FlyNamibia Disability Awareness Campaign

Continuing the company’s mandate to intentionally create an inclusive workplace, colleagues at Westair Aviation gathered in the hangar for this year’s Disability Awareness Campaign.

The guest speaker, registered clinical psychologist Mareike Talkenberg, opened the session with a simple yet powerful question: “By a show of hands, how many of you have experienced stress this week?” Without hesitation, every hand went up. She then asked a second, more piercing question: “Did someone notice and check whether you are okay?” Only five hands remained raised. “Stress; it affects basically all of us, but we don’t see it. It is invisible, but contagious,” she explained.

At a time of year when nerves are frayed and shoulders heavy with the weight of year-end pressures, her message could not have been more relevant. Talkenberg drew attention to mental health disorders, often misunderstood and neglected in Namibia. “In Namibia, especially, there’s a lack of general awareness regarding mental wellbeing. There are still deeply ingrained assumptions that only a few people suffer from this, and that they usually can’t function properly.”

The statistics are sobering. Namibia has the highest rate of suicide in Africa and ranks fourth globally – a clear sign that urgent national intervention is needed to prevent a worsening crisis. Yet, Talkenberg reminded the audience that there is hope. “If we can identify symptoms early, we can find help sooner and support someone who is struggling – especially a colleague, if we notice red flags in their behaviour.”

She linked chronic burnout to the growing prevalence of mental health challenges, noting that our constant state of distraction is part of the problem. “Metaphorically speaking, our attention span keeps starting on a new tab, yet it never stops. Research shows that every eight seconds, our brain resets focus. This constant fragmentation makes us less effective.” Our brains simply were not made for such interrupted, sporadic productivity, and this leads to burnout. Her advice is practical: “Our responsibility is to reach out, manage and control. It doesn’t have to be debilitating. Try to resist the eight-second reset. For every unhealthy coping mechanism, try to balance it with a healthy one. You can’t pour from an empty cup, but you can refill it.”

Adding to the discussion, Westair’s own general practitioner and flight doctor with Medical Rescue Africa (MRA), Dr Iyaloo Shiimi, emphasised the organisation’s commitment to inclusivity.