Maltahöhe
Tears rolled down cheeks of several community members as 250 of 400 blankets worth N$55 000 were handed over to the elderly at Maltahöhe.
“Woman of strength I salute you, woman of power I salute you,” they sang at Tuesday’s event in recognition of Lovisa Tsukhoe a former teacher from the same community, who started it all but has since passed away.
NamPower donated the blankets through the village’s ‘Youth with a Mission’, a group that has written letters appealing for blankets.
Hardap Regional Governor Esme Isaak, speaking at the event, commended the youth for their noble intervention saying it demonstrates the future leaders can rise to the occasion and do things that can benefit others in the community.
“Today’s event is clear testimony that the youth can initiate projects that will not only benefit them but the entire community,” stated the governor.
She called on others to replicate the gesture in the entire Hardap Region, adding that such gestures are in line with the government’s efforts in addressing the plight of the elderly people.
Isaak further thanked NamPower for the generous donation and urged the national power utility not to sit idle and wait for people to approach them for donations but identify areas in the region that they can help in one way or another.
One of the recipients Isak Swartbooi, covering himself in his new blanket, expressed his gratitude to the youth, governor and NamPower for the good initiative. An ecstatic Martha Visser also commended the youth for the good idea and thanked the donor saying it is the first time she had received a blanket.
“I’m so happy, it’s the first governor to give us blankets, other people got in the past but we never got so I’m very happy,” she said.
An emotional Hercules Jantze, the coordinator of the youth group, narrated that although it was a happy day, as their hard work has finally paid off, he felt sad the person who started it all could not live to see the fruition of her dream, as she passed away in 2013.
He said Tsukhoe had initiated the first step of taking care of the elderly in the community when she approached him about fund-raising through a Christmas party from their own pockets in 2013.
Jantze said her plan could, however, not materialise in 2013 due to unforeseen circumstances and then she passed away, which left him devastated.
“At her tombstone unveiling this year I vowed to continue where she stopped,” he said.
The Youth with a Mission group comprises 25 youths from different churches.