RUNDU – The Deputy Minister of Health and Social Services, Petrina Haingura, visited the Theresia Orphans and Vulnerable Children’s Foundation yesterday to look at how the foundation cares for children and processes tea.
The foundation has started to plant and process the Moringa Oleifera leaves to make tea, among other uses. The plant is said to be a good source of protein, calcium, iron and beta-carotene which is converted to vitamin A, C and E once it enters the human body.
The Theresia foundation cares for children from disadvantaged backgrounds, mainly orphans and vulnerable children from Mavandje and Sharukwe villages. Vegetables to feed the children are also cultivated.
The centre has plans to make a profit from the tea to minimise reliance on donors to feed the children. The foundation also offers different courses for the community such as classes in sewing, baking bread and agriculture.
“The world is tough if you are not educated. The poverty we face can be eliminated if we encourage children to study, therefore what the centre is doing is good for the community. The entire community should applaud and appreciate the work that Elizabeth Hilger (founder of the foundation) is doing with the centre. We need more of such people because when the kids that she is taking care of finish school they will not only work for their villages but for the entire Namibia,” said Haingura. She added that the government was prepared to assist people of the calibre of Elizabeth Hilger.
The foundation was started in 2006 and is registered with the Ministry of Health and Social Services. It is located 15 kilometres south of Rundu between Mavandje and Sharukwe villages.
By John Muyamba