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A heart-led journey to Drimiopsis, Namibia

Children’s Sanctuary Namibia Society
Namibia
The community is invited to a house concert fundraiser in Sechelt on Oct. 26 at 2 p.m. in support of orphaned children in Namibia.

Last August, I travelled to Namibia with my dear friends Betty Owen from Gibsons and Diane Mawson from North Vancouver. We are founding board members of the Canadian charity, Children’s Sanctuary Namibia Society (CSNS), a sister-charity to Children’s Sanctuary Namibia (CSN), established in Namibia by our friend Helge Mercker in 2011. The purpose of our trip was to become better acquainted with the activities of CSN for which we provide support.

Through the efforts of Helge and her CSN Board, the Namibian government donated land on which to build a Sanctuary to house orphaned children of the community living in the Drimiopsis Reserve, Eastern Namibia. The Sanctuary is envisioned as a site on which the children without family will be housed and schooled, and as a Centre that will model and support efforts of the community towards self-sufficiency, well-being and reclamation of their culture.

With Helge’s able guidance, we spent time visiting the projects CSNS supports. These include a soup kitchen feeding 75 orphans, a food program for the local kindergarten and the provision of infrastructure for the Sanctuary.

For 10 days, we spent many hours on the Sanctuary land with Chief Ita, the soup kitchen volunteers and the orphaned children who came to hold a special place in our hearts. School was out during our stay, allowing us to have more contact with the children. We hosted a daily soup kitchen feeding 75 orphans and dozens of other children from the community. Thanks to a generous donation, the children received an additional food item with their daily meal, such as meat, oranges, apples or peanut butter sandwiches. The children truly relished these unexpected treats!

Chief Ita initiated daily elders’ prayer/healing circles following the meals for the children. It was a privilege to be with these resilient souls, hearing their songs, prayers and stories. Several children were drawn to and joined the circles.

Another highlight was the three mornings we spent at the Sanveld Kindergarten, enjoying a hands-on experience with the staff and children. We were in our element, since both Diane and I are teachers of young children and Betty is a long-time caregiver. CSNS enjoys a special relationship with the kindergarten as our charity funds its daily food program and Diane’s kindergarten class in North Vancouver is their buddy class. We were delighted to bring a variety of books, games and other teaching resources to the school and enjoyed introducing these to the staff and students.

Our visit to the Sanctuary land provided the opportunity to witness first-hand the progress being made on the Moeder Huis (Mother House). We can confidently report back to our donors how wisely their donations are being used!

The Moeder Huis was designed by volunteer Namibian architect Johan Van Niekerk, who made several visits to the site to monitor the building’s construction. When completed, the building will hold two dormitories each housing eight to 10 children and a house mother. The plan includes a boys’ dormitory, a girls’ dormitory, a large meeting room, an office, kitchen, storage area, toilets, showers and laundry area.

While there is still considerable work to be done before the building is finished, we are excited and happy with the progress being made. Thanks to positive response to our fundraising efforts, CSNS was able to contribute to the development of the land by purchasing a generator, providing funds for the drilling of the borehole (well) plus two water tanks and pipes needed to complete the water supply to the site. We also supplied some building materials such as cement and paint and the wages for two essential employees: Moses the security guard and Zuma the gardener/handyman.

Our days in Drimiopsis were ones of laughter and fulfillment. As we reflected on our day’s work around an evening fire, we appreciated how each day unfolded in service, harmony and joy. We were surprised and delighted at the lack of focus on the material poverty, neglect and desperation we observed in Drimiopsis. Instead we were struck at the richness, beauty and openness of the souls we met in this place of such austerity and need. Their ability to be so present and willing to connect on a human and soul level was an unexpected gift to us. We experienced the warmth and welcome of community members, especially the children, and we were loved and cared for. We were once again reminded of Saint Francis of Assisi’s simple truth: “It is in giving that we receive.”

We invite you to join us on Oct. 26 at 2 p.m. for a house concert fundraiser in Sechelt. You can expect an afternoon of fabulous music with local Indigenous singers/drummers Terry Aleck and Christine Turenne and country rock musician Darren Cassidy with Scott Reinson. Proceeds from the concert and silent auction go to CSNS to further the building of the Mother House. To register, contact Betty Owen betty.owen@hotmail.com or Judy Dunbar jdunbar1@telus.net

To learn more about our trip and the progress being made on the Sanctuary and Mother House, and/or to make a donation to help build the Sanctuary, please visit our website at www.childrenssanctuarynamibiasociety.com

– Submitted by Judy Dunbar