Namibia and the EU celebrates the upgrading of the Livingstone Linyanti Museum in Sangwali, Zambezi Region
One man’s dream to establish a museum for the well-known explorer and missionary, David Livingstone received a boost when the one –room museum at Sangwali was recently upgraded. The new museum, made of bricks and a corrugated iron roof is home to various artefacts like pictures and maps painted on canvas to tell the stories and travels of Livingstone from Kuruman in South Africa to Sangwali, where he resided before going deeper into central Africa. Sangwali, a small village about 130 Km west of Katima Mulilo in the Zambezi Region is home to Mr. Linus Mukwata, founder of the David Livingstone Museum. On the 13th of October the EU HoD, Jana Hybaskova together with staff from the Delegation in Windhoek attended an event to celebrate the first phase of the upgrading of the Livingstone Linyanti Museum in Sangwali. The EU in collaboration with the Namibia Scientific Society decided to assist part of the upgrading of this museum, which entailed putting up an orientation sign to the museum, preserve some of the maps and pictures and to renovate the current building’s walls, floor and roof. Very few people from Namibia or elsewhere are aware that Livingstone stayed in this region for some time and made it his home. The stories about what he has done to fight against slavery, bringing Christianity to the region and treating patients as a medical doctor - among others are well known by the local people, who have high regard for his contributions. Culture is an important part of the EU’s work and can be seen as an engine for social and economic development. The people in this area are very poor and face many challenges such as finding employment opportunities, access to water and education. We are therefore excited to work together with this community and other stakeholders to raise awareness about the museum and history of Livingstone. We believe it is a good opportunity to boost tourism in this region and a catalyst for further economic development and income for the local population. Similarly the EU used the opportunity to visit some of the upcoming agricultural projects and to hand over some computers to the Secondary School in Sangwali.
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