PARTNER STORY
INSPIRING YOUNG SCIENTISTS THROUGHOUT NAMIBIA
“P
eople are going to have fun and they are going to learn at the same time and we’re going to break down the barriers surrounding physics and we’re going to empower children and teachers to go out and to make sure that they know that they can change Namibia. We need to generate scientists, we need engineers; we need people with technical skills,” enthuses Ignasius /Awaseb, B2Gold’s Corporate Social Responsibility Manager. Ignasius’s excitement for the possibilities that are embedded in B2Gold’s Little Shop of Physics is palpable. Handing over the reins of the project is an equally excited Sherri Lytle, who has been stoking the fire for Physics in Namibia for the last five and a half years.
The Little Shop of Physics is a passion project of Sherri’s that she brought
to Namibia from Colorado State University in America, her alma mater. Sherri’s personal experience of the transforming power of Little Shop of Physics on young minds and their perception of Physics impelled her to literally “set up shop” in Namibia. “Little Shop of Physics has been around for twenty five years. I met the creators, Brian Jones and Sheila Ferguson, when they first began when my son was in the First Grade. All three of my children have come up through Little Shop of Physics. I believe that the Little Shop of Physics model changed my children’s lives forever - they’re passionate, they think outside of the box, they build things, they break things, they make things, they find trash and do creative things with it. And it’s not only about physics, it’s about all genres, it’s about nature, conservation, how people relate to each other, teamwork. It’s a model that fits across different disciplines in
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the education system. I believe in the Little Shop of Physics and I can see that it is helping to change Namibia.” Four years ago, when B2Gold constructed their Education Centre at the Otjikoto Mine north of Otjiwarango, Sherri told the Managing Director of B2Gold at that time that she was bringing the Little Shop of Physics to Namibia. The merit of the initiative perfectly aligns with B2Gold’s Corporate Social Responsibility strategy and since then, they’ve never looked back. “B2Gold’s CSR extends across four focus areas, health, environment, livelihoods and education, and we try to do as much as we can for the region in which we operate and to extend this to a national level. B2Gold is planning outreach programs to take Little Shop of Physics to schools that cannot necessarily take part in the events hosted at our Education