By Frederick Philander
WINDHOEK
The Ambassador of the United States of America, Dennise Mathieu, will present Self-Help Grants totaling N$1.4 million to 36 development projects at a signing ceremony this morning in the capital.
The deputy minister of Education, Dr Becky Ndjoze-Ojo, will be the keynote speaker.
The US Ambassador’s Self-Help Program is a grass-roots assistance programme that responds to requests for financial assistance from small community-based projects that are initiated and administered at the local level, include significant contributions in cash, labour, or materials from the local community, and are self-sustaining.
“Introduced in 1990, the Self-Help Program has provided over N$18.4 million in funding to over 350 community-based development projects in Namibia.
In addition, this is the third year that the Self-Help Program has funded initiatives in the fight against HIV/AIDS, supported by the President’s Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief (PEPFAR).
“Twenty-one of the newly awarded projects focus on HIV/AIDS and OVC, reinforcing Namibia’s National Strategic Plan for HIV/AIDS. Overall projects from 10 regions of Namibia won grants this year,” said Ray Castillo in a press statement.
The 2007 projects encompass a diverse range of locally generated initiatives that seek to improve social and economic conditions in Namibia, and tackle HIV/AIDS.
“One project has a team which repairs and produces wheelchairs, all members are disabled and they are the only producers of wheelchairs in Namibia. Another recycles items such as bicycle spokes and umbrella spines to use as tools.
“They also use recycled materials to create finished products for sale. Other projects are improving the supply of water to households, gardens, and grazing areas by drilling boreholes, laying pipelines, and installing pumps.
There are projects that support hostels, day care centers and soup kitchens,” he said.