Education fraternity mourns Ebas
Education fraternity mourns Ebas

Education fraternity mourns Ebas

Ileni Nandjato
STAFF REPORTER



WINDHOEK

The education fraternity is mourning the loss of senior librarian, 31-year-old Olivia Ebas, who died in an horrific accident on Sunday.

She was on her way to attend the burial of her late father in the north.

The accident happened between Okahandja and Otjiwarongo when the driver of the vehicle she was travelling allegedly lost control and the car rolled.

Another passenger, Ebas’ niece, also died.

Outstanding librarian

“Olivia joined our library as a librarian at the Omaheke directorate of education, arts and culture in 2014, and rose to the position of senior librarian at the time of her untimely and unexpected death on that fateful Sunday,” said Omaheke education director Pecka Semba.

“Through her death, our directorate and Namibia has been brutally robbed of one of the most outstanding… young librarians to have served our people with distinction.

“For me, Olivia was the perfect epitome of a librarian, it was as if she was born in the library. Library users of all walks of life would always speak with high esteem about the services rendered by her.

“She was a bright light and demonstrated an ability to become one of the finest librarians in years to come. Little did we know that the cruel hand of fate would rob us of one of our most useful colleagues,” Semba said.

Serving to the fullest

He said with her trademark smile, linguistic acumen and professionalism, Ebas had served the directorate to the fullest.

“Her addiction-like loyalty to her work gave true meaning to the word’s dedication and service.”

Semba said at the mention of the name Olivia, “young and old would immediately know whom you are talking about”.

“True to her profession as an unparalleled librarian, there was never a dull moment when Olivia was around. She lived fully for the library and the benefits that we all derived from Olivia, the librarian, are a multitude too much to mention.

“Her respect for authority and ability to consult were some of her greatest attributes. Purely based on these attributes, she was chosen amongst a horde of other applicants to serve on the Media and Information Literacy Learning Initiative, a course for which she was held in high esteem and finally certified.

“Despite her busy schedule, she volunteered to serve as an executive member of our social and recreation club,” Semba said.

A full life

“To me, Olivia, although she died fairly young, had a full life. She lived life without regrets, she accomplished things that people will take a lifetime to accomplish, giving meaning to the phrase: ‘It’s not the years in your life that counts, but the life in your years’.

“Her death is a regrettable incident, because it’s only once in generation or so that people like Olivia come along,” Semba added.

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Namibian Sun 2024-05-03

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Premier League: Chelsea 2 vs 0 Tottenham Hotspur European Championships Qualifying: Coventry City 1 vs 2 Ipswich Town English Championship: Coventry City 1 vs 2 Ipswich Town Katima Mulilo: 12° | 32° Rundu: 13° | 32° Eenhana: 13° | 32° Oshakati: 15° | 32° Ruacana: 15° | 33° Tsumeb: 16° | 30° Otjiwarongo: 13° | 29° Omaruru: 13° | 31° Windhoek: 12° | 27° Gobabis: 15° | 28° Henties Bay: 14° | 21° Wind speed: 20km/h, Wind direction: SW, Low tide: 05:43, High tide: 12:02, Low Tide: 17:54, High tide: 00:23 Swakopmund: 16° | 19° Wind speed: 19km/h, Wind direction: W, Low tide: 05:41, High tide: 12:00, Low Tide: 17:52, High tide: 00:21 Walvis Bay: 16° | 25° Wind speed: 28km/h, Wind direction: W, Low tide: 05:41, High tide: 11:59, Low Tide: 17:52, High tide: 00:20 Rehoboth: 14° | 29° Mariental: 17° | 31° Keetmanshoop: 19° | 31° Aranos: 16° | 31° Lüderitz: 15° | 25° Ariamsvlei: 18° | 33° Oranjemund: 14° | 22° Luanda: 25° | 28° Gaborone: 14° | 27° Lubumbashi: 12° | 26° Mbabane: 12° | 26° Maseru: 11° | 25° Antananarivo: 13° | 24° Lilongwe: 13° | 27° Maputo: 19° | 28° Windhoek: 12° | 27° Cape Town: 15° | 19° Durban: 17° | 28° Johannesburg: 16° | 25° Dar es Salaam: 24° | 28° Lusaka: 15° | 27° Harare: 13° | 28° Currency: GBP to NAD 23.17 | EUR to NAD 19.92 | CNY to NAD 2.54 | USD to NAD 18.51 | DZD to NAD 0.14 | AOA to NAD 0.02 | BWP to NAD 1.31 | EGP to NAD 0.38 | KES to NAD 0.14 | NGN to NAD 0.01 | ZMW to NAD 0.68 | ZWL to NAD 0.04 | BRL to NAD 3.62 | RUB to NAD 0.2 | INR to NAD 0.22 | USD to DZD 133.94 | USD to AOA 834.06 | USD to BWP 13.64 | USD to EGP 47.9 | USD to KES 133.98 | USD to NGN 1379 | USD to ZAR 18.51 | USD to ZMW 27.1 | USD to ZWL 321 | Stock Exchange: JSE All Share Index 76046.88 Down -0.04% | Namibian Stock Exchange (NSX) Overall Index 1692.54 Up +0.10% | Casablanca Stock Exchange (CSE) MASI 13322.85 Up +0.03% | Egyptian Exchange (EGX) 30 Index 26113.71 Up +6.81% | Botswana Stock Exchange (BSE) DCI 9146.09 Same 0 | NSX: MTC 7.75 SAME | Anirep 8.99 SAME | Capricorn Investment group 17.34 SAME | FirstRand Namibia Ltd 49 DOWN 0.50% | Letshego Holdings (Namibia) Ltd 4.1 UP 2.50% | Namibia Asset Management Ltd 0.7 SAME | Namibia Breweries Ltd 31.49 UP 0.03% | Nictus Holdings - 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Nam 2.22 SAME | Oryx Properties Ltd 12.1 UP 1.70% | Paratus Namibia Holdings 11.99 SAME | SBN Holdings 8.45 SAME | Trustco Group Holdings Ltd 0.48 SAME | B2Gold Corporation 47.34 DOWN 1.50% | Local Index closed 677.62 UP 0.12% | Overall Index closed 1534.6 DOWN 0.05% | Osino Resources Corp 19.47 DOWN 2.41% | Commodities: Gold US$ 2 295.69/OZ DOWN -0.0121 | Copper US$ 4.51/lb DOWN -0.0043 | Zinc US$ 2 917.80/T UP 0.21% | Brent Crude Oil US$ 83.81/BBP DOWN -0.0057 | Platinum US$ 954.16/OZ DOWN -0.0014