Our project has once again featured in the monthly ‘Omukwetu’ newsletter, published by the Evangelical Lutheran Church in Namibia. Reverend Thomas Uushona, the chief editor (and a partner of ours on the Disability in Namibia project), has written about our workshop for ELCIN clergy held in Ondangwa in March 2021:

Thank you, Reverend Thomas and Omukwetu!

Thanks again to all of those who participated in the workshop 21st-23rd April 2021 at the Roof of Africa Hotel in Windhoek. We were delighted to host OPDs, ELCIN, and two Windhoek Seminaries (Paulinum and the Namibian Evangelical Theological Seminary) for discussions and Contextual Bible Studies (Mark 10:46-52 and 1 Corinthians 12:12-31) on the theme of ‘Disability in Namibia: Religious and Cultural Perspectives’. It was such a productive few days and a delight to meet everyone!

Here is a summary of the discussions (see earlier posts for summaries of discussions in December 2020 and March 2021):

[pdf-embedder url=”http://blogs.exeter.ac.uk/disabilitynamibia/files/2021/04/3-Summary-April-2021.pdf” title=”3 Summary April 2021″]

For further details of the project, or if you wish to get involved, please do email Dr Helen John on H.C.John@exeter.ac.uk

We recently held our third networking workshop on ‘Disability in Namibia: Religious and Cultural Perspectives’ at the Roof of Africa Hotel and Conference Centre in Windhoek. Across the three days of the event (21^st to 23^rd April 2021), attendees gathered from Organisations of Persons with Disabilities, churches, seminaries and universities for a network meeting, academic presentations, discussion sessions, and Contextual Bible Studies, and the opportunity to share a meal and informal conversation.

Participants joined us either in person or virtually from:

The National Federation of People with Disabilities in Namibia (Mr Daniel Trum, Mr Elia Shapwa, Mr David Hughes, Ms Elizabeth Namwandi)

The Namibia Albino Association (Elizabeth Namwandi)

The Namibian Organisation for Youth with Disabilities (Ms Suama Nangolo)

The Namibian Federation of the Visually Impaired (Mr Moses Nghipandulwa)

The National Association of Persons with Physical Disabilities (Mr Niklaus Nghumono)

The Namibian Association of Wheelchair Users (Mr Ebenhard Ripunda)

The University of Namibia (Professor Gert Van Rooy, Dr Cynthy Haihambo, Dr Elina Amadhila)

The University of Exeter (Professor Louise Lawrence, Dr Helen John)

The Evangelical Lutheran Church in Namibia (Reverend Thomas Uushona)

Paulinum Seminary (Dr Daniel Ndemuweda and 14 students)

Namibian Evangelical Theological Seminary (Mr Thomas Endjala and 14 students)

Thank you to all of those who took part and made it a great three days, full of productive discussion, insightful contextual biblical interpretation, and helpful suggestions for future collaboration and activities. Thank you also to Ms Aune Ashikuti and Ms Helena Nadala for providing Sign Language Interpretation for the event.

A summary of the discussions will follow shortly. For now, here is the workshop programme:

[pdf-embedder url=”http://blogs.exeter.ac.uk/disabilitynamibia/files/2021/04/April-2021-Workshop-Programme.pdf” title=”April 2021 Workshop Programme”]

Thank you again to the pastors of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in Namibia (ELCIN) who participated in our workshop in Ondangwa on March 15th 2020. We could not have hoped for such productive discussions or such an engaged group of participants! Find below a summary of the discussions.

[pdf-embedder url=”http://blogs.exeter.ac.uk/disabilitynamibia/files/2021/03/Summary-Clergy-Workshop-15-3-2021.pdf” title=”Summary Clergy Workshop 15 3 2021″]