Lüderitz
Born and bred at the coastal town of Lüderitz, 45-year-old Embrencia Matroos who is an employee of the NovaNam fishing factory in Lüderitz, will be going for her long awaited surgery in Windhoek on Friday.
Touched by her plight the Lüderitz Mayoral Trust Fund resolved to cover all her medical expenses and surgery to remove a tumour from her face, which will cost N$83 000.
An amount of N$60 000 has already been deposited with the church-run Roman Catholic Hospital in Windhoek as
a deposit for her operation, and the rest will cover her transport, food and payment for other expenses.
During the official handover of the sponsorship, Lüderitz Mayor Suzan Ndjaleka praised to the board members of the mayoral fund, as well as the sponsors and stakeholders that have contributed towards the fund – “be it financial or in kind. It’s those contributions that have made that sponsorship possible.”
Ndjaleka further explained that for some time now, the mayoral fund was dormant due to the trust’s documents that had to be updated and as a result, a lot of applications for financial assistance were unfortunately not approved.
But currently the fund is back in operation and Ndjaleka encouraged the community to support the fund, especially during its fundraising activities to ensure there will always be funds available when a critical situation such as this comes up.
On behalf of the board as well as the entire Lüderitz Town Council, Ndjaleka wished Matroos a successful operation and eagerly waits to have Matroos back with a brand new smile.
At the same occasion a group of more than 16 youth in Lüderitz donated N$3 400 towards Matroos’s operation.
At the age of 19, Matroos underwent an operation at the Tygerberg Hospital in Cape Town; the operation did however not go the way she expected, as she found the operation affected her right eye.
It has been a difficult road for Matroos, as the tumour on her nose kept growing and makes it difficult for her to breathe properly and sometimes it causes her excruciating pain.
Matroos lost her self-confidence as whenever she is in public she tries covering up her face so that people would not laugh or make rude remarks regarding the tumour on her nose.
Early last year, a group of six community members joined forces and approached Matroos with a helping hand.
One of the six members volunteered to counsel her, which she says has helped her a lot.
Matroos is scheduled to undergo surgery on October 9 for the removal of the nose tumour, which she believes will bring back her self-confidence, self-esteem and most importantly the removal of the tumor.
She did not hide her joy, and she thanked the Lord for this blessing which she never expected. “I am really happy, I would like to thank the Lüderitz mayoral board members and all the good Samaritans that supported me. The words thank you sound so little but in the eyes of the Lord they are big. My heart is full of joy and I pray that the Almighty God blesses them abundantly,” said Matroos.
In July 2015 the doctor booked her off due to her health condition.