Thank you for your generous donations which make our work possible! Our projects for 2024 include:
Mother House
The “Mother House,” as it is affectionately known, is CSN’s registered residential childcare facility and is home to 17 of the most vulnerable children in Drimiopsis and their caregivers. CSNS is committed to raising funds to pay the operational costs of the orphanage, including meals, wages for a manager and 2.5 house mothers, staff development, and other needed resources. Past fundraising contributed significantly to the erection of the building, which includes two dormitories (one for boys, the other for girls), a kitchen, dining room, meeting room, laundry, showers, toilets, storage, and office space. To learn more about the history and building of the Mother House, please visit the “News” section of the website.
Garden Project
Our funding made drilling a borehole (well) and purchasing tanks and stands possible. This vital water resource and hiring a gardener/handyman and gardening assistant led to the establishment of indigenous and vegetable gardens.
We see this project as twofold: enriching the children’s diet, which is deficient in most nutrients, and providing income to fund the gardens by selling excess produce to community members. Plans to expand the garden with shade netting and an orchard will proceed as soon as solar panels are installed for a water-pumping system.
Soup Kitchen
For the past decade, CSN has fed 75-150 orphaned and vulnerable children (OVC) of Drimiopsis. Twice weekly, a group of dedicated women volunteers from the Drimiopsis community cook a meal of lentil soup, mealie meal, or rice to serve to the children in an outdoor kitchen on the Sanctuary Land. CSNS funds the purchase of food for the soup kitchen and pays honoraria to the volunteers.
CSNS is seeking funds to replace the outdoor campfire kitchen with a small structure with a gas stove and a shaded area where the village children can come for their soup kitchen meals.
Kindergarten Food Program
CSNS provides the Sanveld Kindergarten with funds to buy and prepare two meals, five days per week, for up to 55 OVC who attend kindergarten classes. The successful Sanveld Kindergarten operates from 8 am to 1 pm weekdays. This project funds food supplies such as oatmeal, mealie pap, lentils, bread, peanut butter, wood for a cooking fire, water storage containers, and transportation costs for purchasing and delivering the food. This is an ongoing CSNS project.
Dedicated volunteers help the orphaned and vulnerable children line up for their meal at the Soup Kitchen.
Sanctuary Staff
CSNS is proud to pay the wages for CSN’s fantastic staff. From left to right: Zuma (gardener/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 Tsuses (manager) and in front is Chief Ita (board member and grandmother to all the children). Thank you for your incredible work!
Founding members of CSN: Theresa Matengu & Chief Ita Kambases.
other Initiatives
SOLAR PANELS—The budget for the solar water pump has been raised; the CSN board is awaiting the installer's availability. Above the current 5 kilowatts that provide power to the Mother House, additional solar panels are needed to meet current electrical needs and power future homes that will secure more children.
BACKGROUND INFORMATION
The Namibian government’s donation of land in 2016 was in response to CSN’s demonstration to the government that orphaned and vulnerable children in Drimiopsis are vulnerable to many forms of abuse and exploitation. When they reach school age, they do not stay in school because of hunger, lack of supervision, and absence of support and shelter. With safe housing, a nurturing environment, and educational support, they can grow to become change agents for their community rather than victims who repeat the cycle of desperation and hopelessness.