2018-07-30Staff Report 2 John Muyamba NKURENKURU - Pastor Ernesto Karuyeva of the ELCIN church who is in charge of the church’s community hostel in Nkurenkuru says government must prioritise the construction of school hostels in rural areas of Kavango West and Nkurenkuru where there is a high student population. “This old facility was brought here by the missionaries because they saw that to develop a person, they must educate them in order for them to work together, provide them with shelter and eat together and not by building prisons and shooting and killing them, that is why we know how to read and write today and through that we are independent,” the pastor said. Pastor Karuyeva made the request during a recent donation were the church hostel got 363 mattresses for learners at the hostel who are mostly from destitute families. “Our government has not built hostels in this area, our kids have nowhere to go but here at the church, in all remote areas like along the Nkurenkuru to Tsumeb road there are supposed to be hostels so that some learners can be accommodated there and not come all the way to Nkurenkuru for school, where there are no hostels. Schools in this region are also overcrowded but it’s not supposed to be like that, the government must do something,” he said. He feels community hostels need government assistance in order to prosper. “I am happy to receive these mattresses as it will help our learners. I have been running the facility for the past 27 years and have not yet received such a donation, so we are really grateful that God made people with good hearts,” he said. “I am also grateful to the media that is ensuring that our struggle is not kept in the darkness but exposed to the entire nation for everyone to know what our dire situation is. Many people come to our hostel and laugh at us, especially our dilapidated buildings and then off they go but Haihambo and partners gave us a helping hand,” the pastor praised the benefactor. The mattresses were handed over to the church by Sikongo Haihambo, one of the directors of TOKEN Fishing Pty Ltd, a joint venture company which comprises of five companies which holds fishing rights namely - TEYA Investments CC, Otjihua Fishing Investment CC, Kasipecho Fishing Investments CC, Eyambulepo Investment holdings and Nduli Trading Enterprises CC. Haihambo said he was happy that they donated for the second time at the ELCIN church community hostel, in March they donated 100 mattresses, and recently they donated 263 mattresses. “We are just supporting the government, by assisting the Namibian child. As Token JV we are happy to assist in the area where help is needed, especially here in Kavango West were poverty levels are high and we believe if these children can stay in school, they can one day change the status quo,” Haihambo said. 2018-07-30Staff Report 2
