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.

Hope you have all had a positive start to the new year!

This is the 250th edition of the Buchter News, what an honour to have that edition. This means that the Buchter News has been up and running for the past 25 years! In the beginning as a small photocopied paper and every year new improvements from new Buchter Editors. It has had it’s up’s and down’s but it doesn’t alter the fact that the Buchter News is still going. We are proud to produce the Buchter News and to know you are a “Buchter Girl” for the rest of your life.

We want to thank everyone who is or was involved in the production of the Buchter News and we are hoping for many more years!

This edition is full of Aids relatated events, a little bit of what went on aroundChristmas and we spoke to the Mayor and Reverend Scholtz about what to expect in 2012.

Of course February is also the month of Valentine’s day and we couldn’t let it pass quietly…

Don’t forget to e-mail us on info@buchternews.com for any suggestions.
For now as always read and enjoy!

Simone and Alex

The Drama group My Zone Youth Health Club, presented “A Break the Chain” drama. They portrayed the consequences of having multiple partners and the awareness of the problems caused by unprotected sex and the importance of using contraceptives. The play was acted professionally and well received by the audience.

In the afternoon the younger children presented poetry and songs to do with HIV. There were a lot of children involved. Over 300 people attended the Youth Centre to be part of the event. Before this day, there was a day of rehearsal and the children could apply to be part of the poetry contest, sing a song or do a dance.

The children‘s enthusiasm and participation was great.
The Ministry of Health did 50 HIV tests thanks to an open testing that day, the message was clear and the day was a success. However over 40 people are being affected by AIDS every day in Namibia. Using a condom could really help lower this number and save lives.

Make a choice, make a difference.

The yacht is also eco friendly and with that, good for the environment. But besides all of this, it’s an opportunity for people to have their home on a vessel and travel around the world, with the opportunity to see the most amazing places.

The awards were given to two groups in Luderitz. There was a speech from the Mayor and two representatives from UNAIDS.

Girl Child Programme is one of the two groups who received an award. It includes two girl empowerment groups, one for 10-14 years old and the other 14-18 years old. The groups meet weekly on Wednesday and Thursday in the Youth Centre. They received a substantial N$48,923- which will help cover camping trips for the children and training. If you are interested in joining the group, you can contact Miss Jantjies, the Life Skills teacher at the High School or Leah Fitch the Peace Corps Volunteer who works at the Youth Centre.

The second group is Yambuka Project. It is a newly formed project for the youth in Area 7. It is going to start a 12 week class on family planning, gender and HIV prevention and sexual health for children who are out of school and aged between 15 and 20. They have another group set up for woman aged between 23 and 35. To find out more information please contact Peney Hailonga in Area 7.

Every six weeks we can expect the menu to change according to most popular sales, which is sure to tickle everyone’s taste buds. There are plans to create a kiddies club meal and a point system to get children more involved in the Bistro. Birthday parties and pictures for children is another new development worth watching out for.

The Bistro is also interested in working with teenagers from the High School. They want to encourage those interested in the catering business by organising a working program. It will involve the children coming up with their own menu and even taking hold of the pan and doing their own cooking!

Nothing better than being all loved up over a meal on Valentine’s Day?

On the 14th of February at the Bistro there will be a three course meal in the evening. Tickets are available in advance and the Bistro will be seating 15 couples. Women will be welcomed with a rose and men with a cocktail to ease those nerves! Not just in the evening, you can pop in during the day and be sure to feel special ladies. So let’s go and check it out!

The Bistro isn’t only a Bistro but gives also an opportunity to people to learn and get a change to grow further and develop themselves.

Many investors have shown interest in the town. Infrastructural development is due to take place this year at the port. The Council has mentioned that it wants to encourage local investors to work with the council on sustainable projects and has set up a Public Private Partnership. When the train line reaches Luderitz there are plans to create a train station at the harbour which would benefit this town tremendously. Enabling a mode of transportation for business opportunities.

Taking a day trip to Agate Beach is always a joy, but once after sun downr it’s too dark to stay longer and time to go home. However, soon that wont be a problem. There are definite plans to put up lighting at Agate Beach so everyone can enjoy a late night Braai or beach walk after sun down! Another step forward is an achievement that has been met already this year. The after hours electricity points of sale which are sold at four main points, Benguela, Town, Nautilus and Okata.
During the festive season more people were involved in the town to keep the crime rate down. They were sponsored by the Mayoral fund.

A direct message from our Mayor is first a thank you to the hard working Town Councillors who commit themselves to their jobs and contribute to the social and economic wellbeing of residents of the town. Secondly she would like the community to continuously join hands and share responsibilities that will undoubtedly benefit Luderitz in many ways. The expectations are made through the residents of town. As long as you (the community) co-operates and continue’s to pay water and electricity, improvements will be seen. There is a suggestion box at the Reception of the Council, welcoming ANY suggestions.

If you didn’t’t already know a website for Luderitz has recently been launched and is now up and running to browse through as you desire. Complete with a New year‘s message to the community;
www.luderitztowncouncil.com.na

This figure further increases to around 134 000 when taking into account all fourteen lifestyle and environmental risk factors.

Smoking is far and away the most important lifestyle factor causing 23% of cancers in men and 15.6% in women. Nearly one in five cases, about 60 000 is caused by smoking.

45% of all cancers in men could be prevented, compared with 40% of all cancers in women. It is clear that around 40% of all cancers are caused by things we mostly have the power to change.

Eating fruit and vegetables proves to be very important in protecting men against cancer. Being overweight has a greater effect than alcohol on women.

In most cases cancers have multiple causes. For example a cervical cancer can be linked to both HPV infection and smoking. One in 25 cancers is linked to occupation and one in 33 to infections.

It is estimated that tobacco smoking, dietary factors, drinking alcohol and bodyweight account for 106 845 or 34% of cases in 2010.

Cancer risk can be affected by family history and getting older, but we can take positive steps to help reduce our risk of the disease.

The percentage of cases linked to a combination of the 14 risk factors!
Men = 45.3% or 72 000. Women = 40.1% or 62 000. Men and women = 42.7% or 134 000.

ARE YOU TAKING CONTROL?

Stop smoking.
Manage your weight and be active.
Eat a variety of vegetables, fruit, wholegrain and pulses every day.
Make sure you drink 2-3 liters of water every day.
Limit your intake of animal protein and fat.
Avoid energy-dense, fatty and sugary foods or drinks.
Drink alcohol in moderation if at all.
Mothers – breastfeed exclusively for at least 6 months.
Cancer survivors – follow cancer prevention recommendations.

THIS MUST BE YOUR NEW YEAR’S RESOLUTION TO HELP SAVE MORE LIVES FOR 2012.

The annual Valentine’s Lunch at the Yacht Club will take place on Sunday, 12th of February.
Please buy your tickets as soon as possible.

Many thanks to Dr. van der Westhuizen in Oranjemund for his donation.

The Rotary club of Luderitz has sponsored a second wheelchair for which we are very thankful.

Office hours for non-cancer patients will be from 09h00 to 16hoo Monday to Friday.
0812753013 or 204252

All the performers were students of Retha Calitz and practised a whole year to produce a great Christmas concert. The youngest one was 5 years old and the oldest was 19 year old so there was a lot variety. The music was also very different, a lot of classical music and some other music to get completely into the Christmas feeling. Not only piano music this time, but also flute, accordion, xylophone and Christmas songs were sung. The students were all nicely dressed, boy’s in suites and the girls were wearing blue. The church was also looking very nice and everything gave a real Christmas feeling. But the most important part were the performances of the children. Everyone did his or her very best and you could see that they practiced a lot. It sounded great!

Well done for everyone.

Coastway Tours was very happy to assist with the bursary of Mary Ann.