Nambara Stefanus
Nkurenkuru-A senior primary school located some 70 kilometres west of Nkurenkuru in Kavango West Region on Monday received a new accommodation facility for its learners.
The construction of the one-block hostel, handed to Mukekete Senior Primary School, was facilitated by Wolgang Fiedler, a German national, through the foundation Namibia-Hilfe EWF e.V. Schieder.
It is said to cost more than one million Namibia dollars.
Speaking through an interpreter, Fiedler said he learnt about the school’s existence from the then Kavango Region’s education director Matheus Nauyoma.
Earlier this year Fiedler visited the school to acquaint himself with its challenges.
Upon learning of the accommodation problem and receiving a request from the school for the construction of a new hostel, Fiedler travelled back to German where he raised funds from pledges made by thirty-two good Samaritans.
Speaking at the hand-over ceremony, the school’s principal Penehafo Haikali said the school has in the past experienced a high rate of absenteeism, as some learners could not bear the everyday reality of travelling long distances due to a lack of hostel accommodation. To address this challenge, Haikali said, the school built corrugated-iron rooms but they still could not accommodate all needy learners and were again faced with challenges such as the rooms not having beds, lacking ventilation and privacy, and insecurity.
Haikali was grateful for the assistance of the sponsor, admitting it is valuable.
“You are our hero and our angel sent by God. Let us hope you are still with us and you will not abandon us in times of need,” she added. The one-block hostel, which will accommodate a total of fifty-two learners, also has two storerooms and two teachers’ accommodation blocks.
The learners’ accommodation is fully furnished with beds, mattresses and storage lockers.
The sponsor also dug a solar powered borehole at the school and donated school stationery, textbooks, bags of maize meal, macaroni and sugar, and cooking oil.
* Nambara Stefanus is an information officer employed by the Ministry of Information and Communication Technology in Kavango West.