Epic DHL journey reaches Namibia

The DHL Africa As One tour passed through Namibia last week as part of its epic journey across the African continent to raise awareness about the 2015 Rugby World Cup.

The journey started in Cape Town in October last year and will see the seven-member team covering more than 50 000km in three Land Rover Discoveries through 43 African countries before it reaches London just before the start of the Rugby World Cup in September.

According to Kevin Phillips, country manager for DHL Express Namibia, the campaign highlights DHL’s continuous commitment to investing in the African continent.

“The journey has seen us delivering the game of rugby and what it represents across Africa. More importantly, on a continent synonymous with the game of soccer, we aim to unearth a keen interest in the global sport of rugby. 

“This tour is not just about rugby, it is about showcasing Africa to the rest of the world in all her beauty. We are delighted to share our beautiful country, and all it has to offer, with the rest of the world,” Phillips said.

The Africa As One team arrived in Windhoek last Thursday and left for the DRC on Sunday.

During their stay they visited local communities to distribute stationery to children and provided free eye tests to pensioners at the Oude Rust Old Age Home.

On Saturday the crew and team at DHL Express Namibia entertained their top customers and families of staff to a fun rugby event to promote the sport and the Africa As One journey.

About 100 children from five Windhoek schools – Namibia English Primary School, Suiderhof Primary School, St Andrews Primary School, Van Rhyn Primary School and AI Steenkamp Primary School attended a rugby coaching clinic which was conducted by tour member Hein Ferreira with the assistance of Namibia’s national team players.

The Welwitschias captain Darryl de la Harpe was also present and gave the children a motivational speech about the importance of rugby and how it can open doors for one.

The tour has so far covered the east coast of Africa, including countries like Sudan, Uganda, Kenya, Burundi, Rwanda, Madagascar, Mauritius and Reunion Island and then moved down to most of the southern African countries.

Namibia was the 20th country on the tour which now moves to West Africa and countries like the DRC, Equatorial Guinea, Nigeria, Benin, Gabon and Burkina Faso.

Ferreira, who left his job as a sports marketing consultant to go on the tour, said it had been an amazing journey to date.

“I gave up my job to do this trip because it’s a once in a lifetime opportunity. I sold my car and rented out my house to go on a one-year adventure and I am very glad I made that decision; it has been amazing so far.

“We have stayed in hotels or fully equipped campsites to truck stops or nature reserves, while the food has been interesting and challenging, and even included mopani worms and grasshoppers on the local market in Uganda.

“The biggest challenge so far was the lack of information and poor condition of some of the roads that we travelled on. In Tanzania we covered a 500km stretch on the east coast next to Lake Tanganyika that took us 17 hours to complete,” he said.

According to Ferreira, rugby has grown by leaps and bounds and is very popular across the continent.

“I was amazed at how popular rugby is and found people playing the game all over the continent, from Sudan in the north east to here in Namibia. There has been incredible growth and now the biggest challenge is to improve the level of coaching in all these countries.

“All the countries know about the World Cup and the most popular team is without a doubt the Springboks because they are seen as Africa’s hope to win the World Cup. I saw the Springbok jersey in random places all over the continent,” he said.

The team includes a videographer and a video editor who produce short videos of each country and post it on their website at www.africaasone.com