RusNam Centre is open for business

The new RusNam Centre has been opened in Windhoek following more than a year of planning.
Yanna Smith
The Russian Namibian Cultural and Education Centre was officially opened on Friday by the international relations and cooperation minister Netumbo Nandi Ndaitwah. The centre forms part of a partnership between the International University of Management (IUM) and the People’s Friendship University of Russia (RUDN).

It was established independently by the founder of IUM Dr David Namwandi and Russian expat Diana Kemp. RUDN is the first Russian university that has signed a partnership with IUM to use the centre but, more are coming including Ulyanovsk State University and Kursk State University

Not only will the centre teach the Russian language to students wishing to pursue higher education in Russia, it will also do so for the general public in Namibia.

The centre will also serve as a bridging service for students who will be attending Russian universities. They will not only be prepared for the Russian social and cultural environment, but also be given preparatory courses to ease the transition into the Russian curriculum.

From time to time, senior Russian professors from various universities will offer courses at the centre for IUM students and new management courses for the IUM will also be developed in conjunction with Russian experts.

At an informal gathering on Wednesday evening of last week, to which The Zone was invited, it was clear that deep friendships have been forged between the members of the RUDN delegation and the senior IUM team, led by Namwandi.

The agreement reached between these role players will benefit Namibian students, and the various sectors in the country, tremendously. To this end, the centre was needed.

In an exclusive interview with The Zone, Dr Larisa Efremova, the vice-rector for international affairs, shared the history of RUDN.

The university was specifically founded for train specialists for African countries. Established on 5 February 1960 and first named after Patrice Lumumba, the first president of a free Democratic Republic of the Congo, the university has trained over 20 000 students for the African region. It was, and always has been, a Russian government programme.

“The campus is like a small United Nations. Currently there are students from 156 countries across the world. Our goal, by 2020 is to have 40% of our students from 165 countries,” Efremova said.

The aim is not only to train doctors, engineers and the like, but to allow for post-graduate studies so that Africa has its own senior professors and researchers to take the continent forward.

The university specialises in training foreign students in medicine, engineering, agriculture, technical studies, humanitarian disciplines and international relations. It is one of three Russian universities that can train diplomats.

The director of the medical institute, Professor Aleksei Abramov, also spoke to The Zone.

Their ultimate goal is to train medical professionals and that they return home for internships during semester breaks. Post-graduate studies and post-doctoral research is also supported and encouraged as it is important for Africa. This includes viral research, in particular with regards to HIV and other deadly viruses, such as Ebola.

Russia is a leader in medical research. In fact, Russia was the first country to deliver a test Ebola vaccine to Guinea in August 2017. Russian medical research, in particular during the Cold War and on zoonotic diseases, was world-class. When the Iron Curtain eventually fell and the experts came together, the West could not fathom the depth of the results of the Russian research.

Abramov looks forward to welcoming more Namibian students. “In my experience, I have found Namibian students to be highly motivated and very hardworking,” he said.

Healthcare, he explained, has become a global issue and is no longer country or area based. For Africa, he believes that healthcare, both in medical education and management, is critical for the continent and an MBA for medical management will now be developed.

“We need to train more medical professionals but, we also need professors, teachers and researchers,” he told The Zone.

The institute hosts an annual conference for international experts to attend and falls within the top 100 research institutes in the world.

At Friday’s launch, Yury Tsvetkov, the First Secretary of the Russian embassy in Windhoek, who was involved with the creation and founding of the centre along with Kemp and Namwandi, said: “I remember about a year ago, my friend Diana and I were discussing the idea of bringing Russian education, culture and language courses to Namibia. That was the right question… which we addressed to Dr David Namwandi. People say what is easy for two is hard for one but, with Dr Namwandi’s support, we turned this expression on its head. What is impossible for many is possible for us. And today, this profound realisation makes me proud and happy for what we have done and what we are planning to do.”

According to Netumbo-Ndaitwah, “the establishment of this centre elevates the excellent bilateral relations between the people of Russia and Namibia.” She called on other Namibian institutions of higher learning to also forge relationships and partnerships with universities worldwide.

The centre is situated at 16 Liszt Street in Windhoek and can be reached at rusnamcentre@gmail.com.

YANNA SMITH