All the way from the ghost town, Lüderitz

Monique AdamsBorn and raised in Lüderitz, Harrison attended Lüderitz primary school, completed grade 10-12 at Lüderitz junior secondary school and completed high school at Concordia College in the year 1988.The years following that from 1989-1992 she completed her tertiary education at the University of the Western Cape by completing a B Com Honours with specialisation in strategic management and marketing.Harrison completed an 18-month internship with the former Carl Duisberg Gesellschaft in Germany, including taking German language lessons while working at Kempinski Hotels (in Frankfurt and München) as well as Volkswagen in Wolfsburg.With outstanding work experience she worked as an investment advisor with the British High Commission in South Africa, working in programmes and project management for SME, technical skills development, worked as a technical advisor at GIZ doing programme management of informal business development projects and development cooperation projects with the private sector on water and sanitation management projects.She also provided private training for companies such as Festo, SAP, MTN by implementing partners including University of Pretoria and Tshwane University of Technology.As secretary-general of the Namibia Red Cross Society, she is responsible for formulating plans and policies and providing the overall direction of the NRCS within the guidelines set by the board of directors.“I need to plan, direct or coordinate operational activities towards the achievement of the organisation’s philosophy, mission, strategy and its annual goals and objectives at the highest level of management with the help of subordinate executives and staff members,” she says.Harrison’s day-to-day workload covers the everyday operations, particularly financial controls as well as keeping up to date on project progress and important issues reported to her by the programme manager.She engages with members of various subcommittees of the board and, most importantly, with the chairperson of the board, to whom she reports. Her working relationship with the chairperson is important as they work together with making presentations for the NRCS to various stakeholders, donors and private-sector funders.“How I prepared myself for this new appointment was to familiarise myself with the constitution of the NRCS and with the workings of the Red Cross and Red Crescent movement internationally. Furthermore, I ensured that I can transfer knowledge and experiences from work experience in relation to general and programmes management,” she says.In her free time, she enjoys arts and crafts, reading, jogging and one piece of advice she will never forget is that respect goes a long way.

All the way from the ghost town, Lüderitz

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Namibian Sun 2026-06-26

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All the way from the ghost town, Lüderitz

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Namibian Sun 2026-06-26

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