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14 â€"M\f’_â€"/ 7 5 ; 7 ‘bhia connection â€"â€" mc , 4 â€" 22 helale ’_-' .,’J‘ ,_s’ P ! By Bob Owelt:i $ f c ols echronicle@linkd.net. x ; Most employees take the opportunity to get aWay on their vacat10n§&§;); S?F{dmahe Town: e | ship CAO Merlin Dewing. He went half way around the world to provi stance to other ;A y municipalities for 2.5 weeks in November. uEANE : P y M The ?ather of two teenage daughters headed off for hls1 thlé%fégggu?gglggffig Namibia i / «. *tame en leaving behind the chill November winds for 40â€"degree plus temperat southern _ (smmme o ts ,..___‘Qfia:“% apkist 4 3&"‘( M 1 * .. s dn African country. I t in Namibia, takes 49 y t Te *-â€"rfi'figgf? h tA k /# y â€" The trip from Canada to Windhoek, the nearest gurl;ol'm there r hours. % t e < WA £088; (.r"( gs-* * ocb Oshakati, where he was working, is another 800â€"km drive {ro en Mmmicipalin f h N614( Tess t > W6ie o * * asir o k ‘The trip was part of a program run by the Federation of Canadian palities to share C â€"~ s L 55 ., & "af l‘ 3 expertise in city management and good governance, § 5 1 PM : . \; hi . C * i lI]VIr. Dewingybecam% involved in the program when he was Port Colvjj orne CAO. That 3 Y \as. ‘s\? “i Cl a d municipality was matched to Oshakati and agreed to send staff to a;mst. r. Dewing adntits ‘ $ . / a i /# he wasn‘t eager to go the first time but on that evaluation mission, he saw an opportunity to t Es Y \ i | § k/ help. He became much more supportive. ied oarâ€":. h Â¥ & ds .. ~ f Subsequent to his first visit to Africa, Port Colborne decided it didn‘t have the resources ) heant? 7 § W 0 ~ 3 N. ~ is [ - to continue. A multiâ€"disciplinary team was needed,. M R NiE 2+ Ermpmmoakmt: { M ‘eG % i Last spring, Mr. Dewing moved to his position in Cramahe. He has continued his work in _ | ;?\ ' f e f P E { i;,.. mafnmt . : & '5 ,g,fi aag i2 the Namibian city as part of original team. f * \\ i !, LA flf ! p n aosl o + ds | The November trip to Namibia was his second this year. The next one is scheduled for uo 5P t [ / W “ d ?!’,r' ) l May 2003, but he hasn‘t decided if he will go. When hermoved to Port Colborne, he agreed his t Bs l WA L«II}_‘- t o #KÂ¥ . davghters could finish their secondary school education there. Julia, his younger daughter, [ 5 i NNE I ‘\ 1t3 +m n\ _ finishes in the spring. His 18â€"yearâ€"old daughter Stacy starts at Fanshawe College in Janâ€" 3} lA s }, ”[ fi ’;.L'V\\;l it ol 3 \ ; 4 uary. The two girls currently live in Port Colborne with their mother and Merlin‘s wife of 30 i# 10 h xt $2 0 ;. M s zep years, Roxanne. 5 heth Ned A .. j "up â€"al r,-â€"r t e .‘ .o When he goes to Namibia, Mr. Dewing uses his vacation time. As it is now, he sees his wss oc y) *Js ... family only on weekends. i6 pee> l ds . l N Â¥ . s @i l s s Finding municipal solutions wl Cag 2 Ns 1 J ; i e an J (1.5 m ol _â€"= . M i: __ The members of the FCM team have been : BMW‘s and a lot of people with nothing, some || | _«\ | £8 gai s e . d EMn _ > es dealing with a lot of municipal issues. Oshakati â€" selling sticks to clean your teeth. [erer oi Te se + fhak" â€" aomalh e P e ce ~~ me , p fote se 1 s )2 enc f is a blend of tribes and high tech. Some of the Also in the mix are the tribespeople who do | _ â€" _ _ _ _ ; 0. ty o Nt \ se â€" l most sophisticated banks are located 500 not consider themselves poor if they have land NE ‘_,:{:-‘s.t,‘f:?"'.ff“’j."'?'ff} es me e Ap | \ \ i‘»?"' 20 : metres from fields of grass huts and sheds â€" and water and can sustain themselves. e n it o us 4 U \' uae~ ;;fll‘:gfceipr;itt;vl?ag?gg;fisA hgnv?hsquatted. The Whe; tyou ptag( _}{Olllj[’ caytint';lhet c]ilty, you hfire " :;,'jj::_f uk. /1{ x ;;m es . iess A vice both. a guard to watch it. Despite that, he says that | . hanet oA o C Aunabetnangins tR lt s . mss 13 IhtI ;Smoil;fi ofIthe fastestâ€"growing communities . safety: isn‘t an issue if you are smart. You don‘t | /_ _ _â€"_ Mohernzen ‘ ts } o _ _,eé;',‘i‘;{‘-}‘j'fl;;‘,*,:_i;,;._,;'?fi,"’ mibia. Its population of 35 thousand is walk at night. In the nature parks you follow |u ) j 0. ul . 0 yaemcty‘t kW Te w&m 8 growing by ten per cent a year. Most of the â€" the instructions of the signs and stay in your | _ __â€" y oi e t t o o i o 88 Incomers are squatters. On one weekend a field vehicle. & i epeaiaite e AOH T tr‘l ”“,?E& ;w,“ ?’:“f -':.!"r: .l("g“‘-u'.‘\t‘; ?.“:t';.j-g will be open. On the next it will be saturated _ An even bigger issue than poverty is AIDS e i o i ies ts 4e Th es with the huts of tribespeople who feel they can _ People he met on his first visit weren‘t there . t t td oi e en en o s oc /s k park themselves wherever they want. year later. They had died of ‘consumption‘ yirnedenneatenay e e wes. ."x‘g:»"ihx "?%,‘. Basic concepts like taxation, debt collection _ many of the children are born with the virus i :) emy"~ ols l en ‘T_'iE;‘-i"‘fY{:';"t;':'.'f:‘?&'fz,*;*}fifiii%“;-.:::»i‘i%*f‘.1 J and how to deal with theft of water are being . their system. NJ o f * Emds L Mb Meoaiee ui ces e coenn oc eltee developed. As well, the country is only a dozen As a precaution, he took his own needles WELCOME! years removed from apartheid, leaving it with with him in case he needed an. injection of any ; 4 4 racial issues and rampant poverty. In the â€"kind. Following a meeting with a women‘s group to discuss local issues affecting evenings children swarmed the parks, begging. women, team members were treated to impromptu entertainment by drummers ¢ | It is a country of disparity. You will see lots of continued on page 13 and dancers. f" mlraUm e m m w k s 2e se un !l