What a year it has been!

A big THANK-YOU to all our clients and partners in Education
for their continuous support.
We wish you all safe travel during this festive season and
a very happy and prosperous New Year!

NPH staff gift exchange

Namibia Publishing House has had a year to remember. It was a challenging 12 months, and a lot of changes happened in our midst, but all in all we look positively to the future.

We have had our annual gift exchange among staff. It is a young tradition, yet worth keeping, as all will admit. 

Gifts of alarm clocks for the always-late, wine and chocolates for those who love to indulge, or picture frames for the sentimental souls were exchanged, among many others.

This year we also had the pleasure of hosting our annual End of Year Function. It was a usual affair of good food enjoyed in good company!

NPH and Edumeds darlings at the Year End Function

Boys of NPH and Edumeds joining forces at the Year End Function

Approved by NIED Solid Foundations Materials from NPH for Junior Primary Well Received by Teachers!

NIED approved NPH materials for Junior Primary Phase

This was an incredibly busy month here at NPH as we have launched our approved by NIED Solid Fondations materials for the Junior Primary Phase in Oshakati earlier in the month. 

The materials in our Solid Foundations series are: 

• Solid Foundations Environmental Studies
• Solid Foundations Mathematics
• Solid Foundations Religious and Moral Education
• Solid Foundations Languages

Learner's Books for these materials are available in English, Oshindonga, Oshikwanyama, Rukwangali, Afrikaans, Thimbukushu and Setswana.

Our sales representatives have been travelling through their regions, visiting schools and talking to teachers about our new products, ever since.

Learners from Erundu Combined School performing a traditional dance at the launch

Teachers sampling NPH materials during the training at
Delta School in Windhoek

Now that the training for the Junior Primary Phase teachers has started in the Khoms Region, we have visited a few training centres to get the teachers acquainted with our new materials now available on the Government Catalogue.

Dedicated teachers at the Junior Primary Training in Delta School:

Award ceremony at Immanuel Ruiters Junior Primary, in Walvis Bay, Erongo Region

John with Paulus Benjamin,
an overall best learner at Immanuel Ruiters JP

NPH was recently invited to take part in the award ceremony at Immanuel Ruiters Junior Primary School. 

Our Senior Sales Representative, John Muyambango, was there to give an award to the overall best learner at the school, Paulus Benjamin.

The atmosphere was joyful and all learners were ready to celebrate their achievements this school year. 

NPH is glad to have been part of this event!

Immanuel Ruiters JP school choir

Staff members of Immanuel Ruiters JP

More School Visits in Erongo and Otjozondjupa Regions!

Our Senior Sales Representative, John Muyambango, has been very busy touring schools in Erongo and Otjozondjupa Regions this October. Among many, he visited Karibib Private School, where he updated staff members on NPH latest approved materials for the Junior Primary Phase. 

He stopped by at Okakarara Primary School to talk with teachers and and observe learners during class.

Grade 5 learners of  Okakarara Primary School

John presenting NPH materials to the
Junior Primary Staff of Karibib Private School

From there, he travelled to Otjiwarongo, where he met with teachers of Karundu Primary School and distributed our 2015 Calendars. 

What a busy trip that was! Well done, John! 

NPH sends a big THANK YOU to all the principals, teachers and other members of staff for being ever so welcoming and accommodating during our school visits!

John and  Karundu Primary School staff with NPH Calendars for 2015

October Promo Tour through Omaheke

Mr Johan Maritz from Nosobville 
Primary School with special needs learners

John and Ms Lisa Tjariko from
Usiel Ngjavera Primary School

John Muyambango, NPH Senior Sales Representative, has just return from a promotional tour through Omaheke Region in the eastern Namibia, where he was promoting our new approved materials for Junior Primary level.

Among others, John met with Mr Johan Maritz from Nosobville PS, Ms Beukes from Gababis Project School and with Ms Lisa Tjeriko from Usiel Ndjavera Primary School. 

All textbook officers were impressed with the materials NPH has on offer for the School Year 2015. 

John with Ms Beukes 
from Gobabis Project School

We would like to thank all the schools for their warm welcome and hospitality.

Meanwhile, John Masatih, our Sales Representative in the Kavango Region, and Freddy Nafuka, NPH Publisher for African Languages, met with Senior Educational Officers for Rumanyo, Rukwangali and Thimbukushu - Ms Hildegard Shimafo, Ms Joanna Manuel, Ms Gerhalda Ndumba and Ms Petrina Kanyetu.

John and Freddy from NPH with Senior Educational Officers Ms Hildegard Shimafo, Ms Joanna Manuel and Ms Gerhalda Ndumba   

NPH Launches "South West Africa to Namibia - My Personal Struggle"

Last week, on Wednesday 1 October, Namibia Publishing House had the pleasure of launching a long-awaited book by Fousy Shinana-Kambombo titled South West Africa to Namibia - My Personal Struggle.

The launch took place at the fairly recently opened Independence Memorial Museum in Windhoek. It was a well-attended event, with Mr Goodman Gwasira as the Director of Ceremony and guest speakers such as Jeremy Silvester, Werner Thaniseb and Erica Ndalikokule, to name just a few.

South West Africa to Namibia – My Personal Struggle carries historical value for the younger generations with the hope that they understand the sacrifices made by their fathers and mothers who were forced to leave the country with little hope of ever returning. 

The book is an account of the events of the liberation struggle told from a point of view of a woman. At the same time, in the light of gender-based violence, inequality and all other social illnesses that trouble Namibia today, Fousy Shinana-Kambombo gives us a glimpse into her difficult life as a married woman in the independent Namibia.

NPH Publisher, Patrycja Chyla-Malima, with author
Fousy Shinana-Kambombo at the launch

South West Africa to Namibia – My Personal Struggle offers us an honest journey through a mind of a person as she recalls all she went through in her life. But it’s not all negative. Fousy is able to leave the bad behind and stay focused. She speaks with confidence and courage, qualities she pleads all women must have.

Although very personal and sad at times, this book is an encouragement to women to share their stories.

South West Africa to Namibia - My Personal Struggle is available for purchase at Namibia Publishing House, 19 Faraday Street, Windhoek.

Namibia Publishing House Welcomes a Delegation from Macmillan UK, USA and SA

It was a very short trip for our colleagues from the Macmillan Headquarters in London, New York and Johannesburg, but they made it! The small group of delegates arrived in Windhoek on Thursday morning and left for Johannesburg on Saturday.

Despite their short stay, all Namibia Publishing House staff had the pleasure to meet: Craig Bauer, Jane Carlin, Emma Bourne, Mandla Balisa, Brett Basel and Antra Medne.

The purpose of the visit was to familiarise NPH staff with the changes that took place within the Macmillan Group and to introduce new members of the Macmillan team that will be based in the region.

Group photo of NPH staff with delegates from Macmillan UK, USA and SA

We would like to thank our visitors for taking time off their schedules to make the trip to Namibia and meet us. It was a pleasure to have you here.

Results of the 2014 Junior Primary Materials Submissions are out at last!

NPH team loading boxes of materials for submission

It was a long journey for all of us here at NPH, starting with the authors, editors, publishers and designers and ending with all of us together cramped in our offices till wee hours to meet the deadline.

It was stressful, but we handled it well. Thanks to the management who was ever so supportive. We all united in the common goal to supply Namibian schools with quality materials that will help elevate the standard of education in our country and implement the New Curriculum set up by NIED.

What a relief it was to see the bakkie leaving with the materials for evaluation.

Baby Born in an NPH Vehicle!

Many of us can tell an anecdote or two that involves a company car, however, not many can boast a birth of a baby that took place right there, on the back seat of your dutifully driven vehicle that displays your company logo on it.

Early Friday morning last week, one of our colleagues received a frantic call from her sister whose labour had started. Without thinking, Renate jumped into her car and rushed to take her sister to Windhoek Central Hospital.

Little Portia

The traffic was as usual before 8 am, with everyone trying to get to work, and so somewhere between John Meinert Street and an intersection of Davey Street and Johan Albrecht, the baby was born at the back seat of the NPH 1999 Toyota Corolla.

The staff of Windhoek Central Hospital were quick to react when they saw the Toyota pulling into the ambulance parking spot outside Emergencies and the umbilical cord was swiftly cut still in the car. The mother and the baby were then taken to the maternity ward where they were properly looked after. 

NPH is proud to announce that the newborn is a girl. The mother and the baby are doing well, although the little one is still in the incubator, as it was born prematurely. We wish them all the happiness and can only hope that the little girl will be named Natalie Portia Helena to signify NPH's involvement in the birth.

Now that is a story to tell your friends!

Winter in Kavango Region

John Masatih handing over materials to
Principal of Ludwigshafen PS, Mr Xamiseb

John Masatih, our Sales Representative for Kavango Region, has recently visited Ludwigshafen Primary School outside Tsumeb, where he talked with the Principal, Mr Xamiseb.

John with staff of Ludwigshafen PS - Mrs Tsauses,
Mrs Karingombe, Mr Xamiseb, Mrs Uises and Mrs Tsuses

John has also met with the school's devoted staff members with whom he chatted about NPH educational materials for Junior Primary.

The Garde 1 learners from Mrs Karingombe's class were very happy and keen to pose for photos.

 

Ludwigshafen Primary School class picture with the Grade 1 learners, John, Mrs Karingombe and
Principal Mr  Xamised Jannie

Internal Examinations in Secondary Schools accross Namibia are under way

It has been a busy month of prepping and revising for the internal examinations at all secondary schools in Namibia. Grade 10 and 12 learners are particularly anxious as the exams are a good indication of acceptance to the university of their choice.

NPH has visited a few schools this week to see how the learners were doing during this special time. 

Grade 10 learners writing their mid-year exams at Jan Jonker Senior Secondary School in Katutura, Windhoek

Grade 12 learners from Jan Jonker Senior Secondary School in Katutura, Windhoek, busy during the mid-year exams

John Masatih's June 2014 School Visits in Kavango, Otjozondjupa and Zambezi Regions

Our Sales Representative, John Masatih,  responsible for the Zambezi, Kavango and part of Ojozondjupa regions, has recently sent over photos from his June 2014 school visits. 

He visited, among many, Andara Combined School (Kavango) where he chatted to the Principal, Mr Samoka, about new NPH materials.

He also made a turn at Gam Combined School (Otjozondjupa) where staff and students happily posed for photos.

At Mangetti Dune Primary School (near Tsumkwe, Otjozondjupa), John met with teachers and observed pre-primary learners during their Physical Education class.

Omega Combined School in Zambezi region welcomed him with open arms as he showed the staff NPH educational materials for 2014.

   

John would like to thank all the schools for their warm welcome and eagerness to see the materials and chat to him about new developments in education in the country.

Farthest corners of ||Karas Region

As usual our Senior Sales Representative, John Muyambango, came back from a two-week promotional road trip though ||Karas and Otjozondjupa Regions with a lot of stories to tell.

He visited, among many, school situated in the farthest corners of the ||Karas Region such as Blouwes Primary School and Vaalgras Primary, both in the outskirts of Keetmanshoop.

Learners and teachers at Blouwes
Primary School

Acting Principal with learners at Vaalgras Primary School

The teachers and learners there were very keen to pose for photos and appreciated NPH going out of its way to reach them and update them on new educational materials.

Aurora Primary HOD, Principal and teachers

On his way back, John stopped by in Okahandja town to visit the Naub-Aib and Aurora Primary Schools where he talked to principals, HODs and teachers.

John with an HOD and teacher at Naub-Aib Primary

Hardap and Khomas Regions School Visits

John with Ms Theopalina Goliath

Our Senior Sales Representative, John Muyambango, has just come back from a tour of Hardap Region, where he stopped by, among many, N. Mutschuana Primary School in Gochas. Ms Theopaulina Goliath, the School Principal, was happy to show off the class she converted into a school library to promote reading and improve overall results of the school.

Grade 7 learners in their school library

On his way back from Hardap, John passed by a Bright Hill Pre-Primary, set deep in the heart of Katutura, Windhoek, at Okahandja Park. 

John with teachers and young learners at Bright Hill Pre-Primary.

Teachers Training in Zambezi Region

John Masatih with the group of Physical Science teachers
at the Workshop in Zambezi Region 

Our Sales Representative for the Zambezi Region, John Masatih, attended the Teachers Training that took place last month in the region. The teachers attended Senior Level Workshops and Physical Science Workshops and highly valued NPH teaching materials for Physical Science.

NPH Donates Maths Books to UNAM Students

UNAM students receiving maths books donated by
Namibia Publishing House

Last week, 20 May, Namibia Publishing House responded to the request from the University of Namibia Accounting Society to donate maths teaching materials for Grades 8-12 to students at the University.

John Muyambango, our Senior Sales Representative, was on the scene to hand over the materials to the group of students from the Society.

John with students from UNAM Accounting Society

HOD of Martti Ahtisaari Primary School reviewing
NPH teaching materials

John also met with HOD at Martti Ahtisaari Primary School in Katutura, Khomas Region, that week to promote NPH educational materials for the school year 2014.

NPH Promo Tour through Erongo Region

John with the learners and teacher at  the
 J.P. Brand Primary School in the Namib Desert

Erongo Region was unusually hot for this time of the year as our senior sales representative, John Muyambango, reports. 

John has just got back from his biannual school visits in the region. He made effort to see the teachers at a very remote location, close to 70 km outside of Walvis Bay, in the heart of the Namib Desert. The J.P. Brand Primary School has only 290 learners, but the spirits there are high and John enjoyed a very warm welcome from both learners and their teachers.

Ms Teresia |Goagoses' with her Grade 5 learners

He also visited Tutaleni Primary School in Walvis Bay, where he observed Ms Theresia |Goagoses' class. The learners were excited to have a visitor and were very well behaved. 

Grade 5 learners at Tutaleni Primary School in Walvis Bay