By Staff Reporter
WINDHOEK
Last week, the Namibian-based Joint Compassion Keepers International (JCK), an interdenominational, charitable organisation, received a 40-foot container from the United States full of well-rounded meals which will feed orphans and vulnerable children (OVC) in Namibia as part of their “Love for a Child” programme.
The meals will be distributed by JCK to thousands of OVC throughout Namibia. The US President’s Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief (PEPFAR) funded the trans-Atlantic shipment of the 270 000 meals from the United States.
This humanitarian effort began last year when the founders of JCK, Jimmy and Glaudi Kearney, were watching a television segment on Feed My Starving Children (FMS), a US charity programme which donates meals that are supplemented with vitamins and minerals, safe to transport and easy to prepare, around the world. JCK wasted no time and applied for a similar donation.
During the PEPFAR programme’s first five years, Namibia has received approximately US$323 million from the US Government to combat HIV/AIDS.
PEPFAR works closely with its Namibian partners such as CAFO and JCK to prevent HIV infections and provide care and treatment for those infected and affected by the HIV/AIDS epidemic.
Since its inception in 1987, Feed My Starving Children, a non-profit Christian organisation, has worked to develop a food mixture that is culturally acceptable, healthy, and safe to transport.
Last year, FMSC produced more than 43 million meals with assistance of 185 000 volunteers. These meals are shipped to more than 50 countries around the world.