Newsletter

Dear friends, sponsors, partners and colleagues

Thank you to all our partners who continually trust and support our projects. We cannot do it alone and together we can make a small difference and a positive change in someone’s life.

Namibia’s State of Emergency has now officially ended. Tourism is slowly trying to recover but extensive Covid-19 regulations currently still limit the opportunities for tourism to flourish as it should.

Economic consequences of Covid-19 are still affecting most Namibians with many businesses closing down and many more losing their jobs or means of earning an income.

Schools are open again but many learners have not yet resumed classes due to lack of funds for many families.

Since March 2020, The Gondwana Care Trustees have been monitoring the situation and have coordinated actions with our still “active” recipients in the MealForTwo program, which are allowed to operate and continue with their feeding programs. We want to thank you for your commitment and your endless passion and love to continue and care for others during this difficult time and we have so far managed to provide almost 155 000 meals to the needy all around Namibia.

Many additional organizations have been added to the MealForTwo since March 2020 and the need for assistance is increasing as more and more families find themselves in desperate situations. Please join us in the MealForTwo program if you are able to.

Any contribution – big or small, will make a difference.

You can donate directly via our bank account or contact us via email if you can contribute with food items.

Thank you!

Support the Gondwana Care Trust projects

The Namibia2Go Team hosted a raffle for a basket filled with goodies to raise funds amongst the Gondwana Collection Team. They raised a total of N$3 000.00 towards the MealForTwo initiative. In August, the winner of the raffle, Ms Madie vd Colf, delivered the raffle food basket to the “Oude Rus” old age home in Windhoek West. Thank you Ms Madie for your caring attitude towards our elders in sharing your prize.

The idea was to go from room to room so that the Oumas and Oupas could choose something they needed from the basket – but once again due to the Covid-19 restrictions, the team was not allowed to enter the rooms so the basket was handed over to the matron of the home so she could share some joy with our senior citizens, who were so much deprived of visits during the lockdown.

We hope they enjoyed all the goodies. Safety comes first and we wish all our elders the best during these difficult times.

PLEASE HELP US IF YOU ARE ABLE TO ASSIST WITH ANY FOOD / HYGIENIC ITEMS OR CASH DONATIONS TO THE GONDWANA CARE TRUST ACCOUNT
(Ref: Food relief Covid19 or M4Two)

THIS WOULD ENABLE US TO CONTINUE DELIVERING TO THOSE IN NEED.

Please contact us at caretrust@gcnam.com or visit our website for more information.
 

Bank Windhoek Limited
Gondwana Care Trust
Maerua Mall Branch / 483 872 Chk 
800 818 44 91
 

Your contributions make such a difference in enabling us to help so many children and families.

We cannot THANK YOU ENOUGH!

Cash donation since the lockdown, from sponsors who have asked to remain anonymous & anonymous sponsors: N$ 48 500. 00 – Thank you for your kind contribution!

We would like to thank an anonymous donor who continues to support the MealForTwo program on a monthly basis with N$ 250. 00. Thank you, we are humbled by your care and assistance.

Short update on the Twaloloka community that still receives assistance with meals since the devastating fire that destroyed the homes of multiple members.
The Gondwana Care Trust has so far sponsored bread towards TASK soup kitchen to the value of N$ 19 664. 00.

We are so grateful for your trust and support! Please note that all invoices are available for your viewing, should you wish to do so.

THANK YOU to our partners in MealForTwo!
We cannot do it alone and together we can provide so much more.

Thank you, Bank Windhoek, Capricorn Asset Management & Global United for your continuous support and trust, so we can carry on assisting the community and its sustainable development.

These are difficult times for all businesses, and we are so grateful to our sponsors who still contribute and assist us in this life-saving program!

Any other sponsors willing to assist us with goods, food items or hygienic goods, please do not hesitate to contact us at caretrust@gcnam.com

Follow Up:

ECO-HOMESTEAD NURSERY – Okafitu Kakamba Village
Project - Co-ordinator: Ms Agnes Shekupe Shivute
aggyshivute@gmail.com 
Cell: +264 81 416 4541

Agnes is a BSc Integrated Environmental Science graduate (UNAM) and has a certificate in SME Enterprise Development and Mentoring from Olafika. Agnes runs a nursery since August 2018 (Eco Homestead) from home in Okafitu Kakamba Village, Anamulenge Constituency, Omusati Region.

She is an environmental enthusiast, persevering to establish a sustainable business for society, the environment and the economy, successfully. The nursery has a variety of plants ranging from indigenous fruit trees such as marina, baobab and jackal berry to mangoes, papayas, ornamental plants and flowers. However due to lack of funds, progress is evidently very slow. Agnes has secured two hectares of land and also some equipment for the garden, with a 100m shade net being the most valuable addition to grow the nursery and offer the following solutions below. She is also able to make certain internship opportunities available, for graduates pursuing degrees in the environmental field. Agnes is really pro-active and hopes to be able to assist with environmental clean-up campaigns and educational training on how to be sustainable and make a living from small-scale vegetable farming etc…

Following our last newsletter, Global United sponsored Agnes with N$ 5 000. 00. Agnes has already purchased some extra equipment needed for the nursery to a value of N$ 4 085.00. The further N$ 1000.00 will be available to Agnes for her next purchases.

Thank you again to Global United for supporting this determined young entrepreneur.

HEAL THE LAND – Okahandja

Project Co-ordinator: Mr Willie Theron
Cell: +264 81 605 6615
annie.t@iway.na

Through Pastor Willie Theron, the Trust is able to extend a helping hand to the most vulnerable in some parts of the Okahandja district.

Khaibasen remains active in order to continue their feeding program for the street children.

Light of Hope, also based in Okahandja, assists street children twice a month with basic hygienic care. The children are able to bathe and have their wounds cared for and perhaps also receive a new change of clothing when clothing is available.

Once again, any assistance to enable us to continue supporting the community is indeed very much welcomed!

Natascha Pre-primary – Katutura/Okuryangava

Co-ordinator: Ms Sonia Noirfalise

Ms Meriam Haingura is the founder of the Natascha pre-primary and she looks after 46 children on a regular basis. Meriam is also a founding member of the Matukondjo Dolls project which since 2004 has empowered many women to make a living by selling these wonderful dolls made out of African local material. These dolls are sold in most curio shops.

All profits are shared between the women and most of all the profits contribute towards the educational fees of the children. This year has been very difficult and for the past six months, the women have received zero income as the tourism industry has been brought to an almost stand-still and consequently no dolls were sold to guests visiting our beautiful Namibia.

Natascha Pre-primary has been added to the Back to School Xmas Bags Project and we will hopefully be able to assist all the children with a bag and a stationery kit so they can start their new year successfully. Meriam has been helping the children throughout the lockdown and she is also part of the MealForTwo Program.

Pictures during the Gondwana Care Trustees’ last visit to the Pre-school.

Meriam explained her challenges but also her hopes for the coming month. Children are missing school due to lack of funds and even though it is only pre-primary, it is still one of the most important (if not the most important) stage for children to be prepared for high school. It is an incredibly important steppingstone for the development of children.

SPITZKOPPE COMMUNITY – Spitzkoppe

Co-ordinator: Mr Allan Schiefer
Cell 081-840 2997
Headman: Manfred Naruseb - Development Office Khoekhoegowab community

This small community living near Spitzkoppe has been left with no income due to the lack of tourism since the pandemic started. About 265 men, women and children (about 53 households) are now surviving with very little and are in dire need of assistance. Mr Allan Schiefer contacted us and requested urgent help to get food parcels to distribute amongst the community.

Thanks to Mr Jacobus Henn from NAMIB MILLS who immediately partnered with Gondwana Care Trust, we were able to deliver 54 food parcels containing: 4x 2.5kg bread flour; 54x 2.5kg maize meal; 54x 2.5kg sugar; 54x 2lt cooking oil; and 54x 3kg macaroni. Half of the order was sponsored by Namib Mills and the other half by Gondwana Care Trust.

We are very thankful to all our business partners and in particular Namib Mills who continually provide assistance to the most needy in our communities wherever they are located in Namibia.

MEN ON THE SIDE OF THE ROAD

MSR Co-ordinator: Tomas Shilongo (fieldworker.msr@gmail.com)
and Crystal Beukes (swakopmund@msr.org.na)
Phone: 0812406368;  0814884126;  061 305892
Email: msr@iway.na
Website: https://msr.org.na/

To our overseas readers: If you have traveled to our beautiful Namibia, you may have noticed men and women on the side of the road waiting seeking job opportunities. They often sit by traffic lights and if you have a small job in your garden or at the office for them to do, you pick them up and pay them for their efforts. This is common practice in Namibia and for many, it gives them the chance to get a small income for the day and hopefully result in a daily job contract.

Men on the Side of the Road (MSR) was established to empower unemployed people, through a comprehensive program of self-development, life skills training, technical skills training and job placement to enable them to better compete in the labour market.

MSR currently has more than 1600 people registered as members on the database in Windhoek and in Swakopmund. They have connected more than 300 people with full time jobs, 1018 with temporary employment and more than 300 part-time job opportunities. In addition to job placements, MSR has been able to provide more than 500 people with training opportunities in Windhoek and in Swakopmund. These training opportunities are in different vocational trades, basic computer training, hospitality, home management as well as first aid and safety.

With the impact of COVID-19 on the economy, MSR is unable to link as many members to jobs as they were able to before the pandemic hit the Namibian economy. The struggle of unemployment, has gone from bad to worse with companies closing or scaling down and private employers providing temporary and part time jobs, not hiring workers anymore. The person sitting on the side of the road to earn a day’s wage to feed their families, is left with no income and no money to take care of their families. They currently have 200 members in Windhoek and 100 in Swakopmund who are still actively seeking employment.

To our Namibian readers, please do not hesitate in contacting MSR if you need any further information on these potential employees. Not all MSR members are standing on the street corners, but all are job seekers. MSR recently organised a training session for new members, which had previously been postponed due to all Covid-19 restrictions during the lockdown. The training session took place in order to give people an opportunity to get registered and to receive training on how to become “employable”. Have a look at their website for more information.

In assistance, Gondwana Care Trust was able to sponsor all 28 participants with a food parcel so they could enjoy a meal with family after the training session.

We would like to wish all MSR members the very best and we hope the training session will enable the participants to secure a job in the near future. The food parcel comprised: 1x 2.5kg bread flour; 1x 2.5kg maize meal; 1x 2.5kg sugar; 1x 2lt cooking oil; and 1x 3kg macaroni.

SIDE BY SIDE Early Intervention Center – Windhoek

www.sidebysidenamibia.com
Facebook: Side by Side- Early Intervention Centre 
Director and Project Manager: Ms Huipie van Wyk
081 147 7760
info@sidebysidenamibia.com

Side by Side Early Intervention Centre is a registered nonprofit association and it offers services and support to children with disabilities and their families. They provide training, community rehabilitation and awareness throughout Namibia. Side by Side relies solely on grants and sponsorships. They have eight staff members including a Reflexologist, a Social Worker, an Occupational Therapist, a Speech Therapist and an Orthopaedic Therapist that supports on a voluntary basis.

The services the Side by Side team offer are as follows:

· Day care Rehabilitation Centre / Early Intervention Sessions / Home Visits

· Parent Workshops / Support Groups

· Special School Readiness / Individual Sponsorship programs /  School, Public and Corporate Awareness Campaigns

During these past few months, they have visited many children at their homes and assisted the families with the basic training and also with food parcels. Gondwana Care Trust recently assisted for a request for four families in need of hygienic products and other goods to add on to the Side by Side parcel.

Thank you to our partner, World of Hygiene, for their support.

MAD (Make a Difference Charity) – Tsumeb

Project Co-ordinator: Ms Violet E Witbeen
Cell: +264 81 700 0117
madnamibia@gmail.com

Based in Tsumeb, MAD aims at assisting the youth of Tsumeb to develop skills and enable them to find employment in various industries. They look after 28 families on a regular basis which mostly consist of disabled youth and elderly, visually impaired or sick elderly from the Kuvukiland settlement and four widows who live with more than six grandchildren whose parents are all unemployed. They are facing material hardships such as food insecurity, no access to education, basic sanitation, proper healthcare or decent housing.

MAD Charity is conducting a community assessment on "Violence against children and youth with disabilities" on 20th & 30th October 2020. These assessments seek not only to improve the knowledge of communication on GBV against children and youth with disabilities, but also to foster reflection on how attitudes might influence their work in this field. MAD will be joined by Tashiya Angula who is currently doing her honours degree at the University of Namibia and they have invited their local social worker and police officer to be part of the two-day assessment.

Gondwana Care Trust is sponsoring the catering for the two days for 50 people to ensure that participants also receive a meal during the day. Assessment may take time and lack of proper nutrition leads to poor concentration during vital exchange of information.

MAD is also developing future projects to empower the community in creating ways to earn an income by recycling goods into curio items and other products that can be sold to tourists visiting the area. Please do not hesitate to contact Violet if you are able to assist these projects.

LIDAR FOUNDATION - Katutura, Windhoek 

Project Co-ordinator: Ms Serley Khaxas
lidarfoundation@gmail.com 
081 687 1537

Lidar Foundation is a centre at the heart of Katatura where many children find themselves living in the street and without a responsible adult’s guidance and protection. Serley opened the centre to welcome children and teenagers who find themselves in difficult situations such as pregnancy, abuse or abandonment.

The centre helps the children with a meal during the day – either breakfast, before they start school, lunch or an early dinner. Lidar is based in Katutura but during these challenging times, Lidar also extended their reach to other regions in Namibia. Lidar travelled to the Zambezi region to not only explore growth opportunities for their program but also to give opportunities to women who never receive this kind of support in these regions.

Lidar Foundation’s team organised a training for some young mothers in the region, for three weeks, focusing on skill development and empowerment. 26 young mothers benefited from the training. Gondwana Care Trust sponsored the food items so the training could take place and the participants would also receive three meals a day.

The theoretical training was done at the Ministry of Sport, Youth & Sport Resource in Katima from Monday to Thursday and Lidar facilitated the practical training in Katima at Caprivi Travellers and Backpackers where Lidar had rented a big tent for this purpose.

Lidar continually improves their training program so they can empower as many young mothers as possible and they also continue their soup kitchen to provide a meal to many children in the area who visit the center for school support and emotional support as well.

Lidar is part of our “Back to School Xmas Bag Project” and almost 200 kids receive the Gondwana Care Trust Bag at the end of the year.

As part of the report received from Lidar, this is what Lidar succeeded to achieve amongst other things:

Specific to Gondwana Care Trust Covid-19 Related Additional Support, food items were put into parcels as well as essential baby support products. These were then distributed to the women. 30 food parcels were made weekly, in addition to other needs that were also covered. 100 identified young mothers and families received support on a monthly basis. Additional beneficiaries were added as indicated on the list.

Ongoing support for young women and girls at Lidar is based on their urgent need. From this support rendered, their food and baby needs were met and they were able to give their families much needed food, managing to care for their loved ones during this time.

“Back to School XMAS BAG Project” 2020:

Gondwana Care Trust
caretrust@gcnam.com 
Please call 081 242 59 00 for more information on how to assist the project

As every year, Gondwana Care Trust is sponsoring the “Back to School Xmas Bag project” to enable Namibian children to be prepared for their new year at school, encourage the children to stay at school and most of all to put a big smile on their faces when they open the Xmas bag which is not only filled with a basic stationery school set but with a gift specially chosen for them!

About three years ago, we decided to have a material bag done which could be re-used by the child while also being more environmentally friendly.

Schools, hostels, orphanages, OVC centres send us their list by September/October.

The list must include the name of the child, gender, age, grade/year and any special needs so we can pack and personalise the bag to the child.

Each bag has the child’s name written on and according to the age and gender, a toy is added to the bag. We have a basic stationery kit included which comprises of pens, pencils, crayons, a ruler, an eraser, a plastic folder, an exercise book, and for older grades we include a calculator if we have one.

For the younger kids, we include a colouring book and a reading book with a handwritten message in the book. For the older kids, we would include a roll on, body cream, toothpaste and toothbrush, soap and a small towel.

In 2019, we were very blessed to receive food donations from our partners and we were able to add some maize, sugar and tinned fish to the bags, so every child would be able to share a warm meal with their family.

This year has so far been very challenging, and we hope to be able to repeat the same donation. We would be thankful if you could share this pledge and/or contact us if you are willing to assist us with the Xmas bag project!

Due to the Covid-19 crisis, we were unable to sell the Xmas bags in order to raise funds towards the project.

To all the bags we add some sweets because Christmas is not the same without some sweeties. Last year we packed 3 000 Xmas bags and we hope to achieve the same amount this year!

The Back to School Xmas Bags are for sale for N$ 200. 00.
The child will then receive the bag on your behalf.

Most schools are still closed but we have centers all over Namibia providing for many children and we will keep the bags for the learners until they return to school. We expect to hand out the bags late December or mid January 2021 and this will still enable the children to have the necessities to start school.

We cannot do it alone!

If you are willing to assist us, contact me or drop off your donation at the Gondwana Collection head office. Please write ‘XMAS BAG 2020’ on your donation, as well as your name and email address so we can add you to the newsletter.

If you would like to contribute with a cash donation, please find our banking details below or visit our website.

Please add ‘Name/Xmas’ as a reference for your contribution.

For any goods donation, please contact me – Dgini to arrange a date to drop off any goods.

Thank you to Global United for their continuous support and their financial support towards the Xmas bag initiative!

THANK YOU FOR ENA

LET US FILL THE EMPTY PLATES AND KEEP THE CHILDREN HEALTHY!

Please contact Dgini via caretrust@gcnam.com if you want to assist. If you are a supplier or if you want to contribute with a cash donation, please use our bank details and the reference: ‘Food relief COVID-19’ or ‘Xmas Bag/Name’ or donate directly via our donate button below – THANK YOU!

Please find below a list of our Community partners who receive assistance during the Covid-19 crisis:

Heal the Land, Khaibasen, Light of Hope - Okahandja:
160+ children
44 Adults
These three organisations in Okahandja, are connected to a local church whose pastor is the project co-ordinator and drives weekly to Windhoek to pick up all the goods to distribute thereafter to the beneficiaries. They provide cooked meals to vulnerable and homeless kids in Okahandja. They are also affiliated with the Nau Aib Old Age Home in Okahandja and provide cooked meals to the elderly in the old age home.

Senior Park - Windhoek:
160 residents
Old Age home in Pioneerspark, Windhoek.
MealForTwo donations go to the elderly who need food assistance and towards the old age home kitchen.

Lidar Foundation - Katutura:
250 Children
100 Adults
Provides food and youth empowerment and educational activities for orphaned and vulnerable girls in Katutura-central. Since the lockdown, Lidar has prepared meals and food parcels for over 200 kids.

Hope Village:
88 Children
Provides a loving home to orphans and abandoned children living with HIV and other debilitating illnesses. Operate in Katutura, Windhoek.

Windhoek PAY Center:
120 Children
Operates in Katutura, Windhoek.
Provides nutrient meals and education and activity programmes daily to kids coming from disadvantaged backgrounds. Since the start of lockdown, PAY provides take away food for the kids. PAY CENTER in Katutura also benefits from the hygienic products as well as food items collected: During the country’s State of Emergency Stage Two, they expanded their reach to 69 households, 80 PAY learners and 365 people. 365 people being the figure based on the number of people per household where we have a minimum of four to a maximum of 17 people in each household benefitting from our support. Over 1 777 people have benefited from the program in June 2020 alone.

Huis Maerua:
24 Children
Operates in Windhoek.
Houses and feeds children with socially troubled backgrounds.

Grace Project:
180 families
Operates in Khomasdal, Windhoek.
Distributes food parcels to vulnerable families, especially pensioners. Since the lockdown, they have provided food parcels to almost all the families as well.

Khomas Homeless Shelter - Windhoek:
Since the lockdown, the Gondwana Care Trust has added the shelter to the recipient and they have received dry goods and meat to provide a meal on a daily basis to homeless individuals. They have over 70 people visiting the shelter on a regular basis.

Bridge of Hope - Havana:
has also been added to the list since the lockdown.
They assist over 150 kids with a meal. They still operate and provide take-away and food parcels to the kids. Bridge of Hope is a beneficiary of MealForTwo and receives meat, tinned fish and other fresh vegetables on a regular basis, to feed the children daily.

Elshaddai Caring and Feeding:
120 Children
30 Adults
Operates in Keetmanshoop. Provides nutritious meals daily to kids and adults coming from disadvantaged backgrounds.

Mammadu Trust - Katutura:
60 Children
Operates in Otjomuise, Windhoek and provides food to orphaned and vulnerable children in the community and educates them.

Dorcas Soup Kitchen - Keetmanshoop:
100 children
20 adults
Operates in Keetmanshoop. Provides nutritious meals daily to kids coming from disadvantaged backgrounds.

Natascha Pre-Primary School & Day Care - Katutura:
46 children
Operates in Okuryangava, Windhoek, provide food and care to vulnerable children from the community.

Part of the MealForTwo program – Associations / schools are closed at the moment:

Dagbreek Special School - Windhoek:
26 Children
7 Adults
Operates in Windhoek and provides education, food and shelter to kids with disabilities.

Geduld Primary School and Immanuel Hostel - Grunau:
200 children
Operates in Grunau. Provides education, shelter and food to kids from the Grunau and surrounding area.

Witkrans Primary School - Stampriet:
162 children 
8 adults
Provide nutritious meals for underprivileged children from the Witkrans area.
 

Please contact Dgini for more information.
 

A heartfelt THANK YOU goes out to all the wonderful individuals for their contributions! Should you still want to contribute with a cash donation, please find our banking details below. Please add ‘Name/food relief’ as a reference for your contribution or Winter clothing.

Bank Windhoek Limited
Gondwana Care Trust
Maerua Mall Branch / 483 872 Chk 
800 818 44 91
 

We have a few more projects lined up, please contact the Trust if you would like more information. We cannot thank you enough for your support!
 

Gondwana Care Trust
caretrust@gcnam.com
+264 81 242 59 00