Pinehas Nakaziko
Windhoek-Final-year law students from the University of Namibia (Unam), calling themselves The Moppet Minders, recently spent a day with vulnerable kids at the Hope Initiative Centre in Okahandja Park informal settlement and taught them about their constitutional rights.
The children from the poor slums were also informed about what they entitled to in their own country and how they can assert these rights by making use of play therapy.
More than 50 children from the centre benefited from this programme, organised under the guidance of the Unam Legal Aid Clinic. The children were provided with elementary skills which can help them enter the formal schooling
system.
Apart from that, guardians and parents who escorted their little ones to the centre, received a short presentation about children rights, as well as possible sources of funding for the children for their welfare and schooling.
The children were treated to lots of fun like games, including a jumping castle, and were provided with snacks such as hotdogs and popcorns.
The centre offers pre-education as well as bridging programme for less privileged children who did not get the opportunity to enroll in formal schools, preparing them for future formal education. The Moppet Minders helped the caregivers with how they can take of children, including making them aware of these children’s right to education, protection and care by both parents, the right to a birth certificate, shelter, the available grants, the role of the Legal Assistance Centre, and the issue of public policy, vis-à-vis fundamental human rights.