By Frederick Philander
AUB
Her sense of humanity, social justice, many concerns and passion for underprivileged children in the Namibian society, inspired her to start a functional soup kitchen for schoolchildren at the settlement of Aub.
This enterprising and caring person is Rosslyn Tatarik, a well-known personality in the local print-media advertising sector.
“A rare weekend social visit last year to the rural settlement of Aub, some forty kilometres to the south of the capital, urged me to do something for the poor and struggling learners at the Aub Combined School. My heart just opened up for these children after talking to one of the teachers at the local school,” said Tatarik.
Rosslyn, a mother of two, started the much-needed soup kitchen at the school in February this year after consultations with the school management.
“I was told that many of the learners could not concentrate on their lessons nor could they properly study due to perpetual hunger. This sad state of affairs didn’t really come as a surprise to me since most of the adults in the community are unemployed. However, we agreed on the concept of a soup kitchen,” she recalled.
Today the social entity daily serves more than 600 learners and sometimes adults with a hearty lunch of soup and porridge.
“On my return to the capital, I set the ball rolling contacting most businesses I deal with as advertising customers. There was a spontaneous and positive reaction to my request for product help for these unfortunate children, at the time basically on the verge of starvation. The business people started contributing all kinds of products, ranging from maize to meat, and right now I am awaiting a consignment of second-hand clothing I hope to deliver to the school next week,” Tatarik said excitedly during a visit to the school last week.
“My heart particularly went out to the many old people with whom most of these children have been dumped by their children to look after and feed from their measly monthly little pensions. This state of affairs really saddens me and every other concerned person I have been speaking to for assistance to the project,” she asserted.
According to her she has received many other requests from nearby rural schools to assist in a similar fashion.
“I just cannot manage another school due to my heavy work programme. I wish to focus on this one school and make a success of it before considering helping other schools. At the moment, I am seriously considering to shift the soup kitchen project to include the unemployed adults, too, via the local church, but this is still just an idea,” said Tatarik, who thanked all the companies that have so far contributed products and in kind.
She indicated her willingness to continue with the project, but it demanding a lot of attention and which has claimed its toll with regard to her car that she weekly uses to deliver the products to the school.
“Maybe there is someone out there willing to assist in the form of a second-hand pick-up to have the collected products delivered on time, especially now that it is winter,” Tatarik, who had been instrumental in donating 300 blankets and a fax machine to the school in the past, said.
The principal of the school, Joel Kavezepa, admits that most of the learners at his school are orphans and vulnerable children.
“We are very thankful and appreciate the service the soup kitchen has brought about at the school. The feeding project definitely has made a difference and has had a profound positive impact on the lives of our learners. The daily meals have resulted in improved academic achievements and have even minimized absenteeism. A child can hardly concentrate on an empty stomach,” Kavezepa said philosophically.
He further acknowledged the fact that economic development in the settlement is very slow.
“Most of the inhabitants are unemployed and can hardly make a decent living,” he concluded.