By Frederick Philander WINDHOEK The Christina Swart-Opperman Aids Orphan Foundation Trust on Friday donated utensils and ongoing financial support of N$19ÃÆ’Æ‘ÀÃ…ÃÆ”šÃ‚ 604 for a soup kitchen in the Hakhaseb township at Usakos. At the official handing-over ceremony in the capital the founder of the trust, Dr Christina Swart-Opperman, handed over the donation to the coordinator of the Erongo Disability Network, Kennedy //Hoabeb. The recently-appointed patron of the trust, businessman Sydney Martin, also attended the event. “Development and the planning thereof will be meaningless if such development is pursued alongside selectivity and exclusivity with regard to the needs of orphans and vulnerable children. We also appreciate attempts by the Namibian government to gradually integrate the wishes and aspirations of orphans and vulnerable children,” said Kennedy //Hoabeb on behalf of the Usakos community. He thanked the Trust and urged all other social institutions to socially, economically and politically integrate orphans and vulnerable children. “This can be done by motioning national policies on OVC through developing workable programmes and activities that will be jointly implemented, monitored and evaluated by both the public and private sectors, including organizations not necessarily associated with the government,” //Hoabeb said. The donation included cutlery, pots, pans and bins worth more than N$6ÃÆ’Æ‘ÀÃ…ÃÆ”šÃ‚ 000. “The Trust will contribute a further N$13ÃÆ’Æ‘ÀÃ…ÃÆ”šÃ‚ 000 spread over 12 months for the provision of food to the 22 orphans who will be fed every Wednesday and Sunday. This could be the forerunner to more children being fed over the long term,” said Dr Swart-Opperman. She explained that her Trust raises funds by soliciting the Namibian business community to sponsor projects as part of their corporate social investment. “Specific values of the Trust are: respecting the human dignity and the rights of children, applying funds with integrity and having compassion for the less privileged in society,” she said. The Christina Swart-Opperman Foundation Trust today hands over another N$20ÃÆ’Æ‘ÀÃ…ÃÆ”šÃ‚ 000 to a church soup kitchen in Katutura. The beneficiaries will be 30 orphans and vulnerable children of the Assemblies of God Movement Church in Soweto.