Namibia

Listeners Without Borders provides staff and volunteers in the local NGO organization Pots of Hope with knowledge of listening techniques.

Pots of Hope is a well-respected non-governmental organization in Kamanjab and is rooted throughout the Kunene region. They work to reduce poverty in rural areas, against gender-based violence, HIV stigma and discrimination.

How it started

We met Pots of Hope when we held a leadership training in Namibia for NGO leaders in 2013. We saw that we worked in a similar way with training and making people aware of their situation and the real causes of many problems. In 2015, Pots of Hope and Lyssnare together with ABF Malmö applied for money from Olof Palme International Center for a development project. It started in January 2016 and will run until 2019.

Cooperation

During the preliminary investigation, after meeting with several NGOs in the capital Windhoek, Pots of Hope, ABF Malmö and Listeners Without Borders presented guidelines for working on the project against gender-based violence and for children’s rights in Kamanjab, a village in the rural Kunene area.

Operation

Listeners Without Borders and ABF Malmö go down and train / support once or twice a year. Then we stay one to two weeks.
Pots of Hope has a project manager and several volunteers on site who work daily to start – or strengthen – dialogues between men and women. Pots of Hope organizes community dialogues and study circles on women’s and children’s rights. They also hold study circles and discussion groups for children as well as training for leaders.