December 2020 - Merry Christmas

250 Children from our DRC Soup kitchen and 30 children from the DRC Grow Together Kindergarten each received a Hotdog and a small sweet parcel in order to feel “a little spoiled” for the festive season. Each child, sanitized and was only allowed in with strict regulation of wearing a mask.

Thank you to Orano Mine for a large food order consisting of 10KG rice and maize meal, macaroni, sugar and baking flour. Each family from the Soup kitchen received either a 10KG maize meal or Rice with a parcel of Sugar and Baking Flour. They were overjoyed by the gratitude of receiving a large food donation to help their parents this December to help sustain their family.

Hunger has been increasing worldwide even before the pandemic. After decades of decline, the number of undernourished people has risen since 2015.

Africa is particularly at high risk. Every fifth person is malnourished - more often than in any other region of the world. By 2030, the United Nations had forecast that this could be a quarter even without the pandemic. Africa's population is also growing faster than that of any other continent, meaning that by 2030 more than half of the world's starving people will be living there.
Predicting the long-term effects of COVID-19 on food security is difficult, not least because of the uncertainty about what the global economy will look like in the future. When the FAO released its report in June, it was clear that the pandemic had a significant impact.

Many people have lost their jobs due to the corona virus and schools have been closed. Hunger problems occurred not only in Namibia, but throughout Africa.

DRC Soup-kitchen was delighted to welcome familiar faces with a warm meal. "Back to the routine" The DRC Soup-kitchen currently feeds 150 children twice a week. Since children do not understand the concept of "social distance" and the mandate of wearing a mask in public, we had to introduce a new system. Separating children into age groups for feeding at different time intervals help in preventing the virus from spreading.

November 2020 - Back to School

The Grow Together Kindergarten would like to express their gratitude to the Schützenbruderschaft Nesselröden e.V in Eichsfeld from the district of Göttingen, Germany for the gracious donation of Pre-primary School going materials worth of NAD21 000.00.

This Donation is in aid to assist 19 Children who will graduate from the Grow Together Kindergarten end of this year. These materials are essential requirements for each child to enter Pre-primary in Namibia. Extra Materials were also bought to assist the learning activities at the Grow Together Kindergarten.

Thomas Ehbrecht and his wife Hiltrud Ehbrecht (Owners of Hotel Deutsches Haus in Swakopmund) attended the handover of materials on behalf of the Schützenbruderschaft Nesselröden e.V. .

“Gratitude helps you to grow and expand; gratitude brings joy and laughter into your life and into the lives of all those around you.”

October 2020- Donate a Can / Have a Heart

OCTOBER 2020 We would like to thank the Swakopmund Retirement Village for their initiative “Donate a Can / Have a Heart” in which they were able to donate 200 can food to the weekly Covid-19 relief food parcels.

“If the world had more people like you it would be a better place. You do make a difference.”

September 2020 – DRC Grow Together Kindergarten

The Covid-19 pandemic has resulted in monumental changes to education throughout the world. Covid-19 not only suspended normal childhood activities such as attending school, interacting with extended family and friends, playing outdoors, and exploring nature but also disrupted the consequent socio-emotional benefits that accrue from children’s engagement in these experiences.

We are happy to be able to re-open our classrooms after our 6-month lockdown period, with the standard Ministry of Education regulations to our ECD (Early Childhood Development). As per regulation, 10 children per classroom (Micro-groups for control of contact screening), sanitizing, social distancing, wearing of masks and of course temperature checkups.

Grow-Together Kindergarten has taken 22 Children (which are the eldest) to be able to prepare them for their first primary school year in 2021.

Katutura Newsletter September 2020

August 2020 - Covid-19 awakens the plight of "street children”

Children begging on the streets, or loosely known as ‘street kids’, have become a great concern for the Swakopmund community. This issue seemed to have gone off the radar for a while with previous efforts to reintegrate street children back into their homes and schools. With the COVID-19 pandemic, the plight of street children has resurfaced in Namibia.
One of the major reasons these children “hang around” on the street to beg for money and food is to be able to sustain their families during this hard time. We have found that poverty and economic hardships force parents to encourage children to beg for food and money on the streets in order to sustain their households. These children end up fending for themselves to try sustain their families and then become delinquents who resort to petty crimes for survival.

Regardless of how they landed on the streets, these children become accustomed to the dynamics of street life such as gaining the sympathy of their benefactors in order to earn more money. They become addicted to drugs and other illicit substances such crack, glue and petrol which they sniff. These ‘experienced street children’ then ‘recruit’ other children who may be in the same situations.

Apart from the fact that this vicious cycle continues, we have taken up the effort to be able to try and improve the situation. It is clear that street children need a schedule to successfully reintegrate themselves back into their homes and schools by keeping them continuously monitored by ensuring that these children are not led back onto the streets.
DRC Women’s Project has welcomed 6 “Street Children” as a current program to ensure the well-being and future of these children. Each family receives weekly a food parcel to sustain their family and to encourage their children to return to the program. Weekdays consists of homework, playing chess, learning to read and write and helping with everyday chores at the project. We are hoping to create a confidence of change to be able to turn them into leaders and not into young criminals. As every child has a dream, theirs just lack motivation. We kindly ask the community not to support children with money, clothing or food if seen on the streets. As this encourages the children to return to the vicious cycle and leads others into temptation.

July 2020- Recycled Traditional Baskets

The production from the DRC Women's Bead project has been very much haltered due to the corona pandemic striking the world. Therefore, they have decided to keep themselves busy with an extra small project for when tourist are allowed back into our borders. Through the weekly packing of vegetables and food packages, we have accumulated netting/ bags from Onions and the Butternut. The women have taken it upon themselves to create recycled traditional baskets from these nets. Have a look at the beautiful creations that can be made via a simple waste!

Online Shop - July 2020

Kubatsirana is a Namibian non-profit outlet, whose aim is to provide direct and immediate help to communities, women and children living in informal settlements outside Windhoek and Swakopmund. People from different cultures express their skills in creating these crafts to continue generating an income for themselves.

Kubatsirana Online shop makes it now easier for you to shop locally online.

Click on the following link and start shopping now!

June 2020 – Mondesa Shack Fire

"It takes hands to build a house, but only hearts can build a home."

On the 19th of June, at 11:30, a devastating fire destroyed the homes of multiple families along with their possessions. The Swakopmund community stepped forward in these difficult times in aiding these families to rebuild their lives.

Speaking to some of the families and seeing their current situation, women and children where kindly allowed to sleep in a neighboring bar while the men slept outside on the possessions they could save during fire. As the east weather in Swakopmund past, the coldness set in and these families tried to survive on the kindness of the community. Only 6 days late did the Swakopmund Municipality deliver a tent for these families to take refuge under. Though without a warm blanket and mattresses to lie on, the coldness set in as they had to sleep on the ashes of their burnt houses.

We would like thank all the donors that took part in helping these families during this hard time to rebuild their homes.

June 2020 – Marula Bread

As Covid-19 has left many members of the Swakopmund community without food and work, the DRC Women’s Project took the initiative to start a side project which entails baking bread using Marula flour. These breads are being distributed along with our food parcels to the registered families in the community.

A little insight on the Marula flour – it is made from the fruit of the Marula tree, which is indigenous to Namibia. The Marula fruit is a favorite for both elephants and humans. The fruit has been cultivated and used in the African community for many decades and bears many health benefits. The DRC Women’s Project is now baking bread using the Marula flour (which is extremely nutritious) in enclosed fire drums. Children and adults, find the Marula breads very filling and tasty.

We are very pleased with this new endeavor as the production of the breads is extremely affordable and is another great means to feed the community. Moreover, the baking is keeping the productivity at the project going and allowing the women to work during these tough times, which is of most importance and furthers our aim of caring for the community.

May 2020 – Winter Blankets

Alone we can do so little, together we can do so much. Doing our part against Covid-19 in Swakopmund, Namibia

They say a photograph can speak a thousand words. Though it can capture a small moment of joy, a moving photograph can express a large amount of gratitude.

I often get asked "Why are you doing this?" And my answer reverts back to a Mother Teresa saying: Not all of us can do great things. But we can do small things with great love!

Today, escorted with the Namibian Police we handed out 50 Basic Care Packages. Through this, the realization of hardship currently became even more real of how our people are suffering under this pandemic. Poverty in DRC Swakopmund was only a stone, though through this lockdown and Job-losses it has become a mountain. We keep striving to hand out 3 x week 50 Basic packages in different areas of DRC. To TRY and ease the current situation and optimize to make a small beacon of hope.

"I alone cannot change the world, but I can cast a stone across the waters to create many ripples"

March 2020

"Do What you can, with what you have, where you are." By receiving vegetables and fruit every week, we managed 250 parcels including Rice, Maize Meal and Macaroni Noodles. Our week consists of receiving, packing and distributing to transparent projects in need in areas of DRC / Mondesa Swakopmund. Every handover is always a reward with a great smile.

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Hippo Rollers - August 2019

Most urban residents have access to drinking water supply, but access lags behind in rural areas. Access to water in rural areas are commonly through communal taps. Residents of an informal settlement in Swakopmund, Namibia still have to walk to collect water for their houses from municipality water points, provided by a key card for payment:

• The distance to the communal water taps is not necessarily the issue even though some taps can range in distance from 0,5km to 2,0 km, but the methods and means used in the collection of water is the biggest challenge.
• The most common methods of collecting water is in 20L paint buckets, one household would use about 4-5 of these 20L buckets to go and collect water.
• Woman and children are the ones that go and collect and carry the 20L buckets.
• What makes it more challenging is that most of them do not own wheelbarrows, which could help with the load in having to carry the 20L buckets full of water.
• It is very difficult for children, pregnant woman, and those that have babies on their backs.

By research Swakopmund Rotary Club came across a form of transport made easier for collection of water, “Hippo Rollers” .The DRC Women’s Project was privileged to receive and benefit of 2 Hippo Rollers. The Hippo Roller is a 90 liter container that is rolled along the ground. This allows more people to access water, which improves food security and income generation. Issues where raised concerning the longevity of the plastic used to create the Hippo rollers. The question was, whether the Plastic would sustain the hard terrain consisting or rocks and hills. On a very positive note , after receiving the Hippo Rollers and making usage of them for 5 months there has been no wear and tear, and the women having to collect water from a water point approximately 1 km away have only retuned with smiles due to their daily assignment has been fabricated easier, with less exertion on their bodies.

H.O.G - June 2019

Coastal residents welcomed the return to tranquility after 547 bikers and pillions with 480 Harley-Davidson motorcycles that converged in Swakopmund for the third edition of the Skeleton Coast Rally. Thank you to the H.O.G Namibia Chapter Skeleton Coast for their donations towards the Rubbish Dump women by handing over 350 warm blankets for the winter.

Winter Knights - Round Table - June 2019

Winter Knights is an annual project hosted by Round Table Namibia. A project aimed at raising funds for marginalized communities all over Namibia. The main aim is to raise cash donations, in order to buy blankets for these communities. Any other donations in the form of old clothing, blankets and non-perishable food are also distributed to these beneficiaries. 4 Kindergartens from DRC and the DRC Soup kitchen received a total of 600 blankets that where distributed to the children at the DRC Women’s Project.

Easter 2019

Easter is one of the most important festival in Christianity. For most children, Easter is one of the most important celebrations and all children are very excited in the DRC Grow Together Kindergarten. Days beforehand, there is no other topic for them than Easter. An annual festival which brings a lot of joy to the children in DRC, where every child gets their handpainted Easter bunny filled with chocolate eggs.

Independence Celebration - March 2019

Twenty-nine years after independence, Namibians are celebrating the anniversary in a country still plagued by poverty and unemployment, despite growth of 4% per year. The DRC Grow Together Kindergarten celebrated its "Culture Day" with many children and women dressed in traditional clothes.

Every donation of clothes gets a new life - April 2019

Every year, parcels and bags containing clothes, toys, writing materials are donated by Namibians and tourists and dropped off at the shop Kubatsirana in Swakopmund for the projects. With many donated relief supplies, a great joy was given to the children in the DRC soup kitchen.

German couple gives away filled school bags - February 2019

A German couple with parents donated 50 school bags with writing material to the preschoolers of the DRC Grow Together Kindergarten on their vacation in Namibia in order to improve the education system and living conditions in this country. It's difficult to learn something if you don't have pens, pencils, notebooks and a bag to carry them in. Many parents cannot afford to equip their children with it.

Knitted socks from Germany - February 2019

Thanks to a retirement- old age home in Frankfurt, 300 knitted socks were handed over to the children from the DRC soup kitchen and in the DRC Grow Together Kindergarten.

Christmas party at the DRC Women's Project 2018

At the end of each year there is a Christmas party were the women’s hard work is praised. 18 women received a certificate as a reward for their good bead work as well as a Christmas hamper. The celebration was concluded with traditional dances from different cultures.

Schoolbags August 2018

120 students from the John Awaseb School in DRC/ Swakopmund where able to receive schoolbags donated by the Rotary Club Osterholz – Scharmbeck. Student where overjoyed and happy and no longer have to carry their school supplies to school in a plastic bag.

Blanket distribution June 2018

With the help of the Round Table Club Namibia, 400 blankets in DRC/Swakopmund were distributed to the students at the John Awaseb School. A further 600 blankets were handed out to various kindergartens in DRC/Swakopmund and to the children from the DRC Soup kitchen.

Christmas 2017

Every year, the children and women of the DRC Grow Together Kindergarten and the DRC Women’s Project look forward to the Christmas party, at which poems and dances are performed and small gifts are distributed. These Christmas celebrations are eagerly-awaited by the children and young women that live a dreary and bleak everyday life in DRC.

Mother's day 2017

65 women, who live by means of the rubbish dump, and who collect scraps of food for their children, obtained a warm meal, bedding and clothing from the DRC Women Project.

May 2017

Women and children of the DRC Women Project received bedding for the winter time.

April 2017

Easter Celebration- 1600 learners received chocolate Easter eggs at the Hanganeni School DRC/ Swakopmund.

120 children from the Women Project and Grow Together Play School celerated Easter with homemade, filled Easter baskets.

250 children of the DRC/ Swakopmund soup kitchen received a warm meal with Easter eggs.

March 2017

The children of the DRC soup kitchen – at a special occasion – received hot dogs and juice instead of cornmeal-porridge.

Valentines Day 2017

75 children from the DRC Grow Together Play School celebrated in red and received a small present.

February 2017

The establishment of a soup kitchen in the Fiedel Castro Ruz School in Okahandjapark/ Windhoek was inaugurated and received a further donation of EURO 500 from Mr Spätling.

January 2017

The construction of a soup kitchen at the Hanganeni School in the DRC/Swakopmund is completed. 400 learners receive a warm meal daily. This is mostly the only meal for them per day.