Meet Ketji, our Community Outreach Officer for Namibia

Pru Allison
January 10, 2025

When guests travel to Africa it tends to be because they want to see the wildlife, but upon their return it’s often the people who they remember. It’s not only conservation work that we undertake, we’re also committed to supporting the local communities and one man who’s very involved in this is our Namibian Community Outreach Officer who’s widely known as Ketji. “My full name is Jermain Ketji,” he explains. “But I prefer to be known by my last name Ketji and that’s how everyone knows me. I was born in Grootfontein, a recently established town that’s a main business hub and supports the nearby farming community both commercial and communal.”

From day one, community has been a core component of life for Ketji. “I grew up with a strong rural rooted upbringing which was very common,” he tells us. “Working parents in towns would send their children to grandparents in the village until they reach school age.” This practice familiarised the young children with the adults’ daily chores and they learnt to contribute to the household. “My interest was mostly in goat herding,” notes Ketji. “It provided an opportunity to be out in the bush which meant the chance to enjoy the different treats that nature has to offer.”

The young Namibian also learnt from the older generations who guided him through the traditional herding practices. “I was so fascinated by the bush skills of the herders,” he nods. “The way they were able to find their way around and use the native plants to treat different ailments – it’s as though they were the pharmacists and everyone would order different plants from them on a daily basis. Throughout my schooling I would spend all my holidays and weekends back at the village and get straight back into my chores.”

This sense of community has stayed with Ketji right through to the present day as has the love of nature that his days out herding instilled. “It connected and tied my soul and spirit to nature. Throughout my life I have only wanted jobs that involved travelling to remote rural areas. It is a connection I have been fortunate to grow and strengthen over the years as I learnt more about conservation, tourism and how they can be used to develop and empower rural communities.”

Today, home for Ketji is Namibia’s capital Windhoek where he lives alone and continues to travel frequently in his role for us. Ketji had already spent 16 years working in tourism and outreach prior to joining Natural Selection three years ago. In this previous role he undertook guiding, lodge management, concession management and served on the boards of lodges as well as a non-profit. Ketji’s role with us as Community Outreach Officer for Namibia sees him ensure that the local communities benefit fully from Natural Selection’s ecotourism endeavours and it’s a model that he wholeheartedly believes in.

“I am passionate about people and their harmonious existence in nature,” he enthuses. “Over the years I have seen tremendous transformation of people and landscapes due to sustainable eco-tourism concepts. If done well and centred on people, I believe that community outreach is the best form of development. It should be done by the people, for the people, with serious passion and conviction from all involved.”

Ketji’s days are spent acting as liaison between conservancy and community partners on a range of different initiatives through Namibia. “We concentrate our efforts on impact through education,” he notes. “We’re currently sponsoring 20 learners from two high schools to help aid their chances of qualifying for tertiary education. In addition to this we recently built a kindergarten for a rural community in the Sesfontein area, the Otjikondavirongo Conservancy.”

Our community champion won’t be drawn on a favourite amongst the projects we run, but does have a favourite aspect of the job. “I really enjoy interacting with people and learning more about cultures, customs and traditions – I treasure unity in diversity.” As has been the case since he was a boy spending his school holidays herding goats, Ketji also places immense value upon being amongst nature’s spoils, “breathtaking, spectacular views, fantastic sightings, serenity and the solitude that only Mother Nature can provide.” He will also concede that resource mobilisation is the most challenging part of his role.

With such an involved job it’s natural that Ketji needs some downtime, and when he’s not working on our projects he can be found out running or camping in Namibia’s unspoilt landscapes.