2017-09-28Staff Report 2 John Muyamba Rundu-Rundu Secondary School (RSS) was the recipient of a newly constructed toilet block for learners, donated last Friday by a German donor. The block has both a male and female section and both are disability-friendly. It cost the donor N$540,000 to fund construction of the ablution facility that will improve sanitation at the school. “As the principal, I am indeed filled with so much joy, excitement and satisfaction today as it marks a special moment in the history of our school as we receive a newly constructed toilet block for our learners from our donor, who has made all this possible,” said the school’s headmaster Lorraine Kruse. RSS this year celebrated its 50th anniversary and the school, which had 39 learners when it was initially opened in 1967, now has a learner population of 1,317. With the huge increase in population it is just natural that the original infrastructure cannot serve the big number of learners and RSS sought a donor to fund construction of the toilets. “For us the classrooms were enough but there was an outcry for proper sanitation facilities and in 2013 a rescue came to us in the form of Wolfgang Fiedler. Since that year Fiedler started supporting the school by initially donating textbooks and stationery to the school worth N$40,000,” Kruse said. “It was so much that we are still using the stationery, especially the exercise books, up to today and during that time it was the beginning of a wonderful relationship. I wrote a letter saying thank you very much for the donation and in the same letter I made a request for possible funding for toilet facilities and Fiedler managed to secure another donor, Klaus Eisert, who generously funded the construction of this complete toilet block,” she added. “Unfortunately, the donor could not be here but we sent him our greetings and our sincere appreciation as he heard our cry and decided to help us, and the entire Rundu community will forever be grateful to you and we solemnly promise to take good care and maintain it for years to come,” stated Kruse. She further commended both Fiedler and Eisert for their generous support, love and care that have uplifted the image of RSS and for at the same time contributing to the development of Kavango East. “We can’t repay you Fiedler for getting us this donor but we can recognise your valuable contribution and thus we will name this toilet block after you,” Kruse added. Since 1977, although not living in Namibia, Fiedler has been funding and securing funds and donors to do various projects from building schools to hostels and toilet blocks for schools, as well as supporting other school-related projects, and the RSS school toilet is project number 51, and they use money coming out of individual German donors’ pockets secured by Fiedler. Fiedler said: “I got a letter from the school headmaster regarding the need for a new toilet block so we came to assess the situation at the school and we got quotations to see how much it will cost to construct a new toilet block, and after getting the price I went back to Germany and tried to source some funds from friends and Eisert came to the rescue.” Through this year’s anniversary celebrations the school started raising funds for the construction of a school hall and now plans are that by November they can start with the foundation phase. The school is also seeking funds to finance the construction of its school hall. 2017-09-28Staff Report 2
