Making A Better World - Milton Louw

A list of Namibian bloggers which I hope to expand with your help. Back to basics Change your life Creating Wealth Daves Boring Blog Dune Sieben (German) End forced Sterilisation Frantic Naturalist Girl Uncovered I present Roxanne Making a better Namibia Mikeymum Namibian DJ|s Namibia Facts Namibia Welcome One Stoned Crow The Joys Of My Splintered Life In SMALLTOWN Vakwetu Style Vieranas Safaris the new Der/die/das Namibia/er auf Deutsch Sinisterstuf Thanks

The Financial education counselling: counsellor's handbook is a resource for consumer advocates looking to provide free financial education.  The handbook provides practical advice in a way that non-experts can understand and convey. The Counsellor's Handbook is divided into a number of topic sections, including savings, budgeting, and debt management. It also contains take-home activities that can be given to consumers, as well as activity ideas for counselling sessions. http://www.consumersinternational.org/media/897062/ci%20financial%20education%20counselling%20handbook%20final.pdf

by Dr. Seuss Congratulations! Today is your day. You're off to Great Places! You're off and away! You have brains in your head. You have feet in your shoes. You can steer yourself any direction you choose. You're on your own. And you know what you know. And YOU are the guy who'll decide where to go. You'll look up and down streets. Look 'em over with care. About some you will say, "I don't choose to go there." With your head full of brains and your shoes full of feet, you're too smart to go down any not-so-good street. And you may not find any you'll want to go down. In that case, of course, you'll head straight out of town. It's opener there in the wide open air. Out there things can happen and frequently do to people as brainy and footsy as you. And then things start to happen, don't worry. Don't stew. Just go right along. You'll start happening too. OH! THE PLACES YOU'LL GO! ...

"The longer I live, the more I realize the impact of attitude on life. Attitude, to me, is more important than facts. It is more important than the past, than education, than money, than circumstances, than failures, than successes, than what other people think or say or do. It is more important than appearance, giftedness or skill. It will make or break a company... a church... a home. The remarkable thing is we have a choice every day regarding the attitude we will embrace for that day. We cannot change our past... we cannot change the fact that people will act in a certain way. We cannot change the inevitable. The only thing we can do is play on the one string we have, and that is our attitude... I am convinced that life is 10% what happens to me and 90% how I react to it. And so it is with you... we are in charge of our attitudes."

http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=ahv_1IS7SiE This morning I was inspired by a friend's post on the last Dr. Seuss book, Burning Man. Dr Seuss was one of those sets of books that I can still return to time and time again, and find new pearls of wisdom. The first time I read one of his books it was at the Von Welligh Library in Johannesburg. This was 1976, I had just lost my mother and my father seemed to have abandoned us children. My grandparents had taken us in and were trying their best to give us a better life. This included moving to Darragh House, the flats belonging to the Anglican Church, in Hillbrow, Johannesburg, South Africa. This was one of the few "grey areas" in Johannesburg where light skinned coloureds could hope to start a life as "whites". Thus at the age of six, I was stuck in a small flat, not able to make friends with the neighbours, and missin my parents. That's when I discovered "The Cat in the...

See:  Project Gutenberg Children's collection "African publishers lag in shift to electronic books Electronic readers are transforming the way people enjoy their books. However, there is very little African published content on the online stores. For a reader looking for a Kenyan book or literature published in Africa, one has to get the ink-and-paper version as few publishers have moved online." There are programs in place to provide one-laptop-per-child and the latest is getting e-readers to children. One of these is an organisation called Worldreader.org. What is the possibility of Namibia recognising this as a future trend and start planning for it. I recently completed together with an international team, a study for the University of Washington on "Libraries, Telecenters and Cybercafés: A Comparison of Different Types of Public Access Venues". It is sad that we neglecting our children's access - I just look at the example of our public librar...

Management coaching: There’s method in the madness | Africa Report It’s time to tackle the dreaded M word – management . With management coaching, this has never been easier. By Craig Falck for Africa Report Managers are not born… They are trained. And mentored. And coached. Management coaching is a new technique that’s gaining popularity around the world because it gives employees the skills they need when they enter higher management positions. After all, these programs are popular for a reason… Being a manager is more than just delegating and having a “manager” sign on your business card, desk or office door. It’s about being able to handle the company, to mould and develop your team and department, and lead the team to victory. And that’s where management coaches come in. Like any coach in a sport, they will instil certain principles and knowledge in their leader and coach them to be the best that they can be. There are so many things that managers need to know these days and so ma...

Andreas Guibeb The poor outcome of the matric results of the past year takes me back down memory lane when I had the good fortune to serve as assistant teacher (hulp onderwyser) for a Grade9 class at Ella Du Plessis for a brief period. I soon realized the huge gap in performances between the top and lowest performing students, especially those who commuted daily from Katatura to attend school in Khomasdal in the hope of a better future. I refused to accept that some kids were stupid whilst others were clever. My challenge was to proof that theory by narrowing that gap. But how...? Not prejudiced by the dogma of formal teacher training I experimented a lot and tested the tolerance limits of the school principal by abolishing the system of giving individual test marks and replacing it with a test mark for each student equal to the class average test mark for the subject. So every pupil in the class had either a good or horrible test mark for each subject. My point was that the succe...

Roux-che Locke   (Facebook status - 18 January 2012) This is gonna be quite a lengthy piece, so - you are under no obligation to view my status...Anyway,I went to register my Gr. 5 son at his school this week when "Mother-Nature" called... a little boy directs me to the nearest girls'-restroom, and it is here that I am greeted by those smaaaaaaaalllllll miniature toilet-pots - first thought: would my "African-booty" fit on this? But now Mother-Natu re is really calling, and I dont' have much of a choice! So, I sit down - as in reaaaaaalllly sit down, in fact, it felt more like I was doing a failed sit-up attempt - knees almost touching my chin: that's how low!! Anyway, I am immediately taken back to almost 30 yrs ago when I started my first school day: Sub A, M.H Greeff Prim: 2 netjies gekamde-bees-gelekte laaaaaaaaaannng vlegseltjies net soos ma dit kon doen, "dressed-2-kill" in my blou skool-rokkie wat so byna onder die knie stop en ...

http://www.republikein.com.na/politiek-en-nasionale/tyd-loop-uit-vir-inspraak-in-kommunikasiewet.56567.php 6.07.2007 Tyd loop uit vir inspraak in kommunikasiewet ROLSPELERS in die telekommunikasiebedryf en ander belangstellendes het nog net tot Dinsdag om insette te lewer oor voorgestelde wysigings aan die land se langverwagte nuwe kommunikasiewet. Die Namibiese Kommunikasiekommissie (NCC) sal slegs tot 10 Julie bykomende kommentaar ontvang oor 'n konsepwet wat die grondslag vir die volledige liberalisering van die telkommark sal lê. 'n Nasionale slypskool sal vanaf 25 tot 27 Julie plaasvind om finaal vorm aan 'n wet te gee wat deur 'n ewekansige geleentheid vir vrye en gesonde mededinging uiteindelik vir Jan Alleman onder meer die beste moontlike diens en pryse moet verseker. Die wet sal die NCC ook vervang met 'n veel gevaarliker waghond, die Namibiese Kommunikasieowerheid (NCA). Die Kabinet het in Maart vanjaar midde 'n hete geveg tussen Telecom,...

http://www.republikein.com.na/die-mark/nuwe-bedeling-vir-dot-com-dot-na.24968.php Nuwe bedeling vir 'dot com dot na' 1.10.2007 DEELNEMERS aan 'n onlangse beraad oor die administrasie van Namibië se domeinnaam op die web, "dot na", het hulself bankvas geskaar agter die noodsaak vir 'n stelsel wat hierdie nasionale bate op 'n veel doeltreffender wyse sal bestuur. Klagtes oor 'n "diktatoriale, diskriminerende en disfunksionele" status quo - waaroor koppe al vir jare baie hard stamp - het die Alliansie vir Inligtings- en Kommunikasietegnologie (ICTA) genoop om rolspelers bymekaar te roep om 'n padkaart vir ingrypende verandering op te stel. Volgens mnr. Milton Louw van ICTA sal die eenparige steun wat by hierdie slypskool vir vernuwing gemonster is, die weg baan vir 'n formele aansoek van regeringskant aan die internasionale Internetkorporasie vir Toegedeelde Name en Nommers (ICANN) dat die registrateurskap vir ".na...

http://www.republikein.com.na/die-mark/namibi-moet-digitaal-verspring.94007.php 25.09.2009 Namibië moet digitaal verspring NAMIBIË kort blykbaar ’n dringende ingryping in die inligting- en kommunikasietegnologie (IKT) sektor om die steeds groeiende gaping tussen globale tegnologiese vordering en nasionale ontwikkeling te oorbrug.  Volgens mnr. Milton Louw, skrywer van Smile my Beloved Land, sal sy IKT-aksiegroep bewusmaking in Namibië hoog op die nasionale agenda plaas. Mnr. Louw het onlangs die IKT aksiegroep gestig om Namibiërs aan te spoor om so gou moontlik deel van die digitale rewolusie te word.  Die aksiegroep wil die Regering as vennoot betrek om op elke vlak bewusmaking te beklemtoon en om die regeringsmandaat te verkry om die publiek oor IKT in te lig.  Die IKT-aksiegroep wil graag ’n sentrale register in Namibië begin, plaaslike webtuistes help skep en onderhou en mense aanmoedig om by webtuistes soos www.namlish.com , wat ’n digitale gemeenskap Nam...

Urbanomics: A Public Credit Registry for India? One of the fundamental challenges with any credit market is the asymmetry in information between borrowers and lenders. This generates markets failures arising from adverse selection (of borrowers) and moral hazard (among borrowers). Inadequate information about credit risks posed by borrowers was a significant contributor to the sub-prime mortgage crisis in the US. Blinded by the spectacular rise in property prices and perverse institutional incentives, coupled with absence of adequate information about borrowers, mortgage lenders threw caution to the wind and indulged in a lending spree. Closer home, one of the major complaints against micro-finance institutions (MFIs) is the widespread trend of multiple borrowings by poor people. Though unaware of the credit histories of their borrowers, MFI lenders were carried away by the belief in their ability to recover loans and gave loans without proper due diligence. The result was poor ...

From the Namibian newspaper 13 January 2012 PEOPLE no longer become ashamed or show sympathy in this country, it seems. They only get angry and aggressive when caught out or when dubious deals are questioned. Some are so brazen they tell critics to leave them in peace in order to make their money. “It’s not my fault you don’t want to be in business,” is one refrain. “You are just jealous,” is the more common one. The details of the incidents exposed by the media are ignored as even the masses buy into the defence that journalists and other critics are simply envious because young blacks are becoming ‘empowered’ and getting rich in the process. Two such incidents provided this newspaper with ample fodder for ‘hard news’ over the holiday season, a time generally viewed as a ‘soft news’ period. Seemingly the officials in the Ministry of Agriculture, Water and Forestry and the Ministry of Works and Transport regard the reporting and questioning of two tenders as either an irri...

by Benedick M Louw A QUOTE in Spanish by the revered Cuban patriot, poet and writer Jose Marti (1853-1895) states “La unica manera de ser libre es ser cultos”. When translated into English it means “the only way to be free is to be cultivators”. Contrary to hasty interpretation thereof, this statement, which by now is a social belief in Cuba, means that in order to be free one needs to produce food to feed yourself or work hard to be able to pursue your happiness whatever trajectory you choose to undertake. In other words it defines absolute independence characterised by a complete psychological, physical but most of all economic liberation from the oppressors. Underlining the word ‘absolute’ gets one’s attention more in the sense that it calls for complete and total independence vis-à-vis dominance from the oppressor, which in Cuba’s case was principally from Spain. Now it has resonance for the West, particularly the United States of America. It’s obvious today that we in...

Milton Louw - Future Namibia : Autorenportrait BoD - Books on Demand : “Why did I write this book?” “In this book I hope to objectively evaluate Namibia’s economic problems in terms of Namibia’s realities. ... Namibia’s economic problems have both proximate and ultimate causes, too. The solution must eliminate its proximate causes which are multiple and complex. They include: a hugely expanding rural population that is moving to the urban areas; illiteracy – especially in regards Information Technology; lack of adequate schooling and medical care facilities; and their constantly escalating states of poverty. ..."

Facebook and social online media is today becoming a method of sharing our ideas with friends and relatives from all around the world, and all around our country too. It allows us to share our ideas, photos and private comments with each other and we know that our friends often think in the same wey that we do - that is after all why we are friends. Many of us do not think that our comments or posts should be considered public, or often consider that people we might not know can read our posts and judge us accoring to these comments. Last night, 5 January 2012, I was rather saddened to read a post by one of our leading artists who has over 29,000 people following him on Facebook. The Dogg posted the following at around 20h00 on his fan page: "A MULE IS A CROSS BREED OF A DONKEY AND A HORSE.....SO A BLACK PERSON AND A WHITE PERSON OFFSPRING IS ALSO A MULE SINCE IS CROSS BREED?....HAHAHAHAHAH"   This is obviously a racial slur and can lead to a charge of racism. What was ...

"Future Namibia" is a book written by Milton Louw covering various PEST (Political, economic, social and technological) issues facing Namibia. About the author Milton Louw is a Namibian born socio-political entrepreneur. He has traveled extensively promoting Namibia as an investment destination. His publications, email newsletters and more recently his blogs are read by entrepreneurs from all sizes of businesses. His research on managing a country as a business using Information and Communication Technology (ICT) tools has been received by a wide audience of business, academics and other social entrepreneurs. Future Namibia Mission Statement "Develop the tools and systems to assist the management of Namibia (government, civil society and private sector) in providing access to services and technologies to allow maximum quality of life to all who live here." Click for the versions you wish to purchase: Paperback version: Kindle Version: Ipad: