Stefanus Nambara

NKURENKURU – There was a huge sigh of relief for Sikarosompo Primary School in Kavango West as the school officially received temporary accommodation and cooking structures constructed by Good Samaritans who reacted to the plight of learners.

Since the beginning of this year’s school academic calendar, teachers at the school had to compromise their privacy and comfort as they shared accommodation with learners because the hostel was destroyed by heavy rains. 

After learning about the school’s plight, two Good Samaritans, Mwahafar Ndilula and Charlene Chen were touched and therefore they did not hesitate to come to the rescue of the rural school situated about 35km south of Nkurenkuru town.

Chen said as a Christian, she felt the need to assist although she did not know who she was assisting and it is for the benefit of the learners. 

“If a school can be established here to meet the community’s needs, why are we so far, we have to come here to do something more for this community, for these learners,” she said.

The two donated building materials used to construct two accommodation structures, a kitchen and a storeroom. Chen also donated 20 mattresses and N$1000 to buy flour for the 12 learners in the hostel. “From the school’s side, we highly appreciate and welcome the donation whole-heartedly,” said the acting principal of the school, Miriam Kaihoto.

She said the donations served the purpose of ensuring the Namibian child is provided with proper shelter and meals for them to focus on their studies as they are the future leaders of the country. The learners in an appreciation message read by their fellow, Liisa Maliti, a Grade 6 learner extended their appreciation to the donors for reaching out to their school. Meanwhile, the regional education director, Teopolina Hamutumua in a statement read on her behalf by the Nzinze circuit acting education inspector, Gotfried Karapo said the donations only served to confirm that equity in education is a collective responsibility and it is a demonstration of the value the two have for education.

“We fully understand that you could equally have invested this money into something else that has immediate returns, but you have decided to invest in education because you know the greatest investment one could make is in educating a nation,” she said.

*Stefanus Nambara is an information officer in the Ministry of Information and Communication Technology (MICT) stationed at Nkurenkuru in Kavango West.