WHEN I ASK YOU TO LISTEN

When I ask you to listen to me and you start giving advice and you have not done what I asked.
When I ask you to listen to me and you begin to tell me why I shouldn’t feel that way, you are trampling on my feelings.
When I ask you to listen to me and you feel you have to do something to solve my problem you have failed me, strange as that may seem.
Listen! All I asked, was that you listen not talk or do - just hear me.
Advice is cheap; ten cents will get you both Dear Abby and Billy Graham in the same newspaper, and I can do for myself; I’m not helpless.
When you do something for me that I can and need to do for myself, you contribute to my fear and weakness.
But, when you accept as a simple fact that I do feel what I feel, no matter how irrational, then I can quit trying to convince you and can get about the business of understanding what’s behind this irrational feeling.
And when that’s clear, the answers are obvious and I don’t need advice.
Irrational feelings make sense when we understand what’s behind them.
Perhaps that’s why prayer works, sometimes, for some people because God is mute and he doesn’t give advice or try to fix things.
He “just listens and lets you work it out for yourself.”
So please listen and just hear me. And if you want to talk, wait a minute for your turn; And I’ll listen to you.

*Anonymous: “Listen” was found in David Bailey and Sharon Dreyer’s book, Care of the mentally ill (1977)

Implementing ICT policy for the benefit of Africans

In this blog I am addressing the Association for Progressive Communications (APC) in the application for the position of African ICT Policy Advocacy Coordinator.

The issues to be addressed are:

a) why do you think ICT policy is in critical need of attention in Africa;

b) what do you think are the most important areas to intervene in the near future?; and,

c) how do you see the relationship between human rights and the internet?

ICT Policy

First, I wish to address our understanding of ICT and how we can integrate it into our governance systems and also our daily lives. I have struggled to find a term for this and the best I could find was “Progress through Technology”,  or in German, “Vorsprung Durch Technik” . I prefer to use the German expression because in German the word “Technik” not only means technology, but also the technique of studying and mastering the skills of something.

Thus my belief that African countries need to relook at their ICT Policy and include the mastering of ICT tools as part of their focus. These tools include the

1.      social media revolution of sites such as Facebook, Twitter, Youtube, etc.

2.      Mobile telephony (not only smartphones but also older technologies such as USSD)

3.      touch screen and tablets

in getting information to their constituents.

It is my opinion is that discrimination in the world in 2012 and beyond, is not based only on race, culture, gender, or geographical location, but more importantly in access to services and technology. African leaders must address this through ICT policies that are forward looking, and easily adaptable to changes in technology.

Looking forward

Africa can use the latest technology to the benefit of all its residents. The attitude to education which is presently geared to becoming an industrial country, must be changed to a system where knowing where the information is available is more important than having the information in your head. This means moving from our present agricultural society to a knowledge-base society within the next decade.

This leapfrogging into a knowledge-based society can be assisted by creating an ICT Action Group (IAG) reporting directly to the President or even Parliament. I propose such an IAG should consist of four staff members, of which two should be young people under the age of twenty-five. (The (male and female) staff member should each have software programming skills and should also participate in gaming leagues such as Warcraft. In addition, they should have a minimum competency in the number of words they can SMS per minute on their cellular phone.)

The objectives of the IAG:

•                     Advise the President and Cabinet on ICT.

•                     Ensure ICT capability of all members of the Cabinet and their staff.

•                     Create a Government Ministerial scorecard on Information and Communication Technologies. This includes a baseline survey of computer equipment and civil servant skills, as well as monitoring the information availability over government websites.

•                     Oversee the creation of a central register with data on residents and businesses.

•                     Ability to declare certain areas to be under-serviced and secure funds to roll-out infrastructure

•                     Identify international trends such as Facebook and Chat with the view of encouraging local sites that are able to provide the same service. This will encourage innovation and access to information.

•                     Promote local content development to enhance the National Identity.

•                     Host free internet websites for any resident of of their country

ICT and Human rights

Human rights are to be understood as something we are entitled to because we are a human being. With the advent of the Internet and more and more powerful ICT tools, some of the citizens of the world are being left behind. While the information on the Web might be available to anyone, availability of infrastructure to access the Internet in lacking in many developing countries. two issues are thus defined in ICT policy, access to the information, and being given the education to use ICT.

Thus, just as the provision of water or housing, access to information and communication technologies must be provided by the government to its residents – in the same manner they provide libraries in the communities.

As for teaching ICT usage, in the Declaration of Human Rights, Article 26 it states:

(1) Everyone has the right to education. Education shall be free, at least in the elementary and fundamental stages. Elementary education shall be compulsory. Technical and professional education shall be made generally available and higher education shall be equally accessible to all on the basis of merit. (2) Education shall be directed to the full development of the human personality and to the strengthening of respect for human rights and fundamental freedoms. It shall promote understanding, tolerance and friendship among all nations, racial or religious groups, and shall further the activities of the United Nations for the maintenance of peace

In earlier times we referred to the three R’s being reading, writing and arithmetic. Today, using the computer as a e-reader, blog writer, movie uploader or collaborative social movement, has become just as important to learn at the primary education level.

Our ICT policies should strive to…

“Develop the tools and systems to assist the management of our countries (government, civil society and private sector) in providing access to services and technologies to allow maximum quality of life to all who live there.”

THE WATERS OF ERONGO

North-East of Swakopmund, and somewhere where the line that runs the copper ore down from Otari has a station called Omaruru, there stands a mass of huge table-topped mountains. At the time of which I write they were known as the Erongos, so named after a famous chief of the Gainin Bushmen, who had made something of a stand there against the invading Damaras that eventually "ate up" both him and his tribe.

Even in that land, where most mountains are table-topped, and where the flat plateau above and the plain beneath represent geological epochs that are divided by aeons of years, these Erongo Mountains are remarkable; for they have never been climbed. From their base thick vegetation can be seen crowning the inaccessible summit, and in several places water flows in gushing cataracts down the steep cliffs that frown upon the plain on every side.

This mountain had always had a great fascination for me; and once or twice, in the old days, before the railway came, and when we used to water our transport animals at these same streams, I attempted to climb its steep sides, full of curiosity to see what the top might be like.

But I never got within a thousand feet of it, for the crowning bastions are almost sheer, and would need a better cragsman than myself to negotiate.

Isolated, and rising straight from the plain to a height of about 3,000 feet, it formed a prominent landmark for those few traders or prospectors who, in the old days, returned from their trips to the north to Walfisch Bay by this route; and I was glad indeed to see its huge bulk towering up one day more years ago than I care to remember when trekking in from a long expedition in the Kaokoveld for it meant that my long journey was nearly finished.

With my wagon I had as cook and roust-about an old Englishman named Jim Blake, who had ran away from his ship at Walfisch Bay many years before, and who had traversed the country in all directions, since then, as few men had. In spite of the many years he had spent there, and the fact that he spoke many of the native dialects well, his Cockney accent was as pronounced as ever it could have been when he first shipped at Limehouse; and he had, apparently, a wholesale contempt for everything, and everybody, but himself.

As his employer, he tolerated me, and as he was invaluable in many ways, I tolerated him in return, but he had one habit that always annoyed me immensely. In season and out of season he would say: "Yer don't know heverythink if yer thinks yer does!"; and I could never break him of it.

Well, the evening that I speak of, we outspanned under the cliffs ofErongo, and the oxen drank deep.

We had had a very successful trip, and I felt at peace with all mankind, as I sat smoking, and watching the setting sun turn the tall rocks from gold to crimson, and thence through a whole gamut of purples, violets and mauves to the cold grey of twilight.

"Pritty, 'aint it?" said a voice at my elbow. It was old Blake. His mahogany face shone with the effects of the first soap and water he had been able to use for weeks, for we had been very short of water; and even his arms showed the tattoo-marks that were usually hidden by the grime inseparable to life in the desert.

"Yes," I answered, "it's beautiful, the most beautiful mountain I know in Africa. I wonder what's on top? I've had a go at climbing it myself several times but, of course, it can't be done. The Bushmen couldn't, Erongo himself only had his werf half-way up when he fought the Damaras. No one has ever climbed it!"

"You don't know heverythink if yer thinks yer does," sniffed old Jim; "you're wrong. I've bin up it meself!"

"Rubbish, Jim!" I said; "don't talk rot. How far have you been up, anyway? As far as the bottom of the big fall, I suppose?"

"To the top and all over it," said old Jim. "Oh, I knows yer don't believe. But it's gospel. You don't know heverythink!"

"No, that's true, Jim," said I meekly, for I wanted his yarn. "I know you sailormen can climb better than I ever shall but how did you do it? Ropes? Ladders? . . . How?"

"No," he answered slowly, turning his quid in his cheek, and spitting with great precision at a blue-headed lizard that had emerged from a crack in the rock and sat eyeing us. "Got yer!" he went on as the small reptile retired in considerable discomfiture.

"No, neether ladders nor ropes. If yer reely wants ter know, I were carried up!"

"Oh, you can chuckle, but so it were! Twenty year or more agone I came here fust. There was four of us white men; me as cook, two prospectors, and the perfesser.

"He was a queer bloke, that perfesser, clever, too, but bless yer he didn't know heverythink! I'd bin with him a long time, and he used ter tell me more'n he tole the other fellers . . . a clever sort of chap . . . but he didn't know heverythink. And he 'ad one great pecooliarity: he was everlastingly afeard of getting old! He must ha' bin well over fifty, but he used ter get himself up outrageous young: and when I docked his shavingwater he cussed most wonderful!

"'Cleanliness, and stric' observance of rules of life that is the only way ter keep young, Blake,' he would say ter me.

"Well, in them days, bein' young, I didn't see much in what he said, and if I got a wash once a month I was werry well satisfied; and arter a while this 'ere washing business of his got on my nerves. 'Cause, as yer know, when water's been used fer a bath, yer can't werry well use it fer anything but washing up, or biling pertaters, or sich like, and he was the wastefullest man I ever had to cook for. Well, we comes up here on our way to the Koaka Velt on some kind of scientific trip er other I dunno, and it didn't matter as long as I was paid and the two prospectors they brings in gold, and tin, and copper, and all sorts of muck, and the perfesser was busy 'blow-piping' and 'classifying' and what not, and every day he gets more 'centrick. Then he gets sick only a bit of fever, but it laid him out bad for a time: and he couldn't shave, and he couldn't bath, and that hurt him wuss'n the fever. We was here, then; jist in this same camp. And when he got well enough to talk again I took him his cawfee one morning, and sees him a-looking at himself in a little glass: and he looked fair frightened! He'd got a week's bristles on, and they was grey, o' course he weren't no chicken, anyway! And he says to me pitiful like 'Blake, I surely don't look as old as all that?'

"'You've bin ill, perfesser,' I says, 'and it don't make a man look younger. You'll be all right when you've had a bath there's plenty o' water now.'

"Well, I could see 'e weren't satisfied, because he gives a bit of a groan, and looks at hisself in the glass agin. But a day or two arterwards he was well enough to get up, and when he sees Erongo for the fust time, with the water a-pouring down that big fall, he brightens up at once.

"'Just the very place the very place. Who knows but it may be true? Never to be old! . . . Never to be old!' I hears him a-saying, over and over again; but nat'rally, I on'y thought he was a bit off his napper, same as half these 'ere perfessers is, wot think they know heverythink! Anyhow, as soon as ever he was able, oft he goes and bathes in the stream, farther up, a goodish way from the camp, and a power o' good it seemed to do him, for he comes back a-looking ten years younger. Next day he sends the two prospectors out fer a long trip and then he calls me.

"'Jim,' says he, ''ow do you think I look?'

"'Look?' I says for I was fair mazed at the look of him, 'why ten years younger than ever I seed yer!'

"'Just so,' says 'e. . . . 'It's true then!'

"'Wot's true,' I says.

"'The water of life,' says he; 'I have searched for it fer years!'

"'Take some quinine,' says I, 'and back yer goes to bed,' for I'd seen fever patients that way afore.

"'You don't know heverythink, Blake,' he says he 'ad a nasty way o' using that there expression; 'it isn't fever it's joy. For if the stream below has such an effect, wot will the source be like?'

"Well, it wasn't much good taking notice of what he said, but anyhow, next day 'e'd gone!

"The boys said he'd gone upstream towards the big fall, and arter a while I follered him. As you know, that there waterfall takes a lot of reaching, but I gets there at last, and there he was a-sitting in the stream. Lord, I 'ardly knew 'im, he looked so young and vigorous, and full o' life. He wanted me to bathe, but I'd had a wash on'y a day or two before, and I wouldn't. But, my word, he seemed to keep getting younger; and as fer strength, why on our way back he jumped over rocks like a klipbok I never seen the like! Next mornin' he'd gone agin, and this time he stays away fer two days, and I gets scared. The prospectors was away, and there was on'y me and the boys and I couldn't get 'em to go far up Erongo, for they said it was full of devils. P'raps they was right them there boys knows a lot though they don't know heverythink! Third day I gets up early and goes right up the side o' the stream, till I gets to the waterfall, but no sign did I find. And I sits there a-pondering, till all of a sudden I 'ears a voice a- calling 'Jim!'

"I turns round, and there 'e was at least I s'posed it was him! He hadn't a stitch o' clothes on, and his skin shone like a babby's. Look young? Why the only thing I knew about 'im was his voice! And he came a-bounding over the rocks as if he was made of injy-rubber. And his face was all a-shinin' it made me think o' pictures o' hangels to see him.

"'Jim! Jim!' he sings out; half a-laughing and 'alf sobbing, 'it's true! it's true! look at me I'm young agin! I'm immortal!'

"'You're naked,' I says, 'and you ought to know better at your time o' life and in this 'ere 'ot sun too!'

"He laughs like a madman.

"'Ye old fool,' he says (nice it was, and on'y yesterday he'd bin a lot older than me!). 'Don't you see it's true? I've been to the top, man, and bathed in the source there, and I'm immortal!'

"'You're barmy,' I says, though I was a bit scared, for never have I seen such a difference!

"'Come with me to the top and bathe,' says he, 'and see fer yerself!'

"'Who's to take me?' I says. 'I ain't a bird!'

"'I will!' he shouts; and before you could 'a' said 'Jack Robinson,' he grabs 'old of me in a clove hitch!

"I was strong and a bit useful in them days, but I was like a babby in the arms of a giant, and he tucked me under one arm and 'eld me like a parcel. And then well! I know yer don't believe it, but yer don't know he very think. He jist went up the side of that there cliff like a klip-springer, catching on to little points of rock, and a-springing from place to place, as if I didn't weigh more'n a feather; with me under his arm a-hollering blue murder, and a-lookin' down sick and dizzy, and a-praying for him not to let me fall! Right up that there cliff as you can see from here we went, and almost afore I knew what had happened, I was on top. There was thick grass, and bush, and flowers, and tall trees and fruit I'd never seen afore, and butterflies everywhere, and he sat me down jist close to the brink, and there I sat a-gasping. And then he laughed and what a laugh it was jist like a trumpet ringing out, and he says again: 'Come and bathe, man, and be immortal, like me!'

"And then he hustles me off into the wood, flustered and frightened, and a wondering when I should get down to terra-cotta agin. That there mountain ain't flat on top, its cup-shaped, and it's only the rim you can see from here; and there's trees and water everywhere, and birds a- singing, and flowers a-blooming and butterflies a-flitting, and if there'd o'ny bin a nice little pub up there, like wot I knows of there at 'ome in Lime'ouse, it would 'a' bin Parrydise and I'd 'a' stayed. We sees no animals and no snakes, and we goes along the banks of the stream, and at last we conies to a deep pool that bubbled and fizzed up like soda water, all over.

"'The Source!' he says; 'the Source!' an' you could ha' 'eard 'is voice a mile off; 'the Water of Life! I bathed here this morning look at me! Come, bathe, old fool, and be young, and a companion fer me, and we'll stay here fer ever!'

"'Course, I knew he must be barmy though 'ow he got me up that cliff certainly is a mystery! Any'ow, I thought I'd better 'umour 'im a bit. So I starts to undress; and then I pauses.

"'Any beer here?' I asks.

"'Beer, what do you want vile beer for, when there's necktie fit fer the gords to drink?' says 'e.

"'Baccy?' I asks agin knowin' he 'ated it.

"'Phaw,' he says, 'your filthy smoke what need is there of it?'

"'Wimmen!' I says, thinkin' that would be a clincher fer him.

"'Yes,' he shouts; 'beautiful nymphs, spirits as immortal as myself!'

"'I don't see 'em!' says I.

"'They are in the water,' says he; 'beautiful water nymphs and wood nymphs lurks there among the trees! Bathe, fool, and your eyes will be opened!'

"That settled it. I'd got an argyment fer 'im now.

"'Not me,' I says, putting my shirt on agin. 'No beer; no baccy; no wimmen but a lot o' shameless huzzies a-hiding and a-waiting to watch a feller bathe! Not me. I go back besides, I 'ad a bath on'y a few days ago.'

"Well, 'e was that wild I thought 'e'd chuck me in, but I 'umored and coaxed 'im for I had to get 'im to take me down again; and at last 'e did. How he did it I don't know, for when he took me up, like a kid, I shut me eyes, and never opened 'em agin till he put me down at the foot of the waterfall.

"'Good-bye, fool,' he said; 'some day you'll be sorry!'

"Well, we never seen 'im agin, and when I told the prospectors wot I'd seen, they told me to put more water in my grog. And at last the whole outfit went back and reported the perfesser lost or dead.

"But I knows better: he's up there yet! Look! see that smoke on the top? Well, who's a-goin' to make a fire on Erongo if it ain't 'im? You don't know heverythink, if yer thinks yer does."

Excerpt from "A Rip Van Winkle Of The Kalahari Seven Tales of South-West Africa"

Author: Frederick Cornell

Namibian Rights. What about Namibian responsibilities?

Last week we celebrated Constitution Day - 9th Februray. I thought about this great document we have in Namibia, but have to keep asking myself,

"Great that we have Namibian Rights. What about Namibian responsibilities?"

Since Independence, Namibians have been guaranteed their rights through our Constitution. These rights are are known by all, but how many of us realise the burden of responsibilities these same rights put on us? In this opinion piece I look at the rights in our constitution, and compare them to the responsibility expected of each of us to ensure these rights for us all.

And what is it to be a good citizen?

• You must always remember that the other person has rights while being aware of your own

• Think and do as you want, but know that your rights end where another’s begin

• Create things which are useful to yourself and others

• “It is to produce wealth by labour and only by labour, and to spend less than you have produced that your children may not be dependent on the state for support when you are no more. “

• protect and defend the lives of others

• not put other people’s lives at risk through my actions. This includes carrying of dangerous weapons, by acting recklessly and not disobeying our rules and laws. This is especially relevant to the responsibility we have as road users. It is your responsibility to ensure the vehicle and driver are in a fit condition to endanger the lives of others.

• look after my own body by exercising, eating correctly, not smoking or abusing alcohol, not taking drugs or doing irresponsible things that may result in me becoming infected with communicable diseases such as HIV and AIDS

• be polite to those who provide me with a service

• enquire about the working conditions of the workers who provide me with services

• pay adequately the people who work for me in my garden, around my house and within the office

• treat every person equally and fairly

• not discriminate unfairly against anyone on the basis of gender, race, colour, ethnic origin, religion, religion or status in society

• respect the property of others

• respect the letters, emails or conversations of people and avoid sharing this with others

• recognise that love means long-term commitment, and the responsibility to establish strong and loving families

• honour and respect my parents, and to help them,

• be kind and loyal to my family, to my brothers and sisters, my grandparents and all my relatives

• to see, and treat,  every child as my own

• listen to, and respect the opinion of a child

• provide an example of how to treat others

• provide monetary support for my children to achieve their goals

 Article 6 - Protection of Life

The protection of life places on me the responsibility to:

Article 7 - Protection of Liberty

The protection of liberty places on me the responsibility to:

• not hurt, bully or scare people, or take measures to stop others who are hurting, bullying or scaring people

• find solutions for problems in a peaceful manner, that is without resorting to violence

Article 8 - Respect for Human Dignity

The right to human dignity places on me the responsibility to:

• treat every human being with respect and dignity

• be caring, kind-hearted and understanding with everyone, by greeting them warmly and speaking to them politely

Article 9 - Slavery and Forced Labour

The right to safe and fairly paid employment places on me the responsibility to:

Article 10- Equality and Freedom from Discrimination

The right to equality and freedom from discrimination places on me the responsibility to:

Article 13 - Privacy

This right to privacy by each citizen expects me to:

Article 14 – Family

The right to family expects me to:

Article 15 - Children's Rights

The responsibility of respecting children’s rights means:

I believe that we can still do more to teach ourselves, and our children, about responsibilities. Feel free to email me atmiltonlouw@gmail.com with your comments

The need for open debate - Villager 14/08/11

Open and critical debate is not always welcome in our country.  In the days of apartheid-colonialism, expressing views openly (especially political ones) often led to persecution, even detention and death.

With independence, such repressive practices came to an end as a liberal constitution was adopted that enshrined basic human and political rights.  However, a living democracy requires more than a few democratic rights on paper and the occasional holding of elections.  A living democracy requires the appreciation for robust debates as well as policies to guarantee that the basic economic needs of all citizens are met.

Despite the many praises for Namibia’s peace and stability since independence, I would argue that we are still falling short in some aspects of our democracy.  Namibia is among countries with the highest levels of income inequality in the world and virtually all spheres of life are still characterised by inequalities on the basis of colour, gender and class. 

 A large part of our population is thus engaged with a daily struggle for basic survival and the fact that 500 000 Namibians are living in shacks as reported recently by this paper, exemplifies this point.  I will analyse the levels of inequality and what can be done to change them in a future column.

Today I will focus on another aspect, namely our lack of appreciation for open and robust debate.  This was not always the case.  At the time of independence, Namibia was bustling with activism and debate.  

The Namibia National Students Organisation (NANSO) and the trade unions under the umbrella of the National Union of Namibian Workers (NUNW) were spearheading debate and action as they had done during the final years of the liberation struggle. 

However, after the elections of 1989 and the achievements of independence in 1990, things began to change gradually.  Having elected “our own” Government and believing that the “fruits of independence” would become visible soon, mass organisations lost their vibrancy or were deliberately dismantled.  This was not unique to Namibia but has happened in many other African countries after independence.

With weakening community-based organisations and an increasingly dominant role of Government, the process of decision-making became increasingly hierarchical.  The typical western form of representative Government became rooted and replaced more direct and participatory forms of democracy.  The large community meetings that had taken place in Katutura in the late 1980s are now only a historical memory and even the consultative community meetings that some Government Ministers undertook shortly after independence have become rarities.  Instead, decisions are taken in the higher echelons of power and then communicated to the base.

Accompanying this increasingly hierarchical political culture was mistrust towards critical ideas and debate.  Instead of seeing them as the lifeblood of democratic organisations, critical views were seen with suspicion and the first question that was usually asked was: “What is their agenda?”

Loyalty to an organisation was increasingly equated with blindly following the decisions taken by the leadership and in the end. Nobody was willing to raise critical questions for fear of being labelled a “trouble-maker” or “hibernator” etc.   

This political culture of suspicion against open debate has taken hold of most organisations in Namibia.  Ironically, even those organisations that criticise hierarchical and autocratic practices of others often fall into the same pattern when dealing with critical voices in their own ranks.

As a result, public debates in Namibia have become very guarded.  Only a few people are still willing to raise challenges openly for fear of offending the powers that be.  Instead, many express their views only privately and are even scared of sending readers’ letters in their own name.  

This trend is very worrying and needs to be countered before it becomes an all-embracing norm.  History provides many examples how dictatorships and social standstill emerge when debates are dying.  It was thus refreshing to see how Minister Kazenambo at a recent public debate of the Unam Sociology Students Association pointed out that it was important for the youth to raise their voices when they see things go wrong.  How else can we improve if we are not willing to debate with a view of finding new solutions?  

Raising critical issues, exploring new ways of doing things and alluding to shortcomings and failures is a lifeline for any living democracy.  Instead of just defending past decisions and actions, we must learn to appreciate criticism as it is the only way to avoid the death of ideas and socio-economic stagnation.  Defending past policies and practices simply to please the powers that be will not contribute towards finding solutions for the many challenges we face today.  Let us speak from the heart, let us share our ideas and let us have robust debates as part of our everyday lives.  Fear and silence must be broken as they undermine the very democracy we fought for.  After all, we are supposed to be the land of the brave!

---

Herbert Jauch is a labour researcher and educator in Windhoek.