Aleksandra Ørbeck-Nilssen is an international supermodel who exchanged the catwalk and covers of glossy magazines to come to Namibia and support the San community through her Nanofasa Conservation Trust, an organisation eager to learn from the wealth of knowledge held by the Khoisan people of Namibia.
I’m not from here, although I would love to have been from here. I’m from Norway and I moved to Paris and New York. I just sort of walked into the office in Paris and the next thing I had to do was go to see Chanel and then I booked the job. I’ve done Vogue, Jimmy Choo campaigns, Hugo Boss and more. I had around a hundred and seventy five traveling days a year from by age of fifteen.
I needed a big break, because I grew up so fast and had to dive into this career. I went into modeling because I wanted to travel and see the world , but it is very rushed. I needed to feel something real again.
I grew up in nature in Norway and I was thinking about making a move, then I got robbed in New York and that was sort of the big game changer for me. I went back to my flat and I had a globe and I spun it and I said wherever my finger lands, I will go. My finger landed on Namibia.
I first came to Namibia to volunteer my help in wildlife, ended up extending my stay, and then I was offered an opportunity to come back.
I was like everybody else that came to Africa from the Western World, wanting to save and help, with the perception that I have something to give. But when I met the San, I felt like they sent me out of my poverty of perception. They had so much to teach me and that sort of laid the foundation for Nanofasa.
We started a Barefoot Academy, providing traditional based education and work creation from the elders. Through the Barefoot Academy, all the ancient knowledge is passed on through generations, but adapted to modern opportunities and projects.
One of the projects is the sandal project that was inspired by the ancient running and hunting that the San people used to do. The San people have always been the sustainable link in their surroundings and from that we have so much to learn because we consider ourselves as separate from the ecosystem.
I would say that they are true, they are honest and they make you realise that we are all just people. The San will never ever care about what you do or where you come from or how much money you make, it’s absolutely insignificant and I think that’s the biggest relief that people can get. They facilitate the space where you can breathe.
– Master Your Destiny
