The stand of Gondwana turned into a popular meeting place for hundreds of visitors to the Namibia Tourism Expo, held from 8 until 11 June 2011 in Windhoek. The Expo jury voted the 'Gondwana Shebeen' the best stand in in the Food & Beverages category and awarded the platinum certificate.
The stand had been modelled on the Oshebeena Bar at Etosha Safari Camp. The bar introduces our guests to something which is part of the African population’s everyday life, in the townships and in the populous northern parts of the country. Gondwana loves to combine adventure and astronomy. Apart from taking in our country’s unique nature we want our guests to be able to relate to its population and history. Therefore we have established information centres at some of our lodges. Then there is the inimitable restaurant at the Cañon Roadhouse which sports yesteryear’s vehicles, petrol pumps, tools and street signs. And there is the Osheebena Bar at the Etosha Safari Camp.
During the Namibia Tourism Expo we ran a competition to come up with an authentic name for this bar. The result was a clear vote against corruption – the overwhelming majority of participants was in favour of 'Down Corruption Bar .o1'. The lucky winner carried off a prize to the value of N$ 80,000: 101 nights, including breakfast, at any of the Gondwana lodges.
The competition also served as a fundraiser for the Gondwana Social Fund. A total of N$ 47,000 in cash and in kind was raised for the fund’s first project, the Okaukuejo Primary School. A heartfelt thank you to the sponsors and all the participants in the competition!
The school will make good use of this support. Headmaster Erastus Shipahu would like to enlarge the school hostel. Currently it has room for 70 boys and girls but according to Shipahu demand is considerably higher. Furthermore the children urgently need an area where they can have their meals under a roof. So far they use stone benches and tables in the yard which are almost completely exposed to the sun and the elements. Okaukuejo Primary School is attended by a total of 319 children up to Grade 8 – with between 29 and 45 children per classroom.
Through its accommodation facilities Etosha Safari Lodge and Camp (9 km south of Andersson's Gate) Gondwana has special ties to the school: the children of staff members attend this school and the management has already helped with smaller projects several times.
The Gondwana Social Fund is the financial foundation of the Gondwana Collection’s social commitment. And social commitment is one of the three pillars of the company’s philosophy, together with tourism and nature conservation. Tourism generates income and thereby creates jobs which in turn benefit the country’s nature and people.