EDUIX-UNPLUGGED IN NAMIBIA!
Unplugged: unprepared, without a safety net, taking things as they go along
While the term unplugged usually refers to a band playing without any electric instruments, it is the perfect analogy for the initial Eduix presence in Namibia. While we are convinced that we have what it takes to empower, encourage and uptrain a league of future software developers in Namibia, we realise that we need to make ourselves completely vulnerable to the real circumstances to be able to address the real issues and problems with passion, purpose and stamina.
Eduix Ltd Founder and CEO, author and programmer Rami Heinisuo made a spur of the moment decision in 2018 to participate in the education delegation to Namibia inspired by the University of Turku’s highly SDG-aligned efforts to do kickstart a satellite campus in Namibia, together with UNAM operations. Little did he know that he would end up in the Lady Pohamba hospital instead of having the much-awaited uplifting discussions with the colleagues and peers in Namibia. The meeting with Mr Sebulon David of Glowdom had to be canceled and a slight fear of death crept in instead. End of story, case closed? Quite the opposite.
I missed the chance to meet Sebulon face to face, but luckily we share the same persistent nature and discussions quickly resumed over the internet. The first video meeting between us suffered from a lack of sound and picture, but things progressed steadily after that. Quickly I and Sebulon came to realise that the immense development potential in Namibia could be unleashed by developing a new model for cooperation that focuses on long-term sustainable delivery and deployment cycles.
Digitalisation is a combination of inspiration and perspiration and involves looking at the processes from a completely new perspective. Previously things have been handled mostly on paper, with some support from spreadsheets and simple database applications. When we talk about a pervasive digital transformation we are talking about doing things differently, doing them in ways like never before. We need both quantity and quality – the flexible digital tools need to be used and tried out everywhere.
The cooperation between Eduix and Glowdom may have started from the shared core values of Sebulon and Rami, but the train is now moving and more and more likeminded people are being engaged every day in this initiative. Sebulon spent an intense week of workshops and meetings at Eduix headquarters in Tampere Finland and luckily he didn’t get the chance to be acquainted with Finnish healthcare in turn. The only thing he was exposed to was the expertise, enthusiasm and professional curiosity of Eduix staff members.
