The country has been dry and in some areas the rainfall caused residents in some districts of Windhoek to lose some of their possessions!

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Newsletter

“Hope for a better day, hope for a better tomorrow starts with us.

Make it a better day, smile, care so tomorrow is a better day for all.”

Never give up.Never ever give up. If there is light, there is hope!!

 

April - May 2021

Dear friends, sponsors, partners and colleagues,

We thank all of you, 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.

 

Covid-19 regulations still greatly limit the opportunity for travel and tourism to flourish but the Gondwana Care Trust still aims to support our current projects as long as we can. The economic consequences of Covid-19 are still affecting most Namibians, with many businesses closing down, individuals losing their jobs or means of income. Due to lack of funds this year, The Gondwana Care Trust has very limited resources and it is really challenging to add and support any new projects, besides adding beneficiaries to our MealForTwo Program.

 

If you want to partner in our projects and help us empower our communities, please contact us: caretrust@gcnam.com

 

THANK YOU to Capricorn Asset Management for your support and trust – Thanks to you the MealForTwo Project will be able to sustain the current projects. Thank you to Bank Windhoek for renewing your financial support until June and thank you to Global United for your continued support during these challenging times!

 

We would like to thank Wecke & Voigts Wholesale, who have now partnered with Gondwana Care trust in the MealForTwo Project. The Wecke & Voigts Group supplies in bulk and delivers country wide to small businesses, guesthouses, lodges, and farmers, and is also open to the public. The group will contribute N$10 000 in goods towards the MealForTwo beneficiaries. Thank you!

 

THANK YOU Namib Mills for your generous support of N$10 000 towards our project.

 

The MealForTwo is a life saving project for many vulnerable individuals and children living in difficult situations. Our monthly expense for MealForTwo is about N$64 000 at the moment.

Donate A MealForTwo

Any contribution makes a difference – you can also donate through our bank account or contact us by email if you can contribute with food items.

 

Thank you!

 

Bank Windhoek Limited

Gondwana Care Trust

Maerua Mall Branch / 483 872

Chk – 800 818 44 91

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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 in contacting us at caretrust@gcnam.com

 

As every year, the Gondwana Care Trust is preparing for the School Bag Project - A Christmas Drive. The material bags need to be produced already, so that they are ready for packing in September / October and then distributed at the end of school year in late November. Due to the pandemic, we have not been able to sell many School Bags at the Gondwana properties and we are in need of assistance to make this project another success!

 

Have a look at the Gondwana Care Trust video of last year, explaining the School Bag Project:

A Message From The Gondwana Care Trust

Back to School Bag - A Christmas Drive 2021

The School Bag Project started a few years back; and about 3 years ago we started to formalize the project: Instead of packing goods in a box or plastic bag, we decided to have a material bag made; which could be used as a school bag by the children .

 

Schools, hostels, orphanages and OVC Centres send us their lists by September / October. The list must include: The name of the child, gender, age, grade / school year, and any special needs so that we can pack and personalize the bag. We support a few schools for children with special needs and it is important to be aware of these needs so that we can pack the right toy and stationery kit for 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, ruler, eraser, plastic folder, an exercise book, and for older grades we include a calculator and a math kit if we have.

 

For the younger children, we include a coloring book and a reading book with a message in the book such as:

 

"Dear James,

Well done on your school year and Merry Christmas.

Lots of love from the Gondwana Care Trust."

 

For the older kids, we include a roll on, body lotion, toothpaste and toothbrush, soap and a small towel. We add sweets to all the bags because Christmas is not the same without some sweeties.

 

Once the bag is filled, we send the bags to the schools or organizations. All recipients must send us pictures of the bags being handed to the children. In most cases, we have ambassadors from our lodges or Windhoek Office who will be present during the year-end ceremony or Christmas party.

 

Depending on the support we will get this year, we would like to add a food parcel to the School Bag, as we did in 2019 and 2020. For the past two years now, we have added some maize, sugar, canned fish, and donations that we either receive from suppliers or buy through the sales of the bags.

 

The Gondwana Care Trust has very limited funds at this point and the School Bag Project has suffered greatly from the lack of tourism. The “Christmas Bags” are sold in all the Gondwana lodges’ curio shops. The guests contribute by buying the bag for N$200 only, so that we can produce the bag and purchase the basic stationery kit as early as from April or May.

 

Since the tourism industry has been negatively impacted, we have only been able to start the production of the bags in May and have only managed to produce a thousands bags!

 

Many students have not returned to schools due to lack of funds in 2021, so more than ever, in order to encourage children to attend schools and pursue their education, we would like to distribute as many bags as we can at the end of the year.

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We distributed 2378 bags in 2019 and 2554 bags in 2020.

Please help us match or even distribute more bags in 2021!

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Christmas School Bags

We would love to distribute as many bags in 2021 as possible.

Please donate a bag, using the reference XMAS BAG.

 

THANK YOU!

Gift A School Bag this Christmas

Thank you to all our guests, who have bought a Christmas Bag so far, and thank you to Mr Stephen Hans and Ms Anja Syrek , who have sponsored 20 bags. We cannot thank you enough!

Follow up: P.A.Y Centre

Physically Active Youth Namibia - Katutura

Project coordinator: Ms Thubaelihle Sibanda (Senior Program Manager)  thuba@paynamibia.org 

http://www.paynamibia.org

 

The PAY Center is situated in the heart of Katutura and has been open throughout the pandemic to assist the learners which they look after. The Gondwana Care Trust has been in contact with PAY for a few years now. The effort that the PAY team puts into helping the kids reach their potential is amazing.

 

PAY means Physically Active Youth. The center provides a daily meal for the children, but most importantly provides the support they need so that they can study and achieve good grades at school. The children must be on time and help clean up after lunch and after that they need to get ready for the homework class. PAY has several sport activities such as cycling, swimming, soccer, and chess. Activities are also organized over the weekends so that the youth can be physically active and remain healthy and away from the street’s temptations.

 

Following our last newsletter on the donation of 15 computers by a sponsor, who wants to remain anonymous, the Cold Air Technologies’ team sponsored two air-conditioning units for the center's computer room.

 

Thank you Mr Jaco Van Der Walt and Mrs Tanya Van Der Walt for your support.

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In the heart of Katutura, Windhoek, the temperatures can be very high during the day in summer. It is more difficult to study in those very hot conditions. Thanks to the air-conditioning units, the computer classroom is now cool and allows children to study for longer and in better conditions. This is such a blessing and the learners will only benefit from it. Thank you Cold Air Technologies for your kind generosity and support towards the education of our youth.

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A big THANK YOU to the Gondwana Collection Technical Team for  installing the units!!

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Proud Himbas - Opuwo:

Project co-ordinator: Mr Dallas Shoovaleka

+264 081 225 36 77

 

Dallas created The Proud Himba Foundation in 2007 as a means to help the school children of the Opuwo area. Dallas started with two children and now he is looking after 28 children on a regular basis. Proud Himba also assists the schools in the area and the orphan feeding program. The foundation organizes cleaning campaigns in the area and stays in contact with the school needs of the area.

 

Proud Himba is part of the MealForTwo Program, and once again we cannot thank all of our sponsors enough for enabling us to reach the far corners of Namibia to assist some many extra-ordinary organizations in their nutritional program towards the community and the children of Namibia.

 

Here is some feedback from the ESB stoves donation. A further 10 stoves will be donated to the community, following the positive feedback and comments from the families using the stoves. Thank you to ESB stoves and their sponsors! This helps tremendously in reducing the wood usage while cooking.

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Palmwag Lodge & Camp: Palmwag Rhino Protection Unit

Thanks to the donation of ESB Stoves to the Gondwana Care Trust, Palmwag Lodge & Camp was able to donate three stoves to the Rhino Protection Unit. The units spend a lot of time in the bush and they move constantly around the area. The stove is easy to carry, uses a lot less wood than open fires, and cooks faster, making it convenient, environmentally friendlier, and safer for the rhino rangers.

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T.A.S.K.

Project coordinator: Ms Victoria Louw 

twaloloka.task2020@gmail.com 

 

The Twaloloka and Narraville community still receive assistance with meals from TASK – The Gondwana Care Trust has been sponsoring bread towards TASK soup kitchen and will continue as long as the budget can allow for it. Thanks to the wonderful energy and care from the TASK team, meals are served twice a week at this stage as TASK is running very low on funds. Two more ESB Stoves were handed out to some of the members of the community. TASK selected these members of the community due to their dedication in helping others and serving soup whenever possible to those in need.

Please assist the community through TASK, so that the soup kitchen can continue serving a meal a little while longer!

Please use TASK as a reference for your donation. Thank you very much!

Donate to TASK Soup Kitchen

MAD (Make a Difference Charity)

Tsumeb

Project Co-ordinator: Ms Violet E Witbeen

Cell: +264 81 700 0117 

madnamibia@gmail.com

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Based in Tsumeb, MAD assists the youth of Tsumeb to develop skills and enables them to get employed in various industries. They look after 28 families on a regular basis, which mostly consist of disabled youth and elderly people, visually impaired, or sick elderly from the Kuvukiland settlement, as well as 4 widows, who live with more than 6 grandchildren, of which parents are unemployed.

 

They are facing material hardships such as food insecurity, no access to education, no basic sanitation, lack of proper healthcare, and no descent housing.

 

The Gondwana Care Trust was able to assist MAD once again with a delivery of goods late in April:

  • 60 x 1 kg Polona pasta
  • 32 x 2.5kg BakPro bread flour
  • 30 x 2ltr sunflower oil
  • 28 x 1kg white sugar
  • 32 x 2.5kg Top Score meal
  • 168 x 400g Lucky Star pilchard tomato sauce
  • 60 x packages of soup 

The goods were shared between 28 households that consist of marginalized group of children with disabilities, and a few widows caring for mostly orphaned grandchildren.

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Thank you for your support!

Keetmanshoop, Grunau & Karasburg Projects 

 

Thanks to our Canyon Collection Manager Rudi and his team, the hostels and soup kitchens received the necessary food items to serve nutritious meals to the children in the Southern Region of Namibia.

Bridge of Hope – Katutura

Ms Eugenia Gcilishe

081 359 33 83 

boh.welfare@gmail.com

 

Ms Eugenia looks after 140 children, by providing a meal after school, care, and support to the children when needed. Eugenia is constantly involved in investigating employment, creating projects such as making sleeping bags from durable plastic, and her income goes towards the community and the feeding program for the children. Bridge of Hope is a beneficiary of MealForTwo.

RLT Khorixas

Ms Maria Shilongo

081 342 11 60

mariamagret81@gmail.com

 

RLT has been created recently by Ms Maria Shilongo, in order to assist the community in need in the Khorixas area. Maria organized an event on 1st of May in Khorixas to raise funds in order to be able to donate food parcels to about twenty households. The Gondwana Care Trust, though MealForTwo, participated, by sponsoring groceries to the amount of N$6 123 to assist this project.

 

Thanks to The Delight Swakopmund, we were able to add linen to the handouts.

 

Thanks to Ms Maria M Mvula, the team at Damara Mopane Lodge was able to hand out the “Caring for Our Water” School Books, to some of the Grade 7 to 9 students, to educate the community on how to save water! These books are very practical and are also used in the classroom. Thank you for the donation, the children were very happy! The education on how to save water is a fun gift to all. It was a great success and we look forward to assist Maria in her future endeavors in the Khorixas area.

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Here is a list of our community partners which receive assistance from the MealForTwo Program:

 

Heal the Land, Khaibasen, Light of Hope, Nau Aib Old Age Home:

160+ children, 44 Adults 

These three organizations in Okahandja are connected to a local church. They provide cooked meals to vulnerable and homeless kids and are also affiliated with the Nau Aib Old Age Home, where they provide cooked meals to the elderly.

 

Dagbreek Special School:

26 Children, 7 Adults 

Operates in Windhoek to provide education, food, and shelter to kids with disabilities.

 

Mammadu Trust:

60 Children 

Operates in Otjomuise, Windhoek.

Provides food and education to orphaned and vulnerable children in the community.

 

Bridge of Hope:

140 Children

Operates in Katutura, Windhoek.

providing food parcels and cooked meals to vulnerable children in those communities.

 

Khomas Homeless Development Trust:

+-80 Adults and 20 Kids

Operates in Katutura, Windhoek.

Providing cooked meals to homeless people in those communities.

 

Senior Park:

160 residents 

Old Age home in Pioneerspark, Windhoek.

MealForTwo donations are provided for the elderly, who need food assistance, and for the old age home kitchen.

 

Lidar Foundation:

250 Children and 100 Adults

Provides food, youth empowerment, and educational activities for orphaned and vulnerable girls in Katutura.

 

Hope Village:

88 Children

Provides a loving home and food to orphans and abandoned children living with HIV and other debilitating illnesses.

Operates in Katutura, Windhoek.

 

PAY Center:

120 Children.

Operates in Katutura, Windhoek.

Provides nutritious meals, education, and physical activity programmes to kids coming from disadvantaged backgrounds.

 

Huis Maerua:

24 Children 

Operates in Windhoek.

Houses and feeds children with social welfare troubled backgrounds.

 

Elshaddai Caring and Feeding:

120 Children and 30 Adults

Operates in Keetmanshoop.

Provides nutritious meals to kids and adults coming from disadvantaged backgrounds.

 

Dorcas Soup Kitchen:

100 children and 20 adults

Operates in Keetmanshoop.

Provides nutritious meals to kids coming from disadvantaged backgrounds.

 

Geduld Primary School and Immanuel Hostel:

200 children

Operates in Grunau.

Provides education, shelter, and food to kids from the Grunau and surrounding area.

 

Witkrans Primary School:

162 children and 8 adults

Provide nutritious meals for underprivileged children from the Witkrans area.

 

Natascha Pre-Primary School & Day Care:

46 children

Operates in Okuryangava, Windhoek.

Provides food and care to vulnerable children from the community.

 

Grace Project:

180 families

Operates in Khomasdal, Windhoek.

Distributes food parcels to vulnerable families, especially pensioners.

 

Proud Himba:

Based in Epupa, the project was founded in 2007 to extend help to the school children of the area. It not only looks after 30 children on a regular basis but also assists schools and the orphan feeding program

 

MAD (Make a Difference Charity):

28 families 

Based in Tsumeb, they look after disabled youth and elderly, visually impaired or sick elderly from the Kuvukiland settlement.

 

Men on the Side of the Road:

Operates in Windhoek and Swakopmund.

MSR assists job seekers in acquiring skills to assist them in finding employment. The Gondwana Care Trust assists MSR by providing food parcels to active members of the organization, who attend regularly (monthly) held community meetings geared towards sharing information on possible jobs or training, and any other information.

 

Spitzkoppe community:

The indigenous communities of the Spitzkoppe area are largely reliant on Tourism in the Spitzkoppe area for income. Since the pandemic, these communities had no income and means for sustenance.  The Care Trust assists 56 families with food parcels.

 

Twaloloka community:

Since the communities of Twaloloka lost their homes to the fires in the community, the Gondwana Care Trust, together with other like-minded organizations and soup kitchens, has assisted the devastated communities with food.

Please contact Dgini for further information regarding the supported projects: 

caretrust@gcnam.com

 

Thank you to all the wonderful individuals for their contributions. Thank you!

 

If you want to contribute with a cash donation, please find our banking details below, or make use of the direct donate button. Please add your name / Food relief / Xmas Bag as a reference for your contribution.

 

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 Care 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

Contribute with a Cash Donation

View our latest Gondwana Care Trust Newsletter

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Gondwana Collection Namibia (Pty) Ltd, 42 Nelson Mandela Avenue, Windhoek, Khomas, Namibia, +264-61-427-200

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