Dr. Stephanie Baumgartner

Cooperation with university staff

As it was the first time this course was given, the planning phase was accompanied with some insecurities, despite the well-developed program documentation and the regular and focused exchange with my co-lecturer. The search of free textbooks and learning materials turned out to be complex but was solved successfully. This initial uncertainty disappeared with the first hour in class! The cooperation with my co-lecturer turned out to be simply amazing. Our close exchange and flexibility enabled us to customize the course just in time, even in classroom. Therefore, our co-teaching developed into a win-win situation especially for the students. The competent support of the staff at NUST contributed furthermore to the success of the assignment. All needed material was available; administration and organisation were excellent! A great thank you to all involved at NUST.

Cooperation with students

The students are so eager to learn! They are in their 6th semester of the Bachelor programme “Human Nutrition”. It was a great pleasure to realize, that the new course could build on a good base of knowledge. The course aimed to equip students with professional competences to develop a nutrition programme at a/the community level as part of a multidisciplinary team in a primary health care setting. The theoretical part covers principles of health promotion and disease prevention, a best practice model for projects in public health as well as physiology from overeating to fasting. In the practical part, screening, assessing and advising people according to the nutrition care process was applied, e.g. with the action day “Know your measurements”. The students natural behaviour facilitated achieving the practical objectives and lead to lively classroom sessions. Right away, the exchange with them was sincere and rewarding.

Impact Win-WIn

The biggest win-win lies certainly within the exchange of cultural knowledge. On one hand, I had to shift from overnutrition to undernutrition, and learned to apply anthropometric techniques I never use otherwise. On the other hand, the students did profit from best practice models developed and evaluated in Europe, to develop customized approaches for Namibia.

Memorable Highlights

I must mention beforehand that every day, even every hour of my assignment at NUST is memorable!

At the evening of my arrival day, I had the terrific chance to join into a networking event with B360 alumni, Namibian experts and staff of NUST. It was amazing to learn how alumni gained confidence and build up their carriers upon their B360 experience. At this occasion, I received an invitation to visit the township Katatura on the weekend before starting my teaching. This field trip with two alumni gave me a unique, preparatory insight into the diversity of life in Windhoek and of my students.

Friday of the first week, the students carried out a day of “Know your body measurements”. They maintained six stations on campus, where passers-by could get their body height and weight, mid- upper-arm circumferences and skinfold measured. For critical cases or curious subjects, even body composition was available. In three hours, data from 220 people were collected and were analysed right away.

The same Friday, March 13, 2020, we got the first information that the Swiss Federal Council asked the Swiss citizens not to travel respectively to return home. The same weekend Namibia experienced the first confirmed cases of Covid-19 and consequently the Namibian government stopped air traffic to Europe. On Sunday, NUST announced the closure of the campus, therefore my assignment as B360 expert ended untimely and the course unfortunately stayed uncompleted. We are determined to convert it into an e-learning course opening with the reopening of NUST.

Personal message

Immersing myself into life and culture in Namibia, meeting motivated students, my cooperative co-lecturer and the supporting staff at NUST was an enriching experience from any point of view. It is a pleasure to share new ideas and support the schooling of Nutrition Specialists where they are much needed. Education is an extremely effective way to develop a country to its best. Therefore, I am very sorry, that my assignment had to be stopped in the middle due to the coronavirus pandemic. Fortunately, I had a chance to meet with my co-lecturer shortly before departure to plan an ongoing online course. It takes a lot of motivation and effort from all people involved in the B360 education partnership, but it is worth it!