The 1990 Project | 2022 Impact Challenge
Team Members: Jasmine Williams, Allison Renaud, Dimitri St Vil, Jennifer Nunes
Impact Partner: Michelle McClean Children’s Trust
The Challenge: The dilemma is that due to a large loss of jobs because of the global pandemic, Namibians have turned to unlawfully murdering wildlife for basic survival needs, causing the tourism industry, which is the backbone of the country's economy, to deteriorate.
SDGs Addressed: SDG 11: Sustainable Cities & Communities, SDG 15: Life On Land
The Solution: Our solution is to restore traditional Namibian values that encourage wildlife conservation while also strengthening the economy through the creation of new job opportunities such as wildlife preservationists and similar professions so that people do not have to prioritize survival over moral values. Namibia was the first African country to include environmental preservation in its constitution, and by generating jobs to care for the animals in these wildlife conservations, we can highlight the country's appreciation for wildlife. Additionally, University research program partnerships and the Technical Assistance United Nations Trust Fund will be used to achieve the founding to sustain these job positions. Although tourism has decreased as a result of the pandemic, researchers, particularly ecological researchers, can help to resurrect the economy because colleges such as FIU have money dedicated to studies. As a result, the Namibian government could gain revenue through placing research fees for outside universities in partnership with the University of Namibia, which is located in the same city as our partner Nonprofit, Michelle McLean Children Trust, in Namibia's capital, Windhoek.
The Reason: The 1990 Project aims to reintroduce the spirit of freedom, which is how we came up with the name since Namibia gained independence from South Africa in 1990. This was also the year that Namibia joined the United Nations which is a major source of funding for our project. The name comes from the book "The 1619 Project," which chronicles the year when race-based bondage became prevalent in the Black experience. Our purpose is to educate, empower, and protect rather than to play the role of White saviors, allowing Namibia to facilitate this self-sustaining solution once we begin the process of integrating the University of Namibia with Florida International University, allowing other universities to join over time. The mission of the Michelle McLean Children Trust is to prepare future generations of Namibians for success, which is exactly what this program intends to do.
