Anchua Naruseb
It has been a challenge to study in the Usakos Secondary School hostel because there were not enough chairs to accommodate all the boarding learners.
According to head girl Petrova Gawases, it has always been a fight to get a seat during study hours and meal times.
“If you come late, you don’t get a chair. You have to stand. And the chairs that are there would just make you fall off while you are eating,” she said.
These challenges are now over after the Affirmative Repositioning (AR) movement, through its social responsibility arm the AR Foundation, last week donated 100 chairs to the hostel.
The donation came after a request from school principal Christina Tjongarero to AR for 190 chairs.
“I’m so humbled, and we are really speechless. I believe this is just the start and big things are still coming,” she beamed.
The school was built in 1964, and is one of the many schools around the country whose infrastructure is reaching the end of its lifespan.
Handing over the chairs, AR interim chairperson Job Amupanda said the donation by the movement is to reward the energy and confidence of the teachers who go out of their way to make ends meet.
“Education is a shared responsibility, and it is also important that as individuals we should see how we can assist. We are happy, and the learners promised to study hard on those comfortable chairs,” he added. Amupanda motivated the learners to study hard and become the change to the small community. He also challenged them to become the generation that would attend to the difficulties that day-learners are faced with when attending school during the rainy season.
“We want you to be that generation that’s going to bring the bridge that is connecting your school and town to the location. There is no shame in not achieving your objectives, but there is absolute shame in not having a plan. So, do management by objectives because tomorrow belongs only to those who are preparing for it today“, said Amupanda.
The handover ceremony was witnessed by Karibib mayor Davey van Wyk, former Walvis Bay urban constituency councillor Knowledge Ipinge and AR acting spokesperson George Kambala.