2014-11-13Staff Report 2 SWAKOPMUND - Orphans, vulnerable children as well as homeless HIV-positive mothers now have a place to call home, thanks to Naftaline Maua - a caring local woman with a heart of gold. Maua has for years been an HIV/AIDS counsellor and a home-based caregiver, and has turned her two-bedroomed house in Mondesa, Swakopmund, into a safe haven for affected children and destitute mothers at the coast. Maua, with the assistance of local businesses, individuals and a couple from Britain managed to upgrade her house to a safe home for the needy. She is currently caring for 13 children whom she believes have a bright future ahead of them. “I realised many HIV/AIDS affected people are living in poverty and that the children are the ones suffering the most,” she explained. Narrating her journey, Maua said she registered her first charity - Tears of Hope - as a welfare organisation and ever since orphans and HIV-positive mothers with nowhere else to go have been arriving at her doorstep. “Ever since then, the hearts and hands of the Swakopmund community have grown to such an extent that building a home to safeguard orphans and vulnerable children has become a reality,” she said. She says her dream became a reality when she met the late Berdine Potgieter who has been instrumental in her operations to care for others. Berdine initiated a committee to take care of the monthly expenses for her housekeeping. She also introduced Naftaline to Ken and Doreen Matthews from Britain who took a keen interest to assist Maua. The Matthews couple took up the challenge to generate funds for the building of a new home for Naftaline and they also engaged with local industries to sponsor and donate money, time and goodwill on a monthly basis. As a result of the Matthews couple’s involvement, donations were secured to cover the monthly basics such as food, municipal bills, electricity, education and medical needs of the children and mothers. They were also instrumental in generating funds for building House Berdine since 2010. The new safe home was named “House Berdine” after the late Potgieter. The house was officially handed over to Maua last Saturday. By Eveline de Klerk 2014-11-13Staff Report 2
