Staff Reporter
Windhoek-Minister of Poverty Eradication and Social Welfare Zephania Kameeta has reiterated that education leads to poverty eradication, because it is in the classroom that future professionals cut their teeth.
Rev Bishop Kameeta made the remarks at a recent event where road construction firm China Henan International Cooperation Group (CHICO) donated three classrooms to Okonjatu Combined School, as well as one brick house and a pre-fabricated house with eight rooms to the community.
“A school is a place of poverty eradication. Education is another word for poverty eradication. So, we are preparing today the future of tomorrow,” stated the Bishop Emeritus. Kameeta said it was through education that the professionals of the future, such as medical doctors, engineers, lecturers, nurses, teachers and others are prepared.
Without education there will be no future, he stated.
Commending the government of the People’s Republic of China and CHICO, he said CHICO’s generosity fulfils what President Hage Geingob has reiterated that the government alone cannot eradicate poverty, as it needs international and local partners to effectively mitigate the scourge of poverty.
“I want to say that if each and every company in Namibia, small and big, emulated what CHICO is doing, then we don’t need (Vision) 2030 to eradicate poverty,” he stressed.
Chargé d’ affaires at the Embassy of the People’s Republic of China in Namibia Li Nan said he was deeply impressed by CHICO, because it has set an excellent example to be emulated by all Chinese firms operating in Namibia.
Li said, apart from its largesse, CHICO has a reputation for delivering on time high-quality roads within set budget and that all its road projects were praised by the government.
“I am deeply impressed, because CHICO it has also set up an excellent example in fulfilling their social responsibilities and also through investing more in local employees in skills transfer and technology transfer and also through donations in various forms, for example, today’s donation of the classrooms and the facility in the old-age home,” he stated.
The chargé d’ affaires further said the bilateral relationship between Namibia and China has developed to another level in all the areas of cooperation, such as education, infrastructure development, manufacturing and trade.
Yunke Cui, deputy director of CHICO, was of the view the kind gesture by his firm “will not only brighten the faces of many underprivileged senior citizens of this community, but will also bring rays of hope to many learners in the local school, who on a daily basis struggle in overcrowded classrooms”.
Cui said: “Our company has embraced the national Harambee Prosperity Plan of “One Namibia, One Nation,” with its concepts of reconciliation, security and stability, as well as its five pillars of social progression. It takes a bold decision to deny yourself and your family some privileges to extend a helping hand to the needy,” he asserted.
The new rooms will provide basic shelter for the elderly. The firm previously also extended a helping hand when it donated classrooms at Karibib Primary School. It also assisted the //Kharas Regional Council and donated shelter and boreholes at Mpungu in Kavango West. Omaheke Regional Council was also assisted.
As part of CHICO’s social responsibility programme over 100 residents of Otjozondjupa previously got free medical consultations, courtesy of the road construction firm in Grootfontein, among other charity projects it had initiated.
Moses Tjipurua Omeb, special advisor to the governor of Otjozondjupa, heaped praise on CHICO’s largesse, noting that its vision extended far beyond that of road construction. He said Okonjatu used to be a forgotten place, but currently several roads have been constructed and in this vein, he commended CHICO for bringing development to the region.