Handing over the Rainwater Harvesting plant in Ongwediva
Handing over ceremony in Ongwediva
The handing over ceremony in Ongwediva on the 14th of April was just as joyous as the ceremony in Iipopo, which took place a day before. The official handing over and inauguration started in the morning at the rainwater harvesting facility – Onno Hückmann, the German ambassador, personally handed over to Prof. Dr. Frank Kavishe of UNAM Engineer Jose Eduardo dos Santos Campus Ongwediva. Later on, scientific aspects of the rainwater harvesting, as well as possibilities on how to use rainwater harvesting infrastructure on the UNAM campus in the future were portrayed. Several presentations were held by lecturers from different institutions involved in rainwater harvesting at UNAM.
As a highlight, an excursion to the floodwater harvesting pilot site of the CuveWaters project in the village Iipopo took place, where participants of the excursion could learn more about the different technical, institutional, organisational and ecological aspects on floodwater harvesting.
The German government, through its implementing agency GIZ, supports the development of the Engineering Faculty at the UNAM Engineer Jose Eduardo dos Santos Campus Ongwediva as well as various other projects in northern Namibia. The rainwater harvesting facility will enable students at the campus to undertake applied research during their studies and thus contribute to improved practical education.
The two rainwater tanks of different construction methods will offer possibilities for research and education to investigate both hydrological issues and questions concerning the long-term stability of building materials. In addition, the rainwater harvesting can be used for horticultural projects such a greenhouse, gardens and drip-irrigation.
The project was realized with support of CuveWaters, the University of Kaiserslautern, the Free University of Berlin as well as GIZ and the University of Namibia.