Whistler Question Article - June 28, 2007

Locals step out, 'hand up'

Over the past six weeks or so, while most Whistlerites marched on with their daily business mostly unaware, the local community has been dramatically affecting the lives of people half a world away.

A group of 10 Whistlerites and former locals travelled to the southern African country of Namibia to help the local people, bringing along $6,000 donated and raised in Whistler. Half the group has now returned with amazing stories about how that money was spent, the investment Whistler has made in a place that desperately needed a hand up, and how the connection that was made between Whistler and Namibia will continue.

Though it was a grassroots group of 10 people who made the trip and donated their time, skills and manual labour to help the Namibian people, some of the group members said they felt they were bringing the support of all of Whistler with them.

“We’re really proud that we’ve come from a community that’s taken ownership of this,” said Kelly Mabey. “We told them when we arrived… that we were bringing money from our community.”

The approximately $6,000 the group took to help the people of Namibia came from several fundraising events and private donations in Whistler. The local non-profit group Bands Against Hunger Society donated about $2,000 from the Reggae Fest event that took place at Buffalo Bill’s in February, while another $1,600 came from the Whistler for Africa Slideshow fundraiser at Dusty’s in May.

The people of Whistler gave generously to the group’s initiative and showed their care and concern for the poor and needy of the world, Mabey said.

And while $6,000 may not sound like a lot of money by Whistler standards, it went toward two important projects that have already improved the lives of people in Namibia.

The group spent the first chunk of its 3 1/2-week trip in the capital city of Windhoek, where a preschool in a dangerous part of town was their first assignment. The preschool is located in an area with many bars and prostitutes, and the kids were never allowed to play outside because the yard wasn’t fenced in.

Enrolment was dropping at the rundown preschool and the head teacher, Laina, depends on enrolment for her income.

The group of Whistlerites spent about nine days working hard to renovate the preschool and build a fence and a playground for the kids to finally play outside. They hammered and sawed, dug holes and mixed cement. They painted colourful murals inside and out, featuring learning tools such as the alphabet, numbers and parts of the body.

The kids were excited by the changes at the preschool and the new possibility of being able to play outside. Mabey said the teacher had been waiting 12 years for someone to come along and help the school.

“Throughout the years of my teaching at this centre, I prayed and pleaded to God to send me some good Samaritans to help me with the development of our outstanding centre. Finally my dreams and prayers got answered when you guys came along,” Laina wrote in a letter to the group.

In the first week after the renovation, eight new students were enrolled at the preschool, said Abbie Orpia, another Whistlerite who travelled to Namibia. The parents felt good about having their children in a safe place.

With about half of the money raised in Whistler left after the preschool renovation, the group then travelled north to the town of Tsumeb. Before they arrived, they had no idea what to do with the rest of the money.

Then they learned about a local project named TOV, which means “good” in Hebrew, with the goal to care for the AIDS orphans and poor people in the community. Though they don’t have much, the TOV organizers are determined to do it themselves — they don’t want handouts from developed nations, Mabey said.

The TOV vision is to empower the people of Tsumeb, showing them a sustainable way of life instead of just giving them food that will satisfy for the moment.

But the organizers were struggling to make the vision a reality. They had managed to buy a piece of land outside of town to develop into a farm, but were stalled by the fact that the land had to be cleared before any animals could be brought in or seeds planted.

With just hand-held axes it had taken two workers more than a month to make two big piles of brush, said Jessica Meadows Dow, another Whistlerite who made the trip.

The Whistler group toured the would-be farm with TOV Director Edward Amadhila and they suddenly knew how to spend the rest of the money. The group sat together and started making a list of the things TOV needed for the farm: two chainsaws to clear the land, 100 fruit trees, seeds, sheep, goats, pigs, a wheelbarrow and a roof for the chicken coop. The money from Whistler paid for all that and more.

“We just kept having money and (more) money,” Mabey said. “It seemed like it went a long way.” With Whistler’s contribution the farm will be cleared and planted by October, providing access to much-needed, healthy food and income to pay for the orphans’ school fees and clean water for a nearby ghetto.

“It was almost like (the vision of the farm) became a reality the week we were there,” Orpia said. Some of the Whistlerites who stayed in Africa longer than others have since returned to the farm to teach the workers how to use the chainsaws and help plant trees. They’ve reported that significant progress has already been made, Mabey said.

In an email sent to Mabey this week, Amadhila wrote: “Your visit has really helped us to make a difference… (Your investment) will change many lives for the better.”

Members of the Whistler group said they were excited to be able to help empower the people of Tsumeb and help them along their journey to become a self-sustaining community.

“It wasn’t a handout,” Meadows Dow said. “(It was) for people who are helping themselves and not just waiting around for people to give them money.”

The help from Whistler wasn’t the first hand up the TOV organization has received, and Mabey hopes it won’t be the last. Less than a year ago the region was blessed with a container of bicycles from the international Bicycles for Humanity organization, allowing them to open a bike shop that brings in revenue and employs local workers.

Mabey said she wants to help keep the bike shop going by collecting another container of bikes and repair parts to send to Tsumeb. She has decided to start a Whistler chapter of Bicycles for Humanity and is looking for individuals and businesses that want to get involved. Mabey is working with Pat Montani, a Whistlerite who just completed a bike tour from Kelowna to Ottawa to raise money and awareness for the cause.

“There’s other stuff we can do to empower that community,” Mabey said. “I really want to keep our relationship with them alive.”

On a broader level, some of the locals who went to Namibia said the trip has shown them the capacity Whistler has to make a difference in the world.

“It was a big eye opener. There’s just so much that we take for granted, especially for people growing up here where everything’s so accessible… that you don’t even think about how it is halfway around the world,” said Meadows Dow, who was raised in Whistler. “I think I’d like to see a lot of the people from this town get involved in something like this.”

Mabey agreed, saying: “Coming back has made me see the potential Whistler has to be involved in that kind of stuff, because we have the resources.”

To get involved in local Bicycles for Humanity efforts, contact Mabey at (604) 938-0077 or bignesskdm@hotmail.com.