Gibeon
Three young entrepreneurs recently collaborated on a charity project named ‘Three Lenses, One Focus’ and raised N$19 000 within two weeks for a children’s home based in Gibeon.
The trio comprising three photographers, namely Victoria Torii Ashipala from Vtoriia Photography, Anna Akwenda from Azo Photography and Nathan Chituti from Motion in Pixels Photography, put their skills to work by doing a limited number of family and portrait shoots at a massively discounted rate in order to attract more people. The shoots were offered at a rate of N$500, which is a bargain from the original price of N$2 200.
After promoting the initiative for two weeks, 24 photoshoots were booked and carried out during one weekend in Windhoek, Otjiwarongo and Swakopmund. From these, N$12 000 was raised.
Tuna Willem, the Chief Sustainability Officer of NAMSOV Community Trust, which is a 100 percent entity of Namsov Fishing Enterprise, caught wind of the project via Instagram and pledged N$7 000 on behalf of NAMSOV towards the cause bringing the total raised to N$19 000.
According to Jamilla Jacobs from Namsov Community Trust, “It is always amazing to find young talented Namibian youth giving back to the communities. Our company is very passionate about uplifting and improving the lives of Namibian people through our projects and bursary programmes.”
The money raised was used as follows: blankets (N$7 000), food and toiletries (N$7 500) and N$4 500 was used to buy school uniforms and socks for the children.
The handover took place on Friday.
The beneficiary was Help Me Children’s Home in Gibeon. Help Me Children’s Home is an initiative of Lydia Kooper, who runs it by herself. The charity currently assists 24 children – 14 girls and 10 boys.
Asked why they chose the particular orphanage, Ashipala said, “After a bit of research, we have found that a lot of charities outside Windhoek do not have the same access to funds and support as those based in the capital. We chose an orphanage outside of Windhoek in order to decentralise the benefits.”
According to Chituti, “We raised more money than we initially expected. There are 21 blankets left over that we intend to donate to another charity home in Okahandja at the end of the coming week.”
According to Victoria, “Now with this project having come to an end, we are currently looking at other ways we can use our skills to give back to the community in the near future. Three Lenses, One Focus isn’t a one-off project, but will in the future target other society sectors that may need assistance.”
The First Lady of Namibia, Monica Geingos, said: “Each one of us has a responsibility to remove someone out of poverty.” Jamilla further reiterated this by encouraging the private and public sector to take the initiative and “take action to improve the lives of those in need around us by doing small things that can have a big impact, which will in turn strengthen the fight against poverty alleviation and bring about true inclusivity”.