ABOUT: STAFF
Managing Director: Michael Linke
Australian Michael Linke founded BEN Namibia in 2005. His previous work was in magazine publishing, and his work included editing Australian Cyclist, which at the time was Australia's largest circulation cycling magazine, and ReNew, a magazine aimed at people designing, making and using solar, wind and bio fuel energy devices, lowering their energy consumption and designing environmentally sustainable houses and businesses.Since the establishment of BEN Namibia, in 2005, Michael has focused on managing growth and being flexible to incorporate lessons and challenges to the organisation's plans. In the first month of operation he trained one part-time mechanic and distributed three bicycles. Five years later, more than 12,000 bicycles have been imported by BEN Namibia, more than 150 people have been trained in bicycle mechanics and BEN Namibia has created 90 new jobs.
Programme Manager:
Clarisse Cunha Linke
Clarisse Cunha Linke is a Brazilian with eight years experience in social policy, planning and implementation in Brazil, Mozambique and Namibia. She holds an MSc in Social Policy, NGO and Development from the London School of Economics and Political Science and an MBE in Social and Economic Development from the Institute of Economics, Rio de Janeiro Federal University, Brazil.Clarisse has developed a framework for partnerships with more than 60 community-based organisations, including identification of partners and monitoring and evaluation. She also coordinated an assessment of the Impact of transport to access health services for people living with HIV/AIDS in Namibia, in partnerships with the International Community of Women Living with HIV/AIDS (ICW-Namibia) and the AIDS Law Unit from the Legal Assistance Centre (LAC) Namibia.
Mechanic Trainer: Paulina Endjala
Part of the BEN Namibia team since 2006, Paulina began work as a trainee mechanic in the BEN Namibia workshop, which closed early in 2009. Paulina is now responsible for training bicycle mechanics through the BEC programme and other projects, Paulina encourages more woman to get involved in cycling and repairing bicycles.
Mechanic Trainer: Christoph Shikongo
A father of four, Christoph joined BEN Namibia in 2008 with several years of experience in bicycle mechanics. He has trained a number of groups of mechanics through the BEC programme, and his command of four different Namibian languages makes Christoph invaluable as the programme spreads to new regions.
