Children's Sanctuary Namibia - 2023 Midyear Update
President's Report for AGM by Terry Adler
Welcome friends, to our fourth Annual General Meeting for our Children’s Sanctuary Namibia Society! Thank you for joining us and thank you for all the ways you supported CSNS last year. Some of you have been donors since we were first registered as a charity in 2018. Your loyal, generous support has made possible what we are reporting on today.
The start of 2022 was also the start of a new life for 16 of the most at-risk children in Drimiopsis. The building erected in 2021 was made habitable in January and February of 2022 by installing water pipes, toilets, showers, electrical wiring and so on. Supplies needed were purchased or donated, including furniture, appliances, cooking and kitchen utensils, bedding, hygiene items, cleaning supplies and clothes for the children. A medicine cabinet was built and stocked according to a list created by a pharmacist friend of Helge. Zuma and Johannes created and painted a playground with funds donated by CSNS.
By February of 2022, Helge had hired a manager, Belinda Tsuses, who moved into the house with her two school age children. Belinda immediately set to work, guided by CSN board member Lazarus Musambani. Because of his many years running a residential care home for orphaned children and dealing with the Ministries involved, he is an invaluable teacher and mentor for Belinda and the house mothers. Lazarus was entrusted by the Ministry to choose which of the more than 70 children requiring a home would be the first to move in. By March, the house was ready, the kitchen full of food, the children’s dressers full of clothes, all preparations made for the move in day of March 7th.
At first the children were apprehensive, as this was a huge step into the unknown. Very soon, they began to feel safe and to thrive, responding to the loving care of dedicated caregivers. For the first time in their young lives, they have health care, support with their schooling, enjoy celebrations for their birthdays and holidays, and are learning their cultural heritage from Grandmother Ita. As you heard Sonja say, they each have a bed to call their own, 3 nutritious meals a day, a home and a family to return to after school.
The fund-raising strategies you supported in 2022 included a house concert, a plant sale, birthday appeals, a Christmas appeal, the sale of popsicles at Canyon Heights Elementary School and Giving Tuesday. It is amazing when you realize these humble efforts raised enough money to change the course of these children’s lives.
In this current year of 2023, we continue to support CSN to enrich the lives of these children, and the many children still awaiting the security of their own home. Our primary objectives continue to be the support of the Mother House, the Food Programs and the garden expansion.
We aim to help CSN to:
1) create a citrus orchard,
2) Buy fertilizer and seeds to grow crops including carrots, spinach, onions, cabbage, sweet potatoes, tomatoes, beets, squash, corn and melons.
3) Grow excess food to sell to community members, enriching their nutrition and generating income to make the garden self-sustaining
4) Expand the garden and purchase shade netting to protect the plants during the intensely hot summers to ensure nutritious crops to supplement the children’s meals year-round, at the Mother House, the kindergarten, and the soup kitchen.
5) Provide the operational costs for the MH, including salaries, food, diesel, trips to Gobabis for shopping, medical needs, and banking.
Our goal for 2023 is to raise $35,000 CAD. This will cover:
1) Operational costs for Mother House, the food programs (MH, kindergarten and
soup kitchen) and the garden – approximately $30,000 CAD
2) Garden expansion – planting a citrus orchard, adding vegetables and fruits,
supplying protective shade netting – costing approximately $5000 CAD.
We are also pleased to announce we are joining CSN in a special international fund-
raising effort to bring power to the Sanctuary complex. The MH was prepared for
electrical hookup in early 2022. At the time, the official authorized to provide power
promised to do so but more than a year later that has not been forthcoming. While no
formal explanation has been given, the provision of power is unlikely at a time when
Namibia, South Africa and their neighbours are experiencing severe drought conditions
and extended power outages. Rationing of electricity is a fact of life in all these
countries.
Given these circumstances, the CSN board has decided to invest in solar power.
Together, we are raising money for the purchase and installation of solar panels. These
will be a reliable source of energy for the MH and Sanctuary land, meeting needs for
heat, light, appliances, computer and phone, as well as running the water pump that
supplies water for the house and garden. The estimate for materials and installation is
$21,000 CAD.
It is a joy to collaborate with the CSN board and the people of Drimiopsis to support
their children to grow into adults capable of enriching the quality of life in their
community. We could not do this without your generous hearts. You help us raise up a
community in ways guided by and contributed to by the people themselves. We thank
you from the bottom of our hearts. We hope you will continue to journey with us on this
great adventure, an adventure that is life-changing for all! Thank you for your attention.
January 2023 News
Together with our deep gratitude for your support in 2022, here are some highlights of the achievements your donations made possible. The most important is the completion and opening of the Mother House, a home for 16 orphaned and vulnerable children of Drimiopsis!
Mother House
Left, children dancing at a community celebration of the opening of the Mother House.
Lazarus Musambani, Director of the Omaruru Children’s Orphanage and CSN Board Member, selected 16 of the most vulnerable children from a possible 75 in Drimiopsis, to reside at the Mother House until age 18. His expertise with Ministry guidelines speeded up registering the Sanctuary as a Child Care Facility. With her two children, Belinda Tsuses was hired and moved into the house to become the resident Manager. Lazarus taught Belinda, Chief Ita, and the House Mothers, Viktoria and Katrina, many aspects of their roles. Belinda ensures that Ministry guidelines are followed. As a team under Belinda’s guidance, they provide loving care for the children who are now settled into their new home, enjoying food, shelter, and support in all aspects of life, including school. The youngest children attend Sanveld Kindergarten, while the older ones attend the local public school.
Four children who didn’t know their birthdates or ages, proudly display their birth certificates!
CSN Manager
Belinda Tsuses has been busy this year supervising routines and programs in the House, supervising CSN’s food and garden projects, and cultivating positive relationships with neighbours and merchants from local communities. She has brought CSN and the Sanctuary to the attention of Namibians by inviting their support via media interviews. Since electricity has yet to be supplied to the Moher House, Belinda uses a donated laptop and her cell phone at the home of Theresa Matengu, the High School teacher who co-founded CSN with Helge Mercker and Chief Ita.
Soup Kitchen
The Soup Kitchen remains a vital resource for 120 + orphaned and vulnerable children who receive three meals weekly from a dedicated group of volunteers. Left, orphaned and vulnerable children gather for a special Soup Kitchen Christmas meal, including a meat serving. Each child and volunteer received a Christmas gift of food items.
Kindergarten Food Program
CSNS funds the Sanveld Kindergarten food program, providing two meals daily, five days a week, during the school year for the 55 children in attendance. Left, the children wash their hands before entering their school for a meal.
Sanctuary Garden
Expanding the Sanctuary’s Gardens remains a crucial goal for CSN. CSNS is fundraising to purchase shade netting, a solar panel water pumping system, fruit trees, and fertilizer. Produce from the garden supplements the children’s mealie porridge and lentils diet. Crops of carrots, spinach, and sweet potatoes are grown year-round, while watermelon, mealies, tomatoes, and onions are planted during the summer.
CSNS Board
The CSNS Board welcomes a new board member, Tyler Cresswell. Tyler’s business and marketing knowledge is a valuable resource for our board of retired social workers and teachers. From left to right, Tyler Cresswell, Yvonne de Troye, Diane Mawson, Judy Dunbar, Betty Owen, and Terry Adler. Absent: Helge Mercker, our agent in Namibia.
A note about fundraising
Left: We thank Yvonne for hosting another successful house concert at her lovely home in Tsawwassen, B.C. A special “thank you” to the staff and students of Canyon Heights Elementary School in North Vancouver, BC, for their continued support of the “Pops for Namibia” program. Proceeds from the sale of popsicles support the food program at Sanveld Kindergarten and the Soup Kitchen.
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August, 2022 News
Dear friends, donors, and supporters,
We hope you enjoy reading this mid-year update on activities happening on the CSN Sanctuary Land!. Thank you for your support!
A New Manager for the Sanctuary
In February, Ms Belinda Tsuses was hired to manage the Mother House and Children’s Sanctuary Namibia (CSN) projects. She and her two children have taken up residence in the Mother House (MH). Her presence as manager is moving CSN forward in exciting new ways. Together with CSN board member Lazarus Musambani, they guided the process of establishing the orphanage with a full staff and selection of 16 of the most vulnerable children who will reside in the Mother House until the age of 18.
Belinda Tsuses and Grandmother Chief Ita in a joyful moment.
The Children are Welcomed
Moving into the Mother House was a bewildering and overwhelming time for the children due to the magnitude of the change they experienced. Each child was vulnerable and required time and space to heal; some felt overwhelmed by the sudden abundance of food. Each was supported in love and assessed by the house mothers and volunteers who they were very familiar with.
The 16 children living in the Mother House under CSN’s full-time care include 4 sets of siblings: 3 brothers aged 6, 9, and 12; a set of twins, aged 5 (boy and girl); a set of siblings aged 9 and 11 (boy and girl); a set of siblings aged 7 and 10 (boy and girl). The children living on-site without siblings are aged 15, 14, 12 (2), 11, and 8. One child is HIV positive, is on medication, and is seen monthly by the Doctor.
Community Welcoming ceremony for the 16 children moving into the Mother House (pictured).
The children arrived without any clothes and what clothes they had were torn. A successful clothing fundraiser was held in Swakopmund. Now each child has a collection of clothing to wear including school uniforms.
CSNS Staff
Zuma (gardener and handyman), Katrina (housemother for the girls), Viktoria (housemother for the boys), Wilhelmina and Lydia (soup kitchen volunteers), and Johannes (gardener’s assistant). In the middle is Belinda (manager) and in front is Chief Ita (board member and grandmother for all the children).
More staff workshops are planned in the coming weeks and will be presented by a social worker.
Visitors to the Sanctuary
In mid-March, there was a surprise visit by multiple ministries of marginalized communities who came to view the Drimiopsis settlement as a whole but they also came to the children’s home. The visitors included representatives from the Ministry of Gender Equality, Poverty Eradication & Social Welfare; World Food Program; World Health Organisation; National Planning Commission of Namibia; Nutrition and Food Security Alliance of Namibia; Food Bank of Namibia Co-ordinator Omaheke Region; and a Member from the Office of the President for marginalized communities.
They asked many questions about the Mother House operation and conducted a thorough inspection visiting all the rooms, storage facilities, gardens, and grounds. Manager Belinda Tsuses reported, “they loved the place--they were very impressed by what they saw.” Spontaneously, the girls provided dance and entertainment for the visitors. This surprise visit included key contacts from the offices which whom Belinda needs to liaise with. What a wonderful start for our new manager!
Hon Ignatius Kariseb, chairperson of the Omaheke Regional Council and Regional Councillor of the Kalahari Constituency, Omaheke Region, also visited the facility. He is the key Government person overseeing electrical power to the Mother House through the installation of a power pole. The Councillor met with Belinda to report the pole is close to being installed and work has started elsewhere in Drimiopsis. However, due to a shortage of needed materials that come from South African suppliers the work was halted temporarily.
The Councilor expressed interest in supporting an orchard on the land.
In April, visitors from the Ministry of Gender Equality and Child Welfare collected pictures and information about CSN and the MH. They raised the possibility of establishing an Early Childhood Centre to be built on the Sanctuary land (all being part of CSN Children’s Village). They donated 10 packs of 20x500g instant porridge.
Food Programs
Funding CSN’s food programs remains a top priority for CSNS. Dedicated Soup Kitchen volunteers continue to provide 3 meals each week to 57+ orphaned and vulnerable children in the community. In addition, CSNS continues to fund the Sanveld Kindergarten’s food program, providing 2 meals daily Monday through Friday to 55 children.
Following their March visit, the UN’s World Food Program approached CSN to operate a daily food program for 200 young children aged 5 and younger. The 4-month program which started in June is an effort to fight malnutrition in vulnerable young children through the winter months. The program is financed by the World Food Program and Manager Belinda is an integral part of coordinating all efforts. We are very grateful the little ones are all catered for during the cold winter months.
Above Mothers bring their children to receive food. All made possible through CSN’s volunteers and staff.
A mother feeding her young children.
Garden
Developing the garden remains a top priority for CSN and CSNS. The goals for 2022 are to install netting for shade, plant an orchard, and improve irrigation. “We desperately need donations for shade netting, fruit trees, and watering pipes,” Belinda implores.
Planting a winter crop of onions, carrots, mutate, cabbage, and beetroots.
Education
The youngest children attend Sanveld Kindergarten in Drimiopsis while the others attend Drimiopsis Primary School. All the children enjoy wearing their new school uniforms and school clothes! The older girls attend a weekly girls empowering workshop.
Chief Ita is very much the grandmother of all the children. She enjoys teaching them about the traditional way of life of the San people. The children enjoy their time with Grandmother Ita very much!
Above Ita demonstrates how to build a traditional San home.
The children enjoy the finished San house.
A Container from Germany Arrives!
The organization, “Hilfe fuer Namibia” shipped a container from Germany containing bedding, blankets, towels, children’s clothing, jackets, and warm clothing. Agent/CSN Board Member Helge Mercker gratefully accepted the goods--her car was loaded to the rim as she made her way to Drimiopsis. With winter fast approaching the goods arrived in perfect timing!
Grandmother Ita, Viktoria and Katrina (housemothers), and Zuma (gardener/handyman) help unload donated goods from Helge’s car.
A note about CSNS fundraising…
Covid 19 continues to impact fundraising by limiting the size and nature of our venues. We are grateful to the staff and students of Canyon Heights Elementary School for their continuing support of the “Pops for Namibia” program which raises funds through popsicle sales. If your school or group is interested in a popsicle sale fundraising event for CSN, please contact Board Member Diane Mawson for information. She can be reached through email at dhmawson@shaw.ca.
A successful plant sale fundraiser was held in April and May, at Board Member Judy Dunbar’s home in Gibsons. Judy is deeply grateful for all the help and donations of plants from Betty, Diane, Al Fike, Heather Gordon, and other able gardeners in her community. We also extend our gratitude to Board Members Yvonne de Troye and Gayle Rutt who have organized a house concert at Yvonne’s home later this month. And a BIG thank you to everyone who held birthday fundraiser events and activities!
From left to right, CSNS Board members Betty Owen, Diane Mawson, and Judy Dunbar set up tables and plants for the plant sale fundraiser
CSN’s website, (our sister agency in Namibia) is now active. For additional information and pictures visit their website at www.childrenssanctuarynamibia.com
We hope you enjoy the images below of the children enjoying some leisure activities….
Some of the children “hanging out”. Although fascinating to hold, Gardener Zuma dreads the presence of hungry caterpillars in the gardens.
On July 24th a birthday party was held for eleven children whose birthdays occurred between January and July. A professional baker made cakes for the children at no charge as her way of giving back to the community. CSN supplied only the ingredients.
