Andre Messika Diamonds uplifts staff

"People see me as a working woman, not just someone in a wheelchair", says Anne Maire Johnston (29).

Every day, she prepares rough diamonds that come into Schachter and Namdar, the diamond cutters of Andre Messika Diamonds, located in a dusty industrial corner of Windhoek.

Her job is to identify and mark the potential and imperfections of the Namibian stones, guiding artisans to bring out the sparkle hidden in every gem.

Namibian diamonds are special, and so is she.

"I push harder; I want to do better – to do my best for the company," she says.

Johnston now owns a share of the company after Andre Messika Diamonds announced in May that shares are being awarded to employees who have been with the organisation for more than two years.



Big step forward

According to assistant manager Gerhard Januarie, the company was set up in Windhoek in 2007 and now employs 75 staff, of whom 40 are disabled.

As one of the trustees of the employee ownership scheme, he is in charge of determining who qualifies. "It’s a big step forward," he says of the development. "It’s like working for yourself; the company is now our own," he says.

Januarie began working at the organisation as a maintenance officer and a driver. Later, he became involved in administration work and tried his hand as a polisher.

Eventually, his duties extended to a management role and the day-to-day running of the place.

"From the paperwork to fetching the people and getting the permissions from mines and energy; after 12 years, I know about getting visas. I sort it out for people. Things must be done properly, and I know where. I know the ins and outs of this company, and I can also help bring the foreigners here to train our people and also to share our vision of the future," he says.

That vision is encapsulated in the spectacular diamonds that make their way through the factory.

"We do the cutting and the polishing. We mark the raw stones for traceability to the source, we record the diamond journey, we use the Galaxy machine to look inside, and we quality check; we do the marking, we send them down to the floor to get their facets, the prep, the rounder, and the block, until it looks like a diamond. We check it on the computer; the diamond gets cleaned and then shipped to other branches, like in Israel, where it gets put into a ring and sold, perhaps to come back here," he explains.



A new shape

For Johnston, her diamond journey started unexpectedly in 2011.

"I was sitting on the street in Katutura when a man drove up and asked me what I was doing in my life. I was out of school and doing nothing. He said he would come pick me up on Monday. For some reason, I trusted him, and I went with him. They asked me what I saw in a diamond. I told them I saw a diamond, like in the cartoons. They asked me to draw one and then told me I was hired!" she recalls.

"The training was not difficult. The managers explained it like a pizza, with the cuts. Now I have done different types of cutting, but I found that I was good at the prep work. When the stones come, they are shapeless, so I start giving them shape," she explains.

Prior to the start of her diamond work, Johnston lived with her mother. It was tough to make ends meet while relying solely on her mother's old-age pension and state disability grant.

"There was no stable income, and living off a pension and a disability grant was tough. There was never enough," she explains.



Hope ignited

Having become wheelchair-bound due to a swimming pool accident at the tender age of eight, both she and her mother endured a great deal of hardship.

"Now I am able to help my mother with so much. We have medical aid, and I am more independent. When you are in a wheelchair, society sees you as a useless person, but as I started working, I gained more respect," she says. "Working for Andre Messika Diamonds changed my life in so many different ways. I was given my confidence back. I feel more like a person," she says.

"I would advise others to do the same. Give people a purpose; it gives me a reason to get out of bed."

In response to her new shares in the diamond cutting and polishing business, Johnston says: "I was surprised. I have never seen something like this done. I am so grateful and so honoured. I am my own boss now, and I take care of my company. I would love to stay because here I have gained a family who love to see me grow. I may be going into jewellery or maybe owning my own diamond company."