Education, Nutrition, Health and Safety to 60 Kids

My dear friends!

How important it is to study and to learn!

I am more and more convinced that schooling and learning are the most important factors, which enable us to achieve something in life. One really has to try one’s best to motivate families and children to make use of all opportunities to become educated.

The first trimester of this school year has now been completed and the children really achieved good results. This was a great relief for me as I had already prepared myself for a few bad marks. But thanks to the efforts of our volunteers and of our staff and my continuous encouragement and motivation of the children, we can now see positive results.

Going to school is not always easy for any child. The science teacher of grate 4 frightens Aruma and some of the other children too. He is a big, strong man from the northern parts of Namibia and does not seem to have a very kind and friendly way of teaching. But he is after all the teacher and getting panic attacks the moment he enters the classroom does not help anyone to achieve good marks. Kevin does not like to study the Afrikaans language at all. Just because he does not perform well in that subject he hides himself in the restrooms during the Afrikaans class and plays and causes trouble there with other kids. To him this may seem like a temporary “funny“ solution to his problem but this is certainly not the purpose and spirit of attending school!! Generally, however, our children are weak in Afrikaans just because there is nobody at Mammadu who can speak the language well. This is why we decided to engage Mrs Jacobs since the beginning of May. She is always well prepared and has committed herself to helping those children who need assistance in studying Afrikaans this year.

We also purchased books on Natural Science and Geography. At school the children do not use books. They either copy notes from the chalkboard or they are provided with black-and-white photocopies. Children ‘s interest cannot be stimulated by copying notes or using photocopies. They need colourful pictures and photos in order to remember things and stimulate their imagination. Since our children have access to these books their joy of learning and interest in things has certainly increased.

Our youngest pre-school children also have a new teacher. The selection of an appropriate teacher has certainly not been easy. There are many trained pre-school teachers but their knowledge is often insufficient. We therefore decided to let the applicants write a general knowledge test. The results surprised us a lot.

To the question on where the sun rises and sets we received answers naming each and every direction in the sky, but the best answer was: in the morning and in the evening! How many continents are there? The answers varied from 6 to 34. For one applicant Brazil is situated in Europe with its capital city Morocco! While marking these tests I often did not know whether I should be laughing or crying!

Three of the approximately 20 applicants achieved an average of 50%. Well, for me that was better than nothing. They were subsequently invited for an interview and also asked to hold a class. One of the three did not even arrive and the other was 3 hours late. Thankfully the third one is perfect (at least we hope so) and we appointed her. So, we just have to hold thumbs that she is definitely the best!

Adequate training and education continue to be a general problem in Namibia.

This year the University in Windhoek, UNAM, has allocated three social studies students to do their practical at Mammadu. These three young female students are very motivated. They make me happy but also help us a lot. They do not only work with the children but also with their mothers and the woman of Mammadu. For example, they initiated role-plays with the woman in order to explain to them how important correct marketing techniques are, how one focuses on the clients, and how one addresses them. These students attempt to build the women’s self-confidence and our sales actually trebled when they were present at our last market!

Here I do have to add that our products are becoming more and more attractive. Our bags made from plastic bags are now exhibited and available for purchase in the shop of the National Museum.

The other day we celebrated Josia‘s birthday. His wish was to have the party at the swimming pool. And why not! But he is our unlucky bird and, true to form, we were surprised by a big storm and everyone had to be rushed from the pool. So as not to spoil Josia’s party completely we all went to KFC. I am certainly not in favour of fast foods but our children love it. Josia was happy and with a beaming smile he proclaimed that this had been his best birthday yet.

Our bakery has finally been completed and I am busy with the quotations for the purchase of the ovens and machines. Hopefully I can soon present you with our first Mammadu bread.

Italian food is our children’s all time favourite. The kids so to say “force” every volunteer to cook Italian dishes. However, by this time the kids are able to make their own pizza. They prepare the dough, kneed it, let it rise in the sun and then create their own toppings which they then eat with great relish. Every child is proud of its very own pizza. Perhaps one of them will become a pizza chef in our bakery when he or she is grown-up!

As always I wish to thank you for your help and support. Here as well as in Europe our Mammadu family is getting bigger and bigger and it is good to know that you are there for us.

A big kiss from all of us.

Hallo to all my dear donors

2016 really started with a BANG!

We have a brandnew schoolbus: a 23 seater Mercedes Sprinter which we bought from the donations by Mammadu e.V Germany. THANK YOU.

At last we can now transport more children to school and know that they are safe in the bus. Our old bus, besides having only 12 seats, was having more and more problems and had to go for a service ever so often. We are all delighted about our new Sprinter. Thank you for your generosity.

Our bakery is also due to be completed soon. I really can’t wait for it. We just need a few small items and a coat of paint on the outside. Then we can get started baking bread for our children and for our neighbourhood, and some persons can even train as a baker. I am really looking forward to it. Ideas and recipes for baking are most welcome!

Munio was responsible for another BANG. Many of you will probably still remember her story. She is now in the second senior level and does really well at school, so much so that we have decided to support her in her studies. She is now enrolled at the Waldorf School. Waldorf schools (also known as Rudolf Steiner Schools and in Germany where they are officially recognized they are known as Freie Waldorfschulen) are schools whose approach to teaching is based on the Waldorf pedagogical principles of their founder Rudolf Steiner (1861 – 1925) . These principles are inspired by Steiner’s philosophy known as anthroposophy. Being at this school will naturally open up many possibilities for Munio. She is very enthusiastic and works very hard at her studies. I am really proud of her because she certainly has the willpower to succeed and gives her all. She has a long schoolday, from 7:00 to 15:30, and then there are still homework tasks and projects to be completed, besides HAVING to learn German. I am holding my thumbs for her and am motivating her as strongly as possible because this is truly a huge opportunity for her future.

Three of our children presented is with gladdening BANGS.

One of the little girls burnt her feet with hot porridge in her hut. Unfortunately her mother did not take her to the clinic immediately and even put a plaster onto the burns. This naturally made everything much worse in a short period of time and the little one developed a fever. Thankfully friends then took her to their home in order to treat the feet several times daily and keep them free of dust and dirt, something which would have been impossible at the child’s own home. A year ago she had also acquired burns at her home and it is sad to see that the own home environment can often be so dangerous for the kids. 

On the other hand, one of our older boys experienced a real Bang when he was hit by a car on his way to school. He was taken to hospital where his leg had to be operated on. Now he is in plaster for four weeks from his hip down to his foot and has to walk on crutches. He can‘t even remember how it all happened. He just explained to me , “Mami, the car was far away and then he bumped me!“ Early in the morning, at about 6:30, there is a huge hustle and bustle on the roads. Hundreds of kids who are walking to school must use the roads because there are no pedestrian paths, many taxis and cars rush around with hardly anyone sticking to the traffic rules and with police nowhere to be seen. The driver of the vehicle apparently stopped when the accident happened but he then just decided to drive on when the people gathering around the scene tried to punch him. The police are looking for him, but .... I am just grateful that our guardian angels were on duty, otherwise everything could have been much worse. The boy is now with his aunt in another suburb of the city and I need to find a way how to get him to school.

Another little boy also got burnt. A family member had parked the car in front of their house with the bonnet opened to let the overheated engine cool down. The kid, not being supervized, succeeded in opening the cap of the radiator and was burnt by the boiling water on his face and chest. Thankfully, he too is getting better.  

All else is fine. Our pre-school kids are really sweet. During the first two weeks where everything was strange and unfamiliar to them all was quiet and peaceful at Mammadu, but we have now reached the phase where they are busy trying out how far they can go! By now they have got used to our routine and most of them can recognize their own toothbrush.

Our school-going kids are getting more and more homework and have to study more. Well, this is what happens when you are in the fourth grade already!

As always our volunteers are truly a huge help and they are playing a very important role at Mammadu. They are always friendly, always helpful. Without them I would not know how we would manage. They took the kids even for an outing to eat icecreams! It was great fun.