realistically be put in place to at least reduce the amount of problems that seem to be constantly on the rise. Increasing night patrol for underage drinking in shabeens was something felt very strongly about during the meeting. The issue that too many children are exposed to alcohol was also spoken about and the age restriction was questioned as to whether it’s being enforced. Suggestions to close shabeens and use undercover police officers to keep things under control were made clear. Undercover police have managed to already trace where some of the main drug dealers are. A regional Representative of Shabeens attended and was in support of how they help the people running them pay school fees. However, Cassuis, Headteacher of Diaz School said that the people who own shabeens are the one who don’t pay the school fees. He also stated that they are far too close to the schools. Opening at 8am and playing loud music, they are distracting learners from their education. “This talk show must stop” he said, enthusiastic to take actions.
“The way forward is to address the nation everywhere we can reach.” This was agreed by all and the idea of keeping a database of how many shabeens there are and collecting information on legal opening and closing times. Another suggestion made was of a Neighbourhood Watch to be put in place so the town can work “hand-in-hand” with the police. “Luderitz needs to be independant” said Mr Valombola when the subject of Luderitz receiving a social worker came up. “We need to stop relying on people from other places.” Luderitz qualifies for at least one social worker to help users of drugs and alcohol. “Most of our people are hooked.”
A final speech was made to tell everyone to use the technology that we have today to the best of our ability to catch who, what, where and when these issues are occurring. The cameras on our phones weren’t just created as a fashion accessory.
A march took place on Saturday 23rd July from Nautilus into town. It was a very peaceful march in the fact that their aim was to raise awareness and get more people involved. Hopefully it will have made an impact and been successful.
“No more meetings!” We, as a community, need to take action. Stop speaking and start doing. Get in touch with J A Scholtz at the Regional Councillors office now if you are interested in supporting the abolishment of these issues.

A RECORD BREAKING YEAR FOR THE SNOEK DERBY

admin — Mon, 11 Jul 2011 14:21:14 +0000

Thirteen year old Oliver Metzger kicked sand in the eyes of the “old men” on Saturday 28th May 2011 when he landed a snoek of 5,37kg and won the first prize of N$ 22,000-00 in cash. The popular Snoek Derby is an annual event hosted by the Lüderitz Yacht Club at the end of May of each year. This year’s event, unlike last year, took place in perfect weather conditions. During last year’s event vessels had to return to Lüderitz as a result of bad weather and the event was successfully continued and completed the next day. This year’s event was the 26th Snoek Derby hosted by the Lüderitz Yacht Club in support of local community projects and organizations making contributions to the Lüderitz community in general.

The event commenced on Friday with the compulsory skippers meeting and entries of participants from all over Namibia and even as far as Spain. By the close of entries some 19 vessels with 291 participants entered the competition with prizes totalling some N$ 145-000. The vessels left the port of Lüderitz at 04h00 on Saturday and all lines were up and catches weighed in by 16h00.
During the prize giving ceremony Acting Commodore of the club, Michael Mackenzie, thanked all participants for the good spirit in which the competition took place. Cdr Mackenzie paid special tribute to the sponsors for their continued support for the Club and Lüderitz community which is reflected in the increase of 20% in prizes for this year’s event. He also mentioned that the entries for the event increased from 240 to 291 participants which was an indication of the growing popularity of the event on local and national levels. Cdr Mackenzie gave sponsors the assurance that the derby remains a priority event for the club and expressed his hope that the sponsors of the event will continue with the partnership to make the event a success.

Some 450 kg’s snoek weighed in by participants were distributed to community projects for the elderly, feeding programs and community services’

The first prize of N$ 22-000 was won by Oliver Metzger with a snoek of 5,360 kg. Second Prize of $17-000 was won by Shane Solomons with a snoek of 5,1kg. Mr J.Visagie won the third prize of N$ 12-000 with a snoek of 5 kg. The junior prize of N$ 700-00 was again won by Dendré Bothma with a 3,66kg snoek. The skipper of Zeepaard, Heiko Metzger, won the skippers prize of N$ 5200 for landing the winning snoek.
A raffle of a special prize for a desert trip to Saddle Hill with sponsors Coastways Tours worth N$ 13-500 was won by Mn Jan Burger.

LET’S PUT THE CRAYFISH BACK INTO OUR FESTIVAL

admin — Mon, 11 Jul 2011 12:29:02 +0000

This year’s Crayfish Festival has caused much discussion amongst the people of Luderitz. After many roaring successes over the years, it was expected to follow the same path but the Festival that is usually enjoyed by many from all over the country certainly had something missing.
When it all kicked off on the Friday morning, Luderitz was booming with tourism. The vibe at the Waterfront was pumping and there were smiles all around. There were small performances from dancers, the smell of Braai’s was inescapable, food and drink stalls of every shape and size, children playing in the sea, people enjoying the view from the jetty and general enjoyment all around. It wasn’t to last for long however, because by the evening, things had already started winding down.
Although it was already busy by the Friday afternoon, a local told The Buchter News that the Saturday of Festival was even better, with “more people, more Crayfish and plenty more fun.” This didn’t however, turn out to be a view shared by many. A few tourists staying at KratzPlatz accommodation in town that come to Luderitz every year for this event decided to go back home 600km away because of how unimpressed they were by the first day.
The Luderitz Crayfish Festival has been gradually increasing in the number of people flocking to this town year by year but the lack of positive feedback this year has been a shock, especially to Fluksman Samuel from the Waterfront Development Company. His name was mentioned in The Namibian along with many complaints from different people such as: ‘Festival made me crave Lobster”, “Luderitz was a horrific sight” and even “a waste of my time and money.”
As a community, what are we going to do to improve next year’s Festival? There have been a lot of complaints about the lack of toilets near the Waterfront, the facilities were not considered adequate for the amount of people that would be in Luderitz over the weekend. There were a grand total of four public toilets – two for women and two for men – with huge queues coming from each one. Even though there aren’t normally any public toilets at all in Luderitz, the wants and needs of those attending this year was not well catered for.
The biggest disappointment of the Crayfish Festival this year was in fact the lack of Crayfish. There were Braai’s left, right and centre but by the Saturday the only things to be found were Mopane worms, Boerewors and Goat’s head. The Manager of Ritzi’s Restaurant said that he asked for five boxes of Crayfish and was only given a grand total of three. This meant that by Saturday his restaurant was dry of Crayfish and he couldn’t tell his unhappy customers where to go to find any due to the lack of organisation, communication and advertising between businesses this year.
Although there seems to have been a fair bit of critisism following this years Crayfish festival, it was still enjoyed by many. We look forward to next year and hope that the faults found this year of not enough crayfish, logistical and organistional issues and lack of advertising will be looked upon constructively to improve the event in future. Come on Buchters, lets put the Crayfish back into our Festival!•

TEMPORARY HALT FOR NAMDEB CONTRACTORS

admin — Fri, 06 May 2011 11:06:53 +0000

A decision has recently been made that independent contractors operating in the shallow marine area will be prohibited from their work for the unforeseeable future.

According to Namdeb, safety is their number one priority, believing in zero harm to People, Environment and Property. They have come to the conclusion that they must stop their workers from doing their jobs until they can improve ways in which to recover good working conditions. Namdeb’s managers are appointed under the Mines & Works Ordinance of 1968 for their mining license areas. These appointments require their managers to actively manage Health and Safety in their respective areas and to provide assurance on the controls that are in place in their areas of responsibility.

In order for the Beach & Marine Mining Contractors to get an exemption, they need consent from Namdeb to take total responsibility, which has been given and they are willing to do this. However, they also need approval, which was sought from the Chief Inspector or Mines to allow them to legally appoint and register their own Managers with the Director. Howard Head, the owner of the Alma Marine said, “We are completely stuck in the middle. We only work for 8 months of the year and we need these final 2 months to see us through the winter.” If this approval is obtained, the appointed manager will take full responsibility of the Health and Safety of the Contractor’s operations. This will hopefully prevent any mishaps from occurring in the future work of the Beach & Marine Mining Contractors.

Due to the independent nature of the shallow marine mining operations, Namdeb’s managers are not able to provide this level of assurance for these vessels, and in the past, these operators have always been deemed as separate operations, with their own legal appointments. However, it has now become evident that the Chief Inspector of Mines interpretation of the law is that Namdeb remains fully responsible for these operations. Based on this, on the 5th of April 2011, Namdeb took a decision not to allow any shallow marine mining vessel to operate in its mining licenses until this issue has been resolved.
Namdeb primarily supports the independent mining operators by providing a service for processing the gravel through the Contractor Treatment Facility (CTF), and also markets and sells the diamonds for them for a percentage of the revenue. The operators sort their own diamonds. This set up is essentially a mechanism for SME’s to enter the diamond mining industry without having to incur major capital investments. Namdeb’s involvement is also a form of social contribution for the Lüderitz community as the independent mining contractors contribute to job creation.

Namdeb is fully committed to the socio-economic development of Namibia,
and understands the business inconveniences this situation had caused to the
Beach & Marine Mining Contractors. We would like them to re-start operations
as soon as possible. This must however be within a legal framework that is
acceptable to all parties.

FUKUSHIMAS RADIATION HITS LUDERITZ

admin — Sat, 02 Apr 2011 09:53:20 +0000

Japan was struck with the one of the world’s worst ever disasters on the 11th March. An undersea earthquake with a magnitude of 8.9, one of the most powerful ever recorded, hit Japan’s north-eastern coast. A subsequent 10m tsunami wave hit the north-eastern Japanese coast, causing massive damage and flooding. A series of aftershocks followed, many exceeding a magnitude of 7.0. The disaster did not end there. The earthquake caused cooling systems to fail in The Fukushima No. 1 nuclear power plant and raised fears of a meltdown. Further nuclear explosions and fires have released dangerous levels of radiation and the area 30km around the plant has been evacuated. But could we be feeling aftershock effects in Luderitz? Will the Bucht also be rumbled by this seemingly so far away disaster?

Radiation can be carried in the wind or rain and can be taken in via consummation of contaminated food stuffs or inhalation of radioactive uranium particles. Luderitz is considered a high risk area due to high levels of easterly wind and the town’s dependence on food imports from Japan.

Contamination from Japan’s stricken nuclear complex has seeped into the food chain. Iodine levels in spinach and noodles have been proven to have exceeded safety limits by three to seven times. Despite the radiation detected in spinach and noodles, Japan continues to export these food stuffs to Southern Africa. Chief Cabinet Secretary Yukio Edano said if they show further contamination, then food shipments from the area would be halted. At present it is highly recommended that Luderitz avoids any type of Japanese or oriental style food.

Some other measures which can be taken to avoid radiation contamination:
1) Stay inside as much as possible and when venturing out wear a large hat to protect your head from radiation.
2) Keep neck skin covered with a high factor suncream where thyroid area is, radiation hits thyroid first and can cause cancer.
3) Scientists advise restricted use of cell phones due to the unnecessary increased levels of radiation. The use of speaker phone is recommended for urgent phone calls.
4) Take regular showers and blow your nose every 2 – 3 hours to remove Uranium radiation particles.
5) And of course avoid oriental style food altogether.

A face mask is not deemed absolutely necessary at this point but should the situation worsen then it would be prudent to cover the month at all times of the day to avoid contamination via inhalation – this measure should be in place at least until the half life of Uranium has been exceeded.

Buchters don’t panic you are not in immediate danger and following these basic precautions you can be almost completely protected from radiation contamination. •

Rains Flood Namibia But Where Is Luderitz’s Rain?

admin — Tue, 01 Mar 2011 17:31:52 +0000

Recent floods have had a massive impact on almost the whole of Namibia which began late January and have lasted for many weeks. But where is Luderitz’s rain?
A strong flood was experienced in the lower Kuiseb River on the 15th February and has resulted in a major pipe break on the NamWater supply system and left Walvis Bay with a severe water shortage. “It takes so long for the water to run through the taps that by the time you think you have water, the municipality switches it off again,” a resident complained. Luderitz however, has kept going strong with a normal amount of water throughout this period. The Caprivi has also been hit hard with more than 1,000 people being evacuated due to the Zambezi River being flooded, with almost record-breaking water levels for this time of the year. These floods have been compared to the ones that began in early March 2009 affecting Namibia, Angola and Zambia killing at least 131 people.
Namibia Dairies have donated water bottles worth N$10 000 to flood victims at Aussenkehr through the Office of the Prime Minister’s Emergency Management Unit. The donation is intended to ensure flood victims receive clean drinking water.
There have been a number of malicious SMS rumours including one about water being cut off for 5 days in some parts of Namibia that have had water shortages and one about a “deadly virus” in the water which was apparently confirmed by an unnamed doctor – creating widespread panic and distrust. With the fluctuation of water supply, the chlorine levels are at the maximum allowable concentration to ensure that any bacteria are destroyed. The water is therefore at its best quality and safe for human consumption even though some areas have noticed some discolouration.
Many people over the country have been urged to keep their taps closed, not to water their gardens or even to wash their cars to save as much water as possible. Some businesses and schools have reported water damage because taps were left open after hours.
The coastal area has been experiencing unusually warm weather lately and Luderitz has not yet seen anything comparable to the storms up North. However, there have been cases of people falling ill in these parts due to the weather giving perfect conditions for bacteria to grow and spread.
Luderitz has been exceptionally lucky not to have witnessed this natural disaster and have had warm days and soft breezes which have been enjoyed by many. Yet even Aus has experienced floods only 122km away. Those who are or have been in the middle of these terrible conditions must be thought of by all over the next few weeks.•