A Friend in Namibia
Project HOPE Delegation now in Africa had the honor of meeting with the First Lady of Namibia, her Excellency Madame Penehupifo Pohamba.
As I boarded the plane for the flight back to Johannesburg following six memorable and eventful days in Namibia, I felt inspired…and a bit humbled.
Humbled, you ask? Today we met the First Lady of Namibia, her Excellency Madame Penehupifo Pohamba, and her schedule makes the Delegation’s itinerary look like a walk in the park!
In addition to her responsibilities as Namibia’s First Lady, Madame Pohamba directs her own foundation to support the health and well-being of widows, widowers and orphans.
She also is a patron to a program in her country to eliminate the transmission of HIV from mothers to their newborn infants. Her tireless efforts to make antiretrovirals available to expecting mothers is working as none of their babies are currently are being born HIV positive.
Did I mention that Madame Pohamba also is the chairwoman of The Organization of First Ladies of Africa Against AIDS? She recently attended the International AIDS Conference in Washington, D.C., where she delivered a keynote address.
And while she was in Washington, she was nominated to be, and accepted the role of the of Ambassador for Peace for the Peace Federation.
Madame Pohamba developed her passion for women’s health when she started her career as a nurse and midwife. During Namibia’s fight for independence from apartheid and South Africa, she delivered 567 babies.
Project HOPE is honored and privileged to have a friend such as Her Excellency, Madame Pohamba. Our only desire, is that we can keep up with her breathtaking pace to improve the health of Namibians – especially women and children.