By Wezi Tjaronda WINDHOEK San learners in Tsumkwe and schools in other areas will now be able to sleep in comfort after a Chinese company donated mattresses to the San Development Programme. The donation, from Golden Phoenix Enterprises based in Oshikango, comprises 500 cotton quilts and 200 mattresses. The learners, whom Deputy Prime Minister Dr Libertina Amathila visited in 2006, had been sleeping uncomfortably with no bedding and sometimes having to share mattresses. The Deputy Prime Minister, who has been tasked with the development of the San, said many school hostels were not providing learners with bedding, while San learners from poor families were sleeping on the floor or sharing mattresses with up to five learners. “I found this situation unacceptable and demoralizing among learners as this leads to a high rate of dropouts,” she said, adding that the dropout rate could be up to 60 percent. With her office’s “Back to School and Stay in School” campaign among San learners, Amathila said the learners needed support to keep them in school by, among others, paying school fees and providing them with basic needs. The donation will be distributed to learners in Tsumkwe in the Otjozondjupa Region, Okatjoruu and Coblenz Junior Secondary Schools and to schools in the Omaheke, which have San children. Hwang Yue Qian, owner of Golden Phoenix Enterprises, is also behind the envisaged Chinese Loving Heart Organization, which is still in its planning stages. Chinese Ambassador to Namibia, Liang Yinzhu, said Chinese nationals wanting to make donations of any nature could do so through the organization. “This is the beginning of many more donations to come,” the Ambassador said. Amathila applauded the efforts of the country’s development partners, with whose assistance, she said the government would be able to meet its objectives of ensuring that the San community becomes self-sustaining.