Masking Namibia
#CoverNamibia provides masks to more than 2200 grade 12 learners
17 September 2020 | Social Issues
Designed to help curb the spread of Covid-19 in Namibia, the campaign produced and donated reusable face masks to school learners who resumed in-person tutorials and examinations. The agency challenged corporate bodies to match each face mask with a bar of soap, thereby ensuring mask hygiene is maintained among learners.
NBL sponsored the production of the masks specifically earmarked for schools identified by the directorate of education for the Khomas region under the education ministry.
Joining Arba Stature at the hand over to the directorate, NBL matched 2253 bars of sunlight soap to the donation.
NBL Global Marketing, Rene Duffy: “NBL is proud of this partnership, which turns out to be such an empowering tool for the beneficiaries. This support should simply be testament to our commitment and passion for Namibia and her people, and we trust that this humble support will go a long way in creating a future and enhancing lives.”
Ama Owusu-Agyemang, founder of Arba Stature, describes the initiative as a collaborative effort by Namibians for Namibia.
Partnering with acclaimed Namibian designer, Melissa Poulton, she noted that Arba Stature donated the fabric for the face coverings and Poulton manufactured them.
“Using creative solutions to accelerate the UN Sustainable Development Goals in Africa is what drives the agency, and we believe that times like these demand collaborative efforts on such initiatives for Namibia. On a broader scale, some of our solutions have been adopted by the African Union, TikTok, and World Health Organisation Africa, all towards an aligned vision of development for the Continent, so it brings us immense pride to be backed by NBL on the Cover Namibia campaign here at home,” Owusu-Agyemang said.
Locally, the agency also responded to the immediate need of face masks earlier this year with agency co-founder Lindiwe Jacobs donating 300 face masks to homeless citizens housed at the Khomasdal stadium. The masks, paired with individual bars of soap, were distributed in partnership with local cab-app company, LEFA Namibia.
According to Khomas regional council acting director of education, arts & culture, Paulus Lewin, the directorate has faced many challenges over the past months to prevent, contain and manage the impact of the coronavirus on the teaching and learning process. “This donation will contribute significantly to the efforts made thus far to ensure continued teaching and learning. The donation will go a long way in forming part of the initiatives of the directorate to encourage conscientious hygiene amongst learners to stop the spread of the virus amongst the school learners.”