For an impatient person with lots of goals still left to achieve, Namibia can be a frustrating place to live. Things tend to happen in their own sweet time and the only thing racing along, often, is my blood pressure…
Many years ago, the wonderful Namibian songstress, Patricia Ochurus, had a theatre full of us fans singing along as she sweetly informed us that sometimes it was important to ‘let it go…’ (long before the movie ‘Frozen’ was a thing), but it’s not a sentiment I embrace easily. Not even a tiny bit. Nevertheless, some of the ‘Good for Namibia’ objectives have had to be filed under ‘definitely dormant’ (the recycled-soap project hasn’t gained any traction yet) and others have largely hibernated and just opened a sleepy eye when I have poked them.
This year I decided that it was time to look at expanding the activities of the strictly informal PPPI (Promising Pages Pilot Initiative), which I run in my spare time; this would mean either getting myself cloned or taking on another willing, dynamic person with fresh ideas to grow the concept.
As of October 2026, the PPPI has distributed hundreds of boxes of items up and down the country. More than 20 sites in total have received donated books, study guides, textbooks, posters, magazines, shelving units and CDs/DVDs. How many actual books? I stopped counting in August last year, when we hit the 10,000-book milestone and I could say, with conviction, that we had ample proof to support the assertion than Namibians REALLY want access to books.
Our first physical installation – an upcycled shelving unit trialed at Physically Active Youth in Katutura in late 2025 – was not a great success – without the 24/7 security presence we had been promised, the wood soon proved too much of a temptation for a group of people camped out nearby (fair enough – our winters are punishingly cold) and it proved unrealistic to engage in ongoing repairs since I don’t live near the site. Installations in more protected areas have become a magnet for kids and adults, however, so I am going to score that a win (even though I have had to abandon the hope that a truly 24/7 all-access approach could be implemented in public spaces until a weatherproof shelving unit made from recycled plastic can be designed).
The demand for materials I hadn’t even considered worth sourcing originally – secondhand lever-arch files, for example – has created a huge amount of work in terms of collection, sorting, storage, communication, and distribution (spoiler alert – Namibia is a HUGE country and not all potential recipients have smartphones or internet) and operations had reached a level that could not be supported by one volunteer (i.e., me) alone.
Furthermore, inventory has skewed very much toward non-literary fiction for adults/self-help books, and autobiographies by TV slebs. Meanwhile educational institutions, after-school clubs, community resource facilities and informal children’s drop-in centres were literally begging for appropriate materials for younger readers and it was becoming essential to try and identify a sustainable pipeline of suitable books for them. Preferably ones that feature black and brown characters in settings and contexts relatable to those same readers (and – one can only dream – even in indigenous languages at some point in the future.)
At the time of writing, I am engaged with a young Namibian woman with outstanding credentials who is preparing to transform the PPPI into a formal NGO so that we can approach donors and business partners as a registered entity, thus enhancing our credibility and reputation. This will also – it is hoped – give us access to support bodies such as Books for Africa and the ‘Read to Rise‘ initiative of the Southern Africa School of Project Management that can share the heavy lifting (metaphorical and practical) involved in getting books in bulk to Windhoek for us to distribute. Once we know this is do-able, we will be looking to apply for financial support to develop a network of dedicated sites around the land and also pay a member of staff.
Early days for both developments and I don’t want to jinx things by getting ahead of myself… but meeting the handful of people (all women) who have been able to see the potential for us to grow AND put their shoulders to the wheel to help in meaningful ways gives me confidence that after – essentially – years of waiting for the PPPI to blossom into its true potential, I can envisage its next stage, as a vibrant movement with international support and truly inclusive national coverage.
