Dordabis, Namibia
15 Project reviews of Joseph's Dream Appaloosas
Project Details
The Art and Joy of living in liberty with horses. Connecting people and animals in need through nature and art.
Chief Joseph of the Nez Perce had a dream, the dream that all nations could live in peace with each other.
Joseph’s Dream Appaloosas is more than just a breeding stud. We are training people and horses. But mainly letting horses teach people: how to listen... listen to nature, listen to silence, listen to the old drums of the earth beating.
The healing power that comes with connecting to the soul of these incredible creatures allows us to open up and learn the language to be spoken to make Joesph’s Dream a reality in this world… between people, people and animals, people and this planet.
In partnership with the Kayamoja ArtConnects Trust our amazing horses are assisting the youth of Namibia to learn to treat animals with respect and treasure them with love. We are taking in neglected and abused animals from the nearby community and educating the community about animal welfare.
Joseph's Dream is situated on Sandwerf Farm Namibia, in one of the most beautiful landscapes of the country, with a riverbed running through and covered with hundreds of years old camel-thorn trees.
Learn more about our workshops and projects and let us shape your personal experience to make your own Joseph's Dream come true.
Joseph's Dream is part of Sandwerf which is an Agritourism Company, Agricultural Village, Horse Stud and Community Project that was founded in 2017.
Background:
The owners Leon & Annika Barnard have a firm footprint in Namibia and in particular in Social Projects, Conservation and Animal Welfare Projects as well as the the design of Tourism Facilities, Residential Developments and Lodges.
Leon was the founding director of BMA (Barnard Mutua Architects) an architectural firm established 25 years ago and which has a project list in excess of a 1 300 projects. This firm has been at the forefront of the architectural profession and Leon in particular launched numerous initiatives in Urban Design in Namibia. E.g. the establishment of a department of Urban Design at NUST, the Riverwalk and the Urban Spine. His passion is the creation of community and the creation of spatial justice.
Leon has established a great vision not only for Sandwerf but for the entire Dordabis region since the starting of the Sandwerf Building Project in 2018. Over a period of only two years he has transformed a forgotten workers housing area into a vibrant, charismatic and highly attractive Guest Village whilst guiding and instructing local craft men and builders and involving the Dordabis community at all times in the process.
Annika, a German wildlife artist and photographer has a 10-year background in conservation, education, equine and wildlife tourism in Southern Africa. As founder of the Kayamoja Art Connects Trust she organized the first international wildlife art exhibition in Namibia, the Kayamoja Wildlife Art Exhibition and Competition in Windhoek with the participation of 20 international artists, including the world leading wildlife artists Robert Bateman & Carl Brenders. The trusts purpose is to connect disadvantaged children with wildlife and abused animals through art. Annika has published her first art book at the age of 25 in 2009 in Germany and started giving youth and elderly art lessons in retirement homes at the age of 16. She has learned Horsemanship and Equine Assisted Activity in British Columbia, Canada where she felt in love with the Appaloosa horse breed.
Annika has established the Joseph’s Dream Appaloosa Stud and in a very short period has established herself and the stud as highly respected in the Namibian and South African Market. She also established the Schaap Rivier Alpaca Stud, a first for Namibia, with the intention to replace the Karakul wool in the weaving process, as tourist attraction and therapy facility.
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Social Impact
Currently there are roughly 1 500 inhabitants in Dordabis informal settlement with only a few informal job opportunities available. The two nearest farms have their own workforce of about 20 workers each and that amounts to employment at a density of 1/1000 hectares on farms with sizes of 22,000 and 16,500 hectares.
In contrast Sandwerf's agritourism project has provided job opportunities at 1/1 hectares during construction and this will continue after completion. We have created 80+ jobs at Sandwerf Namibia in the field: Animal Caretaker, Horse Trainer, Builder, Welder, Cleaner, Gardener, Teacher.
We are currently having 10 locals in training for the jobs: welding, gardening, horse trainer and chef.
The biggest Social impact is job creation and providing training facilities as well as education of the youth on side. Above that Sandwerf, Joseph's Dream and the Kayamoja Children Trust are working in close cooperation to change lives in the community through food donations from the Sandwerf Gardens; agricultural training, equine assisted therapy and supporting the local prime and pre-prime school in Dordabis.
We have created a Kindergarten at Sandwerf to give the working women and Sandwerf the opportunity to have their children nearby and in a safe and stimulating environment.
We have worked with numerous local children and orphans from the Windhoek orphanage to educate them about wildlife conservation; giving art lessons and providing equine assisted activities to stimulate their mind and soul.
We have rescued equines (horses and donkeys) during the drought and from abuse and rehabilitated them to new homes.
We recently started working in close cooperation with the Dordabis Prime School taking care of their hostel's kitchen together with neighboring farmers (feeding 120 mouths) and started a huge garden project to supply them with fresh and healthy vegetables as their current menu is very low in nutrition.