Dr. Rudolf Schmitt
Professor in Food Microbiology and Food Safety (retired)
B360 Board Member
Faculty of Health and Applied Science
Department of Health Sciences
Namibia University of Science and Technology
February 28 - March 18, 2022
Cooperation with university staff
For the past 12 years I have been regularly volunteering at NUST in Namibia. I appreciate the local contacts, especially the very good cooperation with Charmaine Jansen, as well as with Rebecca Shooya, Prof Sylvester Moyo and recently also with Aune Andreas. It has been interesting to observe the developments at NUST over the past decade and to share my knowledge and experience as a volunteer. Covid-19 and its consequences pose many challenges for the NUST lecturers and students and I am grateful that a physical assignment was again possible this year.
Cooperation with students
Even more than perfect. Discipline, respect and politeness is part of their culture, which makes it so easy to teach them. Very fast the contact is established and up from this moment we had an intense collaboration. They has heard about HACCP, but only very superficial, and therefore I based my teaching on exercises and case studies coming from my own experience. Maybe 70% of our 50 hours contact time we worked and studies these examples. The students were excited and pushed me onwards with a lot of excellent questions. This allowed me to cover a broader range of Food Safety than originally intended. It was so fun and very instructive for all of us.
Impact and win-win
The impact on the students was excellent. Over the whole time we had an intense and interactive exchange. The special thing about this assignment was the work with two virtual interns doing a research project for a Swiss company. The topic is very difficult for them, so during my time I had to make sure that they are well introduced and understand exactly what they have to do and which methods they have to use to reach the goal. This was achieved because both are hardworking and good.
Personal message
One very special event has repeatedly attracted our attention: Russia's war against Ukraine, which broke out 4 days before I started. Already at the beginning of my assignment, students asked me about it and I made, among other things, the perhaps inadmissible comparison with Namibia. Ukraine gained its independence about 18 months after Namibia and now the former power has attacked the country. How would it be if South Africa invaded Namibia with an army? Unthinkable for all. Thus, these current terrible events in Eastern Europe have helped to create a human bond between us that goes beyond professional and cultural discussions.
