Windhoek
Omulunga Radio on Wednesday handed new and old blankets and clothes to the less fortunate who sleep in shacks where the roofing is plastic sheeting at Shandumbala.
The area where these urban poor erected several shacks made from rusty pieces of corrugated iron has no toilets and no running water.
Swapo branch coordinator for the area, Salom Kandume, said: “We are the community leaders and are the ones who brought these people here. It was actually an empty small area and these people started coming one by one until they became many. They started staying here from 2006 and many of them died from the cold and the unhygienic living conditions. Some are in the hospital as we are speaking. We are working hand in hand with the Windhoek Municipality to relocate these poor people to a better place.”
Elmarie Goagoses one of the residents was simply euphoric and could hardly contain her joy, saying, “I feel happy, at least tonight I won’t feel the cold.”
Suzan Williams another beneficiary said: “I feel good, what Omulunga Radio did is a good thing, since life is tough here. We are getting cold, especially our children. At least the little we got will make a difference.”
“The main problem we face is the lack of food to eat, the lack of water and electricity. We go to bed hungry most of the times and we have no water to cook the food,” narrated Williams.
Omulunga program manager Simon Mundandala said the community radio station was touched after reading the touching story in the Namibian Sun newspaper that these people are really suffering.
“And we decided to donate blankets, clothes and second-hand shoes that are in good condition to these less fortunate people because we figured out that they really needed our help.” “This is a project called ‘winter warm campaign’ that we run countrywide normally in winter and so far this is the second one we are doing this year,” said Mundandala.
Omulunga Radio donated 28 blankets and a batch of clothes for small children and some of the donated clothes was reserved for ‘struggle kids’.