By John Ekongo
WINDHOEK
Anna-Lena Glaab is no ordinary 10-year-old.
Considering that she is just a primary school minor, she has achieved a feat far beyond her age. When Anna-Lena last year November won a handsome amount of 10 000 Euros in a television quiz in her native Germany, she decided to donate the money to the Moria Grace Shelter for Kids in Katutura.
Two years ago a group of teachers from Germany visited Namibia. Their visit to Wilhelmina Afrikaner and the children of the Moria Grace (a privately run shelter for homeless children) in Katutura left such an impression on them that – once back home – they were able to motivate their pupils to such an extent that these children decided to put all their efforts into earning money for children on the other side of the globe!
They sold Christmas biscuits and crafts they had made at “Weihnachtsmaerkte” (Christmas bazaars), collected donations through fun-walks and did baby-sitting, all in the name of humanity.
But these efforts alone would not have bought a shiny new Nissan 1400 bakkie – Damara bakkie as some locals prefer to call the agile but versatile half-ton pick up vehicle. The name apparently is because of the bakkie’s abundance in the former Damaraland.
In November last year, 10-year-old Anna-Lena Glaab took part in a famous novel quiz show on German television: six primary school pupils competed against three celebrities and an audience of 600 adults – and the whiz kids won by a handsome margin! Anna-Lena’s prize money amounted to 10 000 Euros.
Whilst her teammates opted to use their prize money for renovating their schools, Anna opted to donate all of her winning share to the centre.
“The orphans in Namibia have much less than we do. They simply need it more urgently than we do,” was her simple explanation when she donated her prize money.
Thus it was decided to use this generous gift to buy a brand new Nissan 1400 bakkie – to primarily transport the Moria Grace children safely and reliably to and from schools scattered all over Windhoek, whilst also saving the shelter on unnecessary expenses for transport fees for the scores of children who reside at the shelter.
Recently, a shiny blue, new smelling Nissan was joyously welcomed and received by the Moria Grace family. With all children gathered around the car it was blessed and thanked for with a prayer.
The children danced and sang – and Anna-Lena and her classmates in far-off Germany eagerly awaited a telephone call from the showroom.
In spite of the faint cellphone connection they would have understood the boisterous chorus of “thank you’s” from the children of the Moria Grace shelter for kids.