WINDHOEK – “We don’t eat in the morning. There is nothing. I make porridge for my children to eat. I ask for sugar from the neighbours to add to the porridge for the children.”
So says breastfeeding 30-year-old mother Ndapandula Lukas, who together with her children, are in need of food for their survival.
The unemployed mother has no source of income and depends on good Samaritans to feed her family
The lack of food has forced the mother to pass on necessary nutrients through breastfeeding to her son who weighs slightly over 3kg. She is not a beneficiary of government’s food bank programme, which is rolled out to fight poverty and hunger in the country. The mother of four lives with her partner and two of their children in Okuryangava, while the other two children live in the north with Lukas’ mother.
During a visit to her shack that was recently rebuilt following a fire incident last month, Lukas narrated how the fire destroyed their shack and other household belongings to such an extent that she was left with no clothes and blankets. As for food to eat, the family only had maize meal, salt and cooking oil when New Era visited their shack. There was no relish.
Lukas said she only eats lunch and dinner “which is not enough for a breastfeeding mother”. Lukas told New Era that the City of Windhoek donated a blanket and two mattresses which the entire family shares.
Her last-born was born premature weighing 2.045kg in August 2018. She also indicated that the child has difficulty breathing at times. “After birth the baby remained in the hospital until the weight slightly improved to 2.060kg. By December he weighed over 4kg, but it seems he lost weight,” she said while sharing her story of hardship in a bid to draw the attention of potential Samaritans.
“I don’t have enough milk maybe that’s why he lost weight,” said Lukas adding that they would cook when there is something to eat. Lukas, who visits Windhoek Central Hospital for her son’s check up, walks from Okuryangava to the hospital and back.
Lukas has since decided to relocate to the north where she hails from but added that “I need someone to help pay for my transport to the north”.