UNAM Open Access Journal University of Namibia
Not a member yet
612 research outputs found
Sort by
The literary representation of the resilience of the slave family and familial relations in Frederick Douglass’ autobiography
Get PDFThe thrust of this paper is to make an exploration of the literary representation of the black family under slavery. How the family fared under the peculiar institution of slavery was determined by the social system of the Old South that determined how and to whom goods were produced, to satisfy human wants. An exploration of this capitalist patriarchal ideology shows that the slave was objectified for economic gains, this causing a severe impact on the slaves’ familial relations. Therefore, it is the slave who can give an objective account of how the slave family fared under slavery, which resulted in the slave narrative being labelled “the” mode of expression during that time. The narrative by Douglass has therefore demonstrated that slavery certainly was a horror to the slaves but the resilience of the slaves, their fortitude and inner strength made them to survive and keep their families intact. In the final analysis it has been made clear that despite all the odds against it, the slave family survived the horrors of slavery
Assessment on the effect of Lignin as a feed additive for lohmann brown egg layer chickens: a case study at Neudamm farm, University of Namibia.
Get PDFNamibian environmental conditions. A total of 871 chickens (482 experimental and 489 control groups), weighing an average mass of 2 kg/head, were subjected to an experiment under Neudamm Campus (UNAM) environmental conditions (32 C average temperature and 22% relative humidity). All chickens were fed with ordinary balanced ration earmarked for egg layers for 8 days and subjected to stress for 10 minutes per day. The experimental group was given purified lignin (Lignohumate KD) 60 mg/kg diluted in a litter of drinking water, as an anti-stressor feed additive and metabolic activity stimulator. Results of this study revealed an increase in egg production, reduction in feed intake, resistance to stress, and production of eggs of bigger sizes (graded as Extra-large), with strong shells as compared to those produced by the control group. At a certain stage, some chickens from the experimental group were unable to release eggs freely, a fact possibly related to egg size and possible deficient lubrication of cloacal environment. Studies are ongoing with the objective of identifying accurate amounts of lignin/kg necessary to feed egg-layer chickens for triggering an improvement of egg quality under Namibian environmental conditions, without affecting the bird’s physiology and health
Characterization of A8 by 3-Centralizers
Get PDFLet G be a finite group containing a subgroup H isomorphic to an alternating group, An, such that G satisfies the 3-cycle property, namely ’for a 3-cycle x 2H, if xg 2H for any g 2 G, then g 2 H.’It is proved that for n = 8, G is isomorphic to LK, an extension of an elementary Abelian 2-group L by a group K isomorphic to either A8 or SL(5, 2). If G is simple, it is shown that G is isomorphic to A8 or SL(5, 2)
Prevalence and aetiological agents of parasitic infestation among population in northern Namibia.
Get PDFIntestinal parasitic infestations continues to be a public health burden in many developing countries. A hospital based cross-sectional retrospective study was conducted for the period June to December 2013 at Intermediate Hospital Oshakati (IHO), northern Namibia, to assess the prevalence of parasitic infestation. A total of 1000 stool specimens were analysed for intestinal parasites at Namibia Institute of Pathology (NIP) Oshakati laboratory based on all patients who submitted specimen during the study period. Data on age, gender, species of parasites and dual infection were tallied on the data collection sheet from microbiology stool bench work cards and laboratory information system, and was imported to and analysed by Microsoft Excel. Of the 1000 patients under review 138 (13.8%) patients had either dual or mono infestation by different species of parasites, of which 128 (12.8%) had mono parasitic infection, while 10 (1%) had dual infection. Entamoeba coli was the most (5.5%) prevalent intestinal parasites, followed by Giardia lamblia (4.4%) and Entamoeba histolytic (1.7%). The most affected age group was the 76-90 years old due to personal hygiene and the rural environment where most live under poor sanitation and portable water problems. Females (18.6%) were twice as much at risk of intestinal parasites infection than their male (9.7%) counter parts. Communal hand washing, absence of proper human waste disposal in rural areas and informal urban settlements may be attributed as predisposing factors. Drastic public health measures as provision of pit latrines and health education on intestinal parasites will go a long way in reducing these high prevalence rates. The mass deworming exercises currently being undertaken among school children should be expanded to cover older people
Rethinking the poetics of urban informalities in fiction: Reconstructing the city space in times of crisis
Get PDFThis paper considers ways of reading and theorising urbanity and the urbanites’ coping strategies for survival. The prime motivation is to demonstrate their apt capacity to transform the urban space and utilise it to better their lives. Using resilience theory and focusing on the profundity of agency, the paper takes literature, particularly the short story set in urban Zimbabwe during the crisis of the past decade to focus on the characters as actors with the capacity to innovate and respond to difficulty with ingenuity through urban informalities; strengths we can all learn from
A proposed framework for best practice in Quality Assurance in Namibian Higher education institutions
Get PDFThis study investigated into the current status of quality assurance in the relatively young higher education sector of Namibia, where the official quality assurance system still is in the process of development. The purpose of the study was to determine the status and level of quality assurance mechanisms within Namibian higher education institutions with reference to current international quality assurance practices. The study confined itself to degree-granting higher education institutions only, with a university status. Three institutions participated in the study - one public university, one private university, and one polytechnic. A phenomenological explorative and descriptive design was used with the aim of seeking an understanding and interpretation of the true meaning that the participants accorded to their experience of the phenomenon under study, namely, quality assurance in higher education institutions. The methodology was based on improvement-oriented evaluation. The data were collected by means of individual interviews (purposeful sampling) and institutional document analyses
Gender, social capital and social reproduction: The (in)visibility of care work in the context of HIV/ AIDS
Get PDFIn Namibia the majority of orphans and vulnerable children are absorbed into the extended family structure. Out of an orphan population of 150 000 only a small number (729) is taken in by the 36 registered Residential Child Care Facilities (RCCFs) and 533 by unregistered RCCFs. There is, however, little discussion on who in the extended family does the caring or the gendered nature of that care. Women are the primary care givers of orphans and vulnerable children. This socially necessary reproductive labour is not enumerated or remunerated. The majority of households that take in orphans and vulnerable children are headed by elderly females who themselves depend on social transfers and remittances. The additional care burden exacerbates the crisis of social reproduction in affected households. Social Capital theorists, see women’s social reproductive labour as instrumental to reducing the care burden on the state. Feminist Social Reproduction theorists see it as contributing to social inequalities. Research in Namibia reveals the crises of social reproduction in AIDS affected households. This includes food insecurity, income insufficiency and the exclusion from services. Many affected households cannot access the social grants available due to social, economic and administrative barriers. This paper argues for the validation of women’s unpaid social reproductive labour in order to break the cycle of poverty and marginalization caused by AIDS. It argues for the inclusion of unpaid care work into macroeconomic frameworks
A proposed framework for best practice in Quality Assurance in Namibian Higher education institutions
Get PDFThis study investigated into the current status of quality assurance in the relatively young higher education sector of Namibia, where the official quality assurance system still is in the process of development. The purpose of the study was to determine the status and level of quality assurance mechanisms within Namibian higher education institutions with reference to current international quality assurance practices. The study confined itself to degree-granting higher education institutions only, with a university status. Three institutions participated in the study - one public university, one private university, and one polytechnic. A phenomenological explorative and descriptive design was used with the aim of seeking an understanding and interpretation of the true meaning that the participants accorded to their experience of the phenomenon under study, namely, quality assurance in higher education institutions. The methodology was based on improvement-oriented evaluation. The data were collected by means of individual interviews (purposeful sampling) and institutional document analyses
A linguistic study of reduplication in Sesotho
Get PDFThe concept of reduplication has attracted interest from many linguists in recent years. This is because reduplication is an important phenomenon in languages. Although some linguists have tried to look at reduplication in Sesotho, its role and function in this language has been neglected. This paper looks at the usage of reduplication and its role in the enrichment of Sesotho. The paper reveals that Sesotho makes use of partial and complete reduplication with various functions such as: showing plurality, emphasis, diminutives, echoic expressions, completeness, originality, intensity, frequency, among others. Another interesting fact in this paper is that Sesotho, like English (Ghomeshi et al., 2004, p. 308) has contrastive reduplication where some speakers use it to contrast one concept from others. In addition, the paper reveals that reduplication in Sesotho can be categorized into prototypical meaning, literal meaning, intensifi ed meaning and value-added meaning
Socio-economic determinants of obesity of Namibian women in the reproductive age group: A binary logistic regression model
Get PDFObesity leads to reduced lifer expectancy, increased likelihood of a wide range of diseases Obesity also lowers self-esteem and has negative consequences on the cognitive and social development of a person. World-wide, obesity is a leading yet preventable cause of death and its prevalence both in children and adults is increasing day by day. Compared to men, women have a relatively higher burden of disease attributable to overweight and obesity. This paper establishes the socio-economic factors influencing obesity in women in Namibia using logistic regression. The outcome variable was Obesity (1 for Obese, 0 for Not obese). The independent variables included the total number of children ever born to the woman, her place of residence; current age of the woman, her highest level of education, her economic status, contraceptive use, smoking habits, age of the woman at first birth, place of residence, region, and religion. Results indicate that in Namibia, obesity of a woman is associated with the age of the woman, her highest level of education, her economic status, contraceptive use, smoking habits, and the age of the woman at first birth. Policy and intervention programs to reduce obesity should focus on encouraging women to delay onset of child-bearing, to embark on lifelong regular exercise and diet programs. Even though smoking was inversely related to obesity, women should be encouraged to stop smoking because of its other devastating health effects