Passionate about promoting and shining a light on Namibia, award-winning artist and entrepreneur Eric Sell, better known as EES, has availed himself to teach children in Germany about Namibia.
EES told VIBEZ! that he was approached by two German teachers, who saw how he connects with children in general. “They approached me, and helped to build my programme. Schools book me to come to their schools to teach them more about Namibia, our culture, our history, our dances, our languages, the nature and wildlife and of course, the music,” he noted.
EESy School will mainly operate in German-speaking European countries.
“It is totally amazing to see the kids’ eyes and energy when I tell them about Namibia. They learn that there is a world out there that they do not know yet, and they take it more seriously. Kids are very open-minded, and telling them about Namibia gives them a new perspective on life. It also makes Namibia a very interesting, cool place when I show them how colourful our flag is, and how lively our dance moves and music are.”
The programme is divided into four classes. In class one, learners watch a 15-minute video about Namibia. In the second class, they get to learn a song of EES called ‘Sundowner’, through which he tells them about the beautiful Namibian sunsets, and then they get to sing along. The third class is the creative class, where they have to design a big poster incorporating lots of Namibian elements, including animals. In the fourth class, he teaches them about Namibian music, and how to dance to it.
“Children do not pay; this is booked and paid for by the school. In Germany, there is a lot of funding for these types of projects to give children new perspectives, and the schools can apply for this extra funding. It does not always work, but it’s worth a try,” he said.
It took about seven months to build and finalise the whole EESy School programme. According to EES, there were lots of documentation, designs, videos and briefings to different schools before it was fully implemented.
“I just want to have fun right now and spread positive vibes about Namibia, our culture and music to the world like I have been doing for many years; just loving what I do and being a very proud Namibian,” he beamed.