January 14, 2022 News

Dear CSNS Supporters and Donors,

We joyfully share with you the exciting news that 16 children (8 boys, 8 girls) have now moved into the Mother House on the Sanctuary land! It was a gradual move-in to help the children adjust from the lives they have known to a new life with many unknowns; having two dedicated caregivers, a place they can call their own, the certainty of having their material and emotional needs met, relationships with other children who will become to them like siblings.

 This is a tremendous achievement, made possible by the material and moral support provided by yourselves, our valued donors, and volunteers. Your contributions helped this dream become reality! Our heartfelt thanks to each of you!

 CSN Board member, Lazarus, Principal of Omaruru Childrens’ Haven, was authorized by the Ministry of Child Welfare to choose the children from the 75 most vulnerable, due to his extensive knowledge of guidelines for residential childcare facilities and excellent relationship with the Ministry. Ministry Social Workers will make an onsite visit in February.

Girls’ dormitory room.

Lazarus is also helping select and hire a Manager for the Mother House who will guide its development and work towards our longer-term vision of helping the Drimiopsis community meet the needs of all its vulnerable children.

For this new year of 2022 our goals are:

 1)  To raise funds to pay the operational costs for the Mother House, including: a) wages; salaries for the manager, two house mothers, a part-time housemother, a gardener/handyman, security guard/handyman and gardeners assistant; b) meals; 3 x/day, 7 days a week for 14 children and 2 adults

2)  To continue to feed 57 vulnerable children 3 meals weekly through the Soup Kitchen and to pay honoraria to 7 Soup Kitchen volunteers

3)  To fund the kindergarten food program providing a meal, five days a week, for 44 children

4)  To further develop the garden to augment the children’s diet; raise money to make the garden self-sustainable by selling excess produce to the community; purchase shade-netting and fruit trees

5)  Support the development of the Mother House program and its designation as a residential childcare facility through training and other resources.

To achieve the above goals, our 2022 fundraising target is $40,000 Canadian.

 Thank you for being such an important part of this transformative process that is bringing such joy for the people of Drimiopsis and their most needy little ones!

 Sincerely,

Helge, Terry, Diane, Betty, Judy and Yvonne

Gardener/Handyman Zuma painting a portion of the children’s playground funded by CSNS. Gardener’s Assistant, Johannes is in the background.

2021 Summer News Update

Dear Friends and Donors of Children’s Sanctuary Namibia Society,

We are happy to share with you an update on current progress and challenges in Drimiopsis Namibia, the community we help in partnership with Children’s Sanctuary Namibia. More than ever, our role in assisting this community to care for their most vulnerable children is life-altering. We are a trusted ally working with them to provide for these little ones, as well as to contribute resources that can raise the quality of life for everyone in the community over time. Please read how this is happening through the support of many of you! Thank you!!!

Development Continues on the Sanctuary Land…..

With the goal of future self-sustainability in mind, development of the indigenous and vegetable gardens on the Sanctuary land remains a top priority for CSN and CSNS. Gardener/Handyman Joel Zuma, and his assistants, Johannes and David, devoted countless hours planting and tending to this year’s crops of corn, melons, onions, cabbage, garlic, cassava, beetroot, sweet potatoes, spinach, peppers, carrots and tomatoes. While this year’s harvest was considerably larger than last year’s, the control of pests, such as rats and locusts, and nourishment of the soil pose ongoing challenges. Future plans for the garden include planting an orchard, (e.g. citrus trees, figs, olives) and installing industrial greenhouses or tunnels to grow tomatoes and a wide variety of vegetables. The goal is to sell excess nutritional produce from self-sustaining gardens to the Drimiopsis community. The garden is an ongoing CSNS project requiring much labor.

One of Zuma’s children in the corn patch.

Melons growing in the Sanctuary garden formed part of the summer crop. They proved to be a nutritional food source more resistant to the threat of locusts and other insects.

Zuma attends to a portion of the recently planted “Winter” garden.

David and Zuma attend to the corn patch (summer garden).

CSNS recently financed the construction of fencing to protect the water towers.

Upgrades to Staff Homes….

 CSNS funded the recent repair and upgrading of the homes of the three full time workers, Gardener/Handyman Joel Zuma, Security Guard/Handyman David Arikaner and Gardening Assistant, Johannes Kafuru. CSNS continues to provide the annual salaries for these three hard-working men who live on the Sanctuary land with their families.

Pictured above is the extension built to Zuma’s home, who lives with his wife and four children close to the water towers.

Above is the home built adjacent to the garden shed for 19-year-old Johannes, gardening assistant.

Update on the Mother House….

CSN in cooperation with Namibian Child Welfare anticipates 18 orphans (nine boys, nine girls) will be moved permanently into the Mother House as soon as electricity is available to the site, two house mothers are trained, and the house is fully equipped. We are almost there!!! The kitchen is now completed - floor tiles were installed, ceilings painted, countertops and appliances are in place. A Namibian donor provided the new clothes washing machine now installed in the kitchen. All the furniture needed to equip the house (e.g., bunkbeds, bedroom cupboards, dining tables, chairs, etc.) has been ordered.

CSN is working with a contractor from Gobabis to install solar panels to complete the electrical needs for the Mother House and to power the pump used for the water tanks. Viktoria and Katrina, the two soup kitchen volunteers who have been hired to care for the children, have recently completed their house mother training at an orphanage in Omaruru. They returned inspired and committed and eagerly await the opportunity to care for the children! CSNS provided financial support for these projects.

The recently completed kitchen in the Mother House.

Update on the Soup Kitchen….                                                                                  

In April, the soup kitchen was relocated to another place on the Sanctuary land in an area between the fence and David’s home. This change was made in preparation for 18 children moving into the Mother House.

Due to a strong second wave of Covid 19 throughout Namibia and recent cases of Covid in Drimiopsis, the soup kitchen was temporarily closed. During the weeks of closure, CSN board members worked hard to try to ensure deliveries of food to those in the community who could distribute it. The soup kitchen has now reopened and protective measures continue to be in place. Over 75 orphans and vulnerable children are fed a meal 3 times per week under the capable direction of Viktoria, Katrina and Chief Ita.

Children enjoying a soup kitchen meal.

A Note About Fundraising….

Covid 19 restrictions have impacted CSNS fundraising efforts. With the exception of the Spring bulb and plant sale fundraisers held in Gibsons, BC, fundraising activities have moved online. We are grateful to Board member Yvonne de Troye and to Kris Bowerman for organizing the successful online jazz concert featuring the Kris Jay Trio in honour of Yvonne’s 65th birthday.  

Over 500 perennial plants of all shapes and sizes were available for purchase this year. A big “thank you” to Al Fike, Heather Gordon, Judy Dunbar and Betty Owen for their contribution of plants.

The Kris Jay Trio performing an on-line concert in honour of Board Member Yvonne de Troye’s 65th birthday.  

We are honoured to be a part of this continuing process of community development in Drimiopsis, Namibia. We thank you for your financial and prayerful support.

Helge Mercker, Terry Adler, Diane Mawson, Betty Owen, Judy Dunbar and Yvonne de Troye, CSNS Board

2020 President's Report - Terry Adler, CSNS Chair

Mural painted by Deon Kous, Drimiopsis resident & former student of CSN’s Theresa Matengu.

Our CSNS Board is thrilled with the great progress you and our other donors have helped us achieve this past year! In 2020, with your help, and the generosity of an anonymous donor who matched donations received to $10,000, we sent $34,000 to our sister charity, Children’s Sanctuary Namibia or CSN.

A portion of the Mother House, a future home for 18 orphaned and vulnerable children (OVC).

With it, CSN has nearly completed the construction of the Mother House, a future home for 18 orphaned and vulnerable children.  During the past year, separate showers, sinks and toilets for boys and girls were added to the building, sewage tanks and laundry facilities were installed. All of these were made possible by the drilling of a well and the installation of two water tanks plus the frames to support them. We are so grateful that water was found on the sanctuary property, since a reliable source of water for the Mother House, its garden and property, is a vital necessity that sustains all other initiatives.

A portion of the fencing erected around the 4.5 hectare site.

The completion of the ceilings and installation of floor tiles is underway. A fence around the entire perimeter of the 4.5-hectare Sanctuary property was completed. With the reliable water supply found last year, the gardens were expanded to include indigenous species, ornamentals and a wider variety of fruits and vegetables, paving the way for future self-sustainability.

A portion of the gardens on site.

Funds raised in 2020 paid the salaries of three fulltime staff - a security guard, a gardener/handyman and a gardener’s assistant.

These funds also provided food and salaries for part time workers erecting the building.

CSNS paid the wages for two housekeepers--Chief Ita and her assistant Victoria who supervise 9 soup kitchen volunteers and oversee the wellbeing of the children served.

Most importantly, our donations kept the food programs going. These include feeding 44 kindergarten children 2 meals a day, 5 days a week, plus the soup kitchen meals that are provided 3 times per week, serve an average of 112 orphaned and vulnerable children (OVC) at each meal, and sometimes many more due to hardships related to covid-19.

Zuma, Handyman/Gardener serving children attending soup kitchen.

Volunteers serving children a soup kitchen meal.

These are wonderful steps towards achieving our vision, which is to create true sanctuary for orphaned and vulnerable children (OVC) where their needs for belonging, nurturing, learning and love can all be met.

For you to appreciate how far we have come in the seven years since our sister charity CSN started and the two years since CSNS became a Canadian registered charity, I would like to tell you a bit about the community we help and why it needs support from people half a world away. It is a story that reveals both the strengths and frailties of human nature and what is required to build on these strengths.

The story begins in 1991 when the Namibian government took a San community of 200 families and relocated them from their ancestral lands to a resettlement camp created for them, called Drimiopsis. Prior to being relocated, the San lived a self-sufficient hunter-gatherer lifestyle and practised their culture and traditions which were inextricably interwoven with the natural world. It was not their decision to move. The government’s stated reason for moving them was “to settle them into a more economically viable sector of society”. It could be argued that the actual reason was to free more land for cattle ranching.

Drimiopsis Resettlement Camp is 45 km north of Gobabis, the nearest town. There is no public transportation or medical facilities.

In fact, rather than being a doorway to economic integration, the resettlement camp is situated 45 km north of the nearest town, Gobabis, with no public transport, no local health services, and most important, no way of making a living. It is surrounded by cattle ranches.

People in Drimiopsis are dependent on the government which supplies a monthly pension for seniors of about $130 CAD. This is given to both San seniors and those of other tribes who have moved to Drimiopsis. Parents and guardians can receive a grant of $25 CAD per month to support an orphan or vulnerable child, but many do not receive it since they do not have the necessary documents (either the parents’ identity document or a birth certificate).

 The outcomes are predictable, as they would be for any group of people similarly relocated. Except for a tiny minority who found employment in the local cattle ranches and thus were able to feed their families, most live in despair and hopelessness. Because of the absence of ways to make a living, men are the hardest hit. They cannot provide for their loved ones in traditional ways nor in contemporary ways because the former was possible only in relationship to land which is no longer available and the latter to jobs and access to jobs which also are not available.

Despair makes people vulnerable to alcohol and drugs, a form of escape from an intolerable life without purpose. Because women still have the important job of producing and raising children, their lives have more meaning. But many are still drawn into alcohol abuse. Everyone in the community suffers from the effects of alcoholism and the entry of HIV/AIDS into Drimiopsis. Namibia has one of the world’s highest HIV prevalence rates, currently about 12% of the population, down from 18% seven years ago.

 The entire community suffers from malnutrition, subsisting on a diet of mealie porridge severely lacking in protein, vitamins, minerals and other important nutrients. I don’t have to tell you how this impacts health at every age and stage of life, especially over three generations.

This is the context in which one person, a teacher in the local residential high school that serves district teens, was moved to make a difference. Her name is Theresa Matengu. In 2013, Theresa, with the support of her husband and sister, who donated a large cooking pot, began feeding the most vulnerable children from her home kitchen on the school grounds. Theresa had been doing this for some months when our dear friend Helge Mercker heard of her and went to meet her.

CSN founders Theresa Matengu (right) and Helge Mercker, on the Sanctuary Land in 2019.

They instantly connected and began working together with the elected chief of the San people, Ita Kambases, mother, grandmother, problem solver, natural helper. Helge’s father Hanse, who at the time owned a cattle ranch 17 km from Drimiopsis, came to the community and built a simple outdoor kitchen.

Chief Ita Kambases with Helge in the soup kitchen built by Hanse Mercker.

Soup kitchen - early days. Chief Ita with volunteers who continue to serve.

Helge appealed to her networks in Germany, Namibia, the US and Canada for help. Amongst her early supporters were Al and Jeanne Fike of Gibsons, BC Canada and Geoff Cutler from Sydney Australia who had met Helge at a prayer retreat at the Fike’s home in 2012. Later they all went to visit her in Namibia in 2014. That was the year CSN received charitable status from the Namibian government which donated 4.5 hectares of land in the resettlement camp of Drimiopsis to establish a sanctuary for OVC.

From left to right, Al Fike, Jeanne Fike, Geoff Cutler and Helge Mercker in rear.

In April 2017, I visited Namibia and upon returning, set in motion the process for creating a sister charity to CSN. It was clear to me that the San people have tremendous human potential, and that an ally from the so-called developed world partnering with CSN to help meet the San’s basic human needs was a necessary first step towards actualizing their potential. In April 2018, we were granted charitable status by CRA. In August 2019, three other board members, Betty, Judy and Diane, visited Drimiopsis as well.

From left to right, supporters Kevin O’Neill, Theresa Matengu, Terry Adler, Marion Hordjik and Arie Hordjik (rear).

CSNS Board Members Betty Owen, Diane Mawson & Judy Dunbar serving children a soup kitchen meal, August 2019.

As we approach International Women’s Day, I want to acknowledge how the burden of care in the 30 devastating years since the San were relocated to Drimiopsis has fallen upon women. In the survey conducted by Helge Mercker in 2013, 92% of the household respondents were female, 8% were male. Absenteeism of males has become common as they either work out of the community, move away to seek work, are imprisoned or have died.

The survey further revealed that in 66% of the homes, for every one of their own children, caregivers were looking after two additional non-biological children. The number of orphans continues to increase due to HIV/AIDS, poverty, TB, cancer and accidents. The number of vulnerable children continues to rise due to HIV/AIDS, poverty, deaths, unemployment and TB.

Death and loss are so much a part of this community’s life. It falls primarily to mothers, grandmothers, aunts and older female children to support children in the grief process and indeed support them in nearly every way. CSN, and we as their partner charity, have created an avenue for hope in the community, a grassroots project working with local women and men that builds upon the great strengths inherent in the San people and their culture that goes beyond survival to a place where their children can thrive.  

In the past two years, the generosity of our donors, the hard work and creativity of our board members, have enabled us to send CSN the resources to build the sanctuary and the infrastructure to sustain it, as well as to continue the food programs at the kindergarten and soup kitchen. The building process has provided jobs, temporary and permanent, for a small number of men and women in the community. Our fund raising has permitted CSN to offer modest honoraria to the wonderful and committed women volunteers, most of whom have been involved from the start of the soup kitchen.  

The building of the sanctuary and feeding of their most vulnerable citizens has become a source of hope for the community, tangible evidence that they are not alone, that positive change can happen, and they can be part of it, and that more is to come.

CSNS Board Members Judy Dunbar, Betty Owen, Diane Mawson, Terry Adler & Helge Mercker (rear) receiving a cheque from Canyon Heights school in North Vancouver, BC during a school presentation.

Moving forward, in 2021 CSNS is committed to providing necessary funds to CSN to cover the annual operational expenses of the Sanctuary. This entails providing funds for the soup kitchen and kindergarten food programs, paying salaries for 5 people, providing honoraria to 11 volunteers, and maintaining the garden.

Chief Ita with the soup kitchen volunteers and visiting CSNS board members in back row.

Jeremiah Molestane, CSN President with wife Lydia (CSN board member & Kindergarten teacher) in front of the Sanveld Kindergarten.

This year, CSN in cooperation with Namibian Child Welfare, anticipates 18 orphans (9 boys & 9 girls) will be moved permanently into the Mother House. To accomplish this, CSN needs to complete the electrical needs for the site and to train two local women to be house mothers. Funds are needed to cover the costs of the power source (e.g. solar panels), training costs for two local women who will take up residence in the Mother House, plus supplying the house with furniture, bedding, utensils and other needed equipment. Thus, our fundraising goals this year will be approximately $35,000.  

OVC Children playing on the Sanctuary Land after receiving a soup kitchen meal.

We are grateful and honoured to be a part of this continuing process of community development in Drimiopsis Namibia, a process that started with one woman opening her heart, joined by another, and now, by many others. Thank you for contributing to putting love into action in these ways! You are helping transform lives!

“Thank you donors for your love…..”. Poster created and displayed by Deon Kous.

August, 2020 News

CSN Responds to Covid 19. Our sister charity, Children’s Sanctuary Namibia (CSN) is working hard to ensure orphans and vulnerable children are as well looked after as possible in these challenging circumstances. During the lockdown, CSN received a special permit from Ministry of Health to continue its activities. When all public schools along with their associated food programs were closed in April, numbers of children using the Soup Kitchen rose, fluctuating daily, placing greater demands on the Soup Kitchen volunteers.  They fed an average of 112 children three times a week. At times the number grew to as high as 184. CSN stockpiled vitamins and food to prepare for the closure of borders and the restricted movement of goods and supplies. The Board of CSN and the volunteers received instruction in proper hand washing and sanitizing techniques. Physical distancing was implemented to protect the children from congregating in large groups. CSN quickly adopted “best practices” to maintain the well being of everyone. To date, no active cases of Covid 19 have been reported in the community and schools have begun a gradual reopening. 

One of several hand-washing stations set up on the Sanctuary Land.

Covid 19 created great challenges in providing security for the Sanctuary land. With cities under lockdown and businesses closed, many family members returned to Drimiopsis. People sought to set up camp on the unfenced portion of the Sanctuary Land. The three staff employed as security guard, gardener and handyman for the Sanctuary received uniforms. Efforts are now underway to raise funds to fence the entire perimeter of the Sanctuary’s 4.5 hectares. This is an urgent priority.

Security guard David Afrikaner, Gardener/Handyman Joel Zuma, and Assistant Gardener Johannes Kafuru pose in their new uniforms.

Update on the Mother House. We are pleased to announce that toilets and showers are installed in the “Mother House”, one unit for the girls and a separate one for the boys. A big thank you to CSN Board Member, Jeremiah Molestane, who oversaw this installation. Work on the “Mother House” continues with the planning and installation of laundry facilities. 

Toilets and showers (ablution unit) are now installed in the “Mother House” .

One of the toilets installed in the boys’ ablution unit.

House Mother and Volunteer Training. The Covid 19 lockdown has kept house Mothers from being able to travel to the orphanage in Omaruru for training and work experience. This training is a prerequisite to the children being placed in the Mother House by the Ministry. Training for the soup kitchen volunteers and Sanctuary staff continues to be provided by the CSN Board on site in Drimiopsis. Workshops take place in the “Mother House”.

A note about Fundraising. The June 7th house concert planned in North Vancouver, BC was cancelled due to Covid 19. The CSNS Board is currently exploring online fundraising opportunities. The Spring Bulb sale and plant sales held in Gibsons, BC were a big success this year, raising $1,015 and $2,300 respectively. Our deep gratitude to all who purchased a plant!

May you be inspired to support our work! Donations of any amount are welcome and will be doubled! An anonymous donor has stepped forward to help us with our fundraising efforts during these challenging times by matching all donations up to $10,000 or until December 31. Use the PayPal option on the “Take Action” page of this website,  in Canada through electronic bank transfer to the charity’s email  contact@childrenssanctuarynamibiasociety.com   or mailed directly to our Treasurer, Betty Owen, 493 Central Avenue, Gibsons, BC V0N 1V1. 

Thank you!

CSN Responds to Covid 19

Our sister organization, Children’s Sanctuary Namibia (CSN) has prepared for the virus and is continuing to feed the children who rely on the Sanctuary and Soup Kitchen. Information about the virus has been very limited in villages such as Drimiopsis. CSN has been in contact with their local politicians and boards of health to encourage and promote the communication of this vital information to people living in Drimiopsis and similar villages in the country.

CSN is working to ensure the orphans are as well looked after as possible in these challenging circumstances. They have procured extra vitamins for the children and have stockpiled food in preparation for the closure of borders and restriction of movement of goods and supplies. The Board of CSN and the volunteers who work at the Sanctuary have had instruction in proper hand washing and sanitizing techniques and are wearing gloves. Measures to put physical distancing in place have been developed, protecting the children from congregating in large groups. Children’s Sanctuary Namibia (CSN) has been quick to adopt “best practices” to maintain the well being of everyone.

CSN fed 106 children at the Soup Kitchen held earlier this week. The closure of all public schools and their associated food program has placed a greater strain on Soup Kitchen volunteers. We are so grateful for the work and dedication of the volunteers and the Board members of CSN and pray for the health of all in Drimiopsis.

Chief Ita Kambases displaying a sample of the food items purchased just days before South Africa closed its border. The board is pleased to have a good stock of food, soap and cleaning materials on hand as much of Namibia’s food supply comes from South Africa.

In preparation for the distribution of vitamins to the children, CSN Board members Theresa Matengu and Chief Ita Kambases sanitize their surroundings thoroughly and wear plastic smocks and gloves.

To help increase the children’s health and immunity, multi-vitamins were purchased. In addition, CSN received a donation of Vitamin B complex (5,000 tablets) for the children at CSN.

The children practice physical distancing as they wait in line for their vitamin supplements.

A young child receives supplements from a volunteer.

One of the many hand washing stations on the Sanctuary Land. Volunteers continually refill the buckets with water. The Mother House is shown in the background.

The soup kitchen volunteers also practice personal hygiene and physical distancing.

Frequent hand washing is encouraged and especially prior to receiving a meal.

A young child being served by a soup kitchen volunteer.

A nutritious meal of rice and lentils made by the volunteers.