Belinda Kulatau 

Being taught under the trees is now a thing of the past for the San Community at Likwaterera in the Kavango East region after they received an early childhood development centre, valued at more than N$6 million, last month.  

The centre consists of three fully-equipped classrooms, a kitchen, an office, a storeroom and child-friendly ablution facilities, as well as a garden, among other things. Learners at the centre previously attended classes under trees after the thatched classrooms were destroyed by a hailstorm last year.

The Likwaterera Early Childhood Development Centre caters to children from marginalised backgrounds. The facility, which currently has six teachers – all from the area – can accommodate over 100 children. In addition to receiving education, the children will be served nutritious meals daily.

Delivering the keynote address, gender equality minister Doreen Sioka said education is a powerful and appropriate tool of self-development for the marginalised community.

She encouraged community members to guard the centre against vandalism and ensure children enrolled at the school are nurtured to be good citizens of the country.

Methane Easter, a teacher at the centre, said she is pleased about the new building, noting that they have been teaching under trees in the past years; therefore, it is good to be able to teach the children under a proper classroom structure.

The facility was constructed by Palms for Life Fund Namibia.

Speaking on behalf of the fund, Kingston Makoni said they are passionate about investing in early childhood education because it increases the capacity of young children to better learn and respond to educational challenges as they advance to bigger grades.

Established in Namibia in 2018, Palms for Life Fund is a nonprofit non-governmental organisation that aims to meet the Namibian government halfway by focusing on developing San communities in various regions. 

* Belinda Kulatau is an information officer at MICT, Kavango East region.