By Deon Schlechter
WINDHOEK – She has become known as the ‘Florence Nightingale of mentally challenged Namibians due to her relentless caring for such people despite her own physical disability.
Over the past few years, Regina Kondombolo, owner of the Hephata Care Centre in Wanaheda in Katutura here, has brought joy to hundreds of people suffering in silence from mental disorders. Last August this extraordinary women, who has been in a wheel chair, was richly rewarded when the Omongua Superior Breeders Association auctioned off a one-year old Veldmaster ram. The Association contributed N$4 000 the ram fetched to the Hephata Centre enabling Kondombolo to continue with her humane profession.
This year will be no different after Nichlas Mbingeneeko and Vaughn Komomungondo have invited fellow farmers in and around Namibia to their third Joint Annual Boer Goat Production Auction on August 7 at the NamBoer Auction Pens in Windhoek. Once again, Kondombolo and her Centre will benefit form this auction when a Boer Goat ewe will be sold and the proceeds donated to the Centre . Farmers have been requested to open their hearts and help this exemplarily woman as much as they can.
The auction will offer 15 Boer Goat Rams, 20 Boer Goat Ewes, some with lambs, five Damara Rams, 10 Damara Ewes, some with lambs, six Veldmaster Rams, five Van Rooy Rams of Mbaroro Borry Katjiuanjo and 10 Van Rooy Ewes of Mbaroro Borry Katjiuanjo. Dr Esau Kaakunga will sell Boer Goat Rams and Ewes at this auction too. Livestock of top quality is guaranteed. For further details contact Vaughn Komomungondo at 081 227 8717. The marketing of this auction has been sponsored by Standard Bank Namibia and Auas Motors.
Kondombolo says the gesture by Mbingeneeko (owner of last year’s ram??????), Komomungondo, Dr Easu Kaakuga and Borry Katjinanjo (guest sellers) brought tears to her eyes. Breeder Dirkie Coetzee from Windhoek bought the Veldmaster ram with a final bid of N$4 000 under loud applause from a packed Namboer Auction Ring.
Kondombolo started her career as a young and eager nurse, and completed 18 years at the Katutura State Hospital. She carried on with her noble calling but for the next 25 years she had been plagued by illness, and eventually had to give up her nursing career. “That’s when I realised that God had other plans for me. I was already deeply disturbed by the fact that mentally challenged people of all ages were not being looked after properly, and in some cases even sadly neglected. That’s when I decided to seek financial assistance to set up a day care centre for such people.”
“In the beginning it was very hard trying to convince residents about the plight of these patients, and I first had to do many odd jobs before my lucky break came. The German Lutheran Church bought me a house on Erf 578 in Gambia Street, Wanaheda, some 25 years ago, which I turned into a day care centre and that is still the address today,” she says.
But eleven years ago the never-say-die woman was once again put to the test when she was diagnosed with diabetes. The illness eventually took its toll when her right leg had to be amputated just below the knee. Many a women would have called it a day, but not Regina. “When I got into a wheelchair for the first time, I realised that I would not be as mobile as before, but also reminded myself that I was still alive and able to carry on my good work. The misfortune actually motivated me even more, and to this day I am able to do my work. It is sad to see how some parents and children lock up mentally challenged family members during the day when they leave for work. I have eyes and ears everywhere in Katutura, which inform me of such situations. With the consent of family members, I take in these patients and care for them to the best of my abilities. I have an average of 15 patients at any given time, and appreciate every bit of financial or other help I get from the community. The Lions Club has been very good to me and does all the maintenance on the house for free. I also get support in the form of food from various organisations,” she says.
“For as long as God gives me the strength to get up and into my wheelchair every morning, I will continue my work,” she concludes.”