WINDHOEK– Finland through its Ministry for Foreign Affairs and in conjunction with the Helsinki Deaconess Institute of Finland will fund two newly launched social services projects run by the Evangelical Lutheran Church in Namibia (ELCIN) to the tune of N$14.9 million.
The ELCIN projects called Empowering Communities for Youth and Community Outreach Among Elderly aim to increase the employability and access to opportunities for the youth and to support the elderly to live as active members of society. Chargé d’Affairs of the Finnish Embassy Anne Saloranta said hopelessness among young people and the wellbeing of the elderly are serious problems in Namibia. “Many youths are dropping out of school and as a result are facing a bleak future of teenage pregnancy, substance abuse, turning to criminal activities and HIV infection due to relationships with sugar mommies and daddies,” said the Finnish head of mission. Saloranta says special focus will be placed on the elderly without the care of relatives or those elderly caregivers left to bring up their grandchildren alone. “We need to empower the elderly to live a dignified life and help the communities to become caring. Too many of our elders are left alone to fend for themselves and many have become bread-winners for their families with their meagre pensions,” says project coordinator Jastina Shilongo of the Community Outreach Among Elderly project.
In his remarks Presiding ELCIN Bishop Dr Shekutaamba Nambala commended the Finnish government for its assistance before and after independence. “During the colonial years Namibians where not allowed to travel to other countries, not even to Botswana, Finland was the only country which opened its doors to Namibians,” he said. “That’s why today we have many Namibians who graduated from various universities in Finland,” Nambala said. According to Saloranta the youth and elderly projects represent a continuation of the long cooperation between ELCIN and the Helsinki Deaconess Institute. The two three-year projects are based on a person-centred approach, hence the work is based on people’s own needs and aspirations empowering them in the process to find own solutions to life’s many challenges and mitigate despondency among the youth and the elderly. Work has already started in the Kilimanjaro and Havana informal settlements in Windhoek, the DRC informal settlement in Swakopmund, as well as in Nkurenkuru and Engela in the north.
By Kuzeeko Tjitemisa