By John Muyamba
RUNDU – The Ohorongo Otavi Community Trust (OOCT) and the German-based non-profit organisation Support e.V, last week on Friday donated items worth N$85 000 to the Rundu Intermediate Hospital.
The donated items were received by the Deputy Minister of Health and Social Services, Petrina Haingura, together with the Rundu Intermediate Hospital staff. The donated items consisted of 46 hospital beds, 112 mattresses, 41 bedside tables, 23 wheelchairs, 20 walking frames, 8 emergency hospital camp beds, 9 bunks beds for children and 4 specialised chairs.
Speaking at the event the Medical Superintendent of the Rundu Intermediate Hospital, Dr Yuri Yangazov, praised the donors for their warm hearted donation which he said will benefit the hospital immensely.
He also emphasised the importance of the implementation of private/public partnership (PPP) policy as it empowers and improves service delivery.
He further said the donated items and equipment will be helpful and would empower the hospital.
Speaking at the same event, the deputy minister of health, said that she was happy to receive the donated items and she commended the donors (OOCT and Support e.V) for their hard work that made them able to donate the items where they are needed.
She said “as they say, no man is an island. It is the same with institutions, as the institutions can’t stand alone without the cooperation and collaboration with stakeholders through dedicated public service.”
She further added she was indeed honoured to receive the donations with gratitude and she thanked the two donors for stepping up to give a helping hand to eliminate some of the challenges faced by the ministry.
Speaking on behalf of OOCT and Support e.V, Rudolf Coetzee who is the General Administration Manager at Ohorongo Cement, said, “As we all know, Namibia faces many challenges in delivering quality health services to the community with main constraints amongst a few, being inadequate medical equipment and supplies, so on this note I am pleased to hand over this donation to use in the Rundu hospital.”
The Ohorongo Cement General Manager, further added this is certainly only the start for some projects to come and they are looking forward to making a change within the communities with the support of their stakeholders.
Some of the items will be shared with other hospitals, according to the deputy minister.
The OOCT was established in 2008 by Ohorongo Cement (Pty) Ltd with the purpose of contributing towards the wellbeing of the community of Otavi.
For this purpose Ohorongo committed itself to making an annual financial contribution towards the trust in order to enable the trustees to meet their obligations and the German NGO Support e.V is an important partner of the Trust. Support e.V. is an established NGO run by doctors and businessmen based in Ulm, Germany, the home base of Schwenk Zement KG, Ohorongo’s mother company.
The focus of the NGO is to provide assistance to reliable development partners and aid organisations whose interventions and activities are positive.