Eveline de Klerk
SWAKOPMUND – Baby, Wise Pandulo Shindinge who survived a flash flood in Windhoek, Havana in which his mother Saima Thomas, 32, and his brother Lukas Johannes Shindinge, 3, died has become a symbol of hope and joy for his aunt currently raising him in Swakopmund.
Pandulo who will turn three months on Sunday, was three days on April 17, when the flash flood washed away their home at the Havana informal settlement, claiming the lives of his mother and brother.
New Era visited, Julia and Mathias Simon at their two-bedroom house at the NHE houses in Swakopmund, where the baby currently lives and being raised by his aunt. Pandulo, whose name means grateful, has become the main focus for the family that does not even want him to cry.
According to Julia, the sister to the boy’s father Nehemia Shindinge, Pandulo is receiving so much love and attention from the whole family.
“It’s as if he became a light of hope for the whole family although we are still battling to come to terms with his mother and brother’s tragic deaths,” she said.
She says he is definitely growing into a healthy and strong boy and the family will soon have their hands full if he starts to crawl.
“It is just painful that he has to grow up without his mother. To make matters worse… we don’t even have a single picture of her as everything went with the flood,” she said.
The family currently survives from the little saving her husband set aside while he was working, although it merely covers the basics.
Apart from that, they have two daughters that are currently studying as well as their two grandsons.
“Nappies and milk is costly these days. It is not like in our times. A big tin of his milk cost about N$400 and last about two weeks. However, we are not complaining as he is really a miracle and a blessing for us,” the aunt said.
Her wish she says, is that Pandulo becomes a fine young man one day and tells others how he was saved by the grace of God.
“He was really saved for a reason and I want him to acknowledge that and fulfil his purpose once he grow, as I know God has a plan for him,” she said.
They will also appreciate any assistance they get from Good Samaritans, as Pandulo’s father is still not in a state to care for his baby financially. “He is really not doing well.
We speak regularly and I can sense that he is not well. He also still gets flash backs from the flood. All we can do is pray for him,” she said.