Dear friends, donors, and supporters,

We hope you enjoy reading this mid-year update on activities happening on the CSN Sanctuary Land!. Thank you for your support!

A New Manager for the Sanctuary
In February, Ms Belinda Tsuses was hired to manage the Mother House and Children’s Sanctuary Namibia (CSN) projects. She and her two children have taken up residence in the Mother House (MH). Her presence as manager is moving CSN forward in exciting new ways. Together with CSN board member Lazarus Musambani, they guided the process of establishing the orphanage with a full staff and selection of 16 of the most vulnerable children who will reside in the Mother House until the age of 18.

*Belinda Tsuses and Grandmother Chief Ita in a joyful moment.*

The Children are Welcomed

Moving into the Mother House was a bewildering and overwhelming time for the children due to the magnitude of the change they experienced. Each child was vulnerable and required time and space to heal; some felt overwhelmed by the sudden abundance of food. Each was supported in love and assessed by the house mothers and volunteers who they were very familiar with.

The 16 children living in the Mother House under CSN’s full-time care include 4 sets of siblings: 3 brothers aged 6, 9, and 12; a set of twins, aged 5 (boy and girl); a set of siblings aged 9 and 11 (boy and girl); a set of siblings aged 7 and 10 (boy and girl). The children living on-site without siblings are aged 15, 14, 12 (2), 11, and 8. One child is HIV positive, is on medication, and is seen monthly by the Doctor.

*Community Welcoming ceremony for the 16 children moving into the Mother House (pictured).*

The children arrived without any clothes and what clothes they had were torn. A successful clothing fundraiser was held in Swakopmund. Now each child has a collection of clothing to wear including school uniforms.

CSNS Staff

Zuma (gardener and handyman), Katrina (housemother for the girls), Viktoria (housemother for the boys), Wilhelmina and Lydia (soup kitchen volunteers), and Johannes (gardener’s assistant). In the middle is Belinda (manager) and in front is Chief Ita (board member and grandmother for all the children).
More staff workshops are planned in the coming weeks and will be presented by a social worker.

Visitors to the Sanctuary

In mid-March, there was a surprise visit by multiple ministries of marginalized communities who came to view the Drimiopsis settlement as a whole but they also came to the children’s home. The visitors included representatives from the Ministry of Gender Equality, Poverty Eradication & Social Welfare; World Food Program; World Health Organisation; National Planning Commission of Namibia; Nutrition and Food Security Alliance of Namibia; Food Bank of Namibia Co-ordinator Omaheke Region; and a Member from the Office of the President for marginalized communities.
They asked many questions about the Mother House operation and conducted a thorough inspection visiting all the rooms, storage facilities, gardens, and grounds. Manager Belinda Tsuses reported, “*they loved the place--they were very impressed by what they saw.”* Spontaneously, the girls provided dance and entertainment for the visitors. This surprise visit included key contacts from the offices which whom Belinda needs to liaise with. What a wonderful start for our new manager!
Hon Ignatius Kariseb, chairperson of the Omaheke Regional Council and Regional Councillor of the Kalahari Constituency, Omaheke Region, also visited the facility. He is the key Government person overseeing electrical power to the Mother House through the installation of a power pole. The Councillor met with Belinda to report the pole is close to being installed and work has started elsewhere in Drimiopsis. However, due to a shortage of needed materials that come from South African suppliers the work was halted temporarily.
The Councilor expressed interest in supporting an orchard on the land.
In April, visitors from the Ministry of Gender Equality and Child Welfare collected pictures and information about CSN and the MH. They raised the possibility of establishing an Early Childhood Centre to be built on the Sanctuary land (all being part of CSN Children’s Village). They donated 10 packs of 20x500g instant porridge.

Food Programs

Funding CSN’s food programs remains a top priority for CSNS. Dedicated Soup Kitchen volunteers continue to provide 3 meals each week to 57+ orphaned and vulnerable children in the community. In addition, CSNS continues to fund the Sanveld Kindergarten’s food program, providing 2 meals daily Monday through Friday to 55 children.

Following their March visit, the UN’s World Food Program approached CSN to operate a daily food program for 200 young children aged 5 and younger. The 4-month program which started in June is an effort to fight malnutrition in vulnerable young children through the winter months. The program is financed by the World Food Program and Manager Belinda is an integral part of coordinating all efforts. We are very grateful the little ones are all catered for during the cold winter months.
*Above Mothers bring their children to receive food. All made possible through CSN’s volunteers and staff.*

Garden

Developing the garden remains a top priority for CSN and CSNS. The goals for 2022 are to install netting for shade, plant an orchard, and improve irrigation. “We desperately need donations for shade netting, fruit trees, and watering pipes,” Belinda implores.

*Planting a winter crop of onions, carrots, mutate, cabbage, and beetroots.*

Education

The youngest children attend Sanveld Kindergarten in Drimiopsis while the others attend Drimiopsis Primary School. All the children enjoy wearing their new school uniforms and school clothes! The older girls attend a weekly girls empowering workshop.

Chief Ita is very much the grandmother of all the children. She enjoys teaching them about the traditional way of life of the San people. The children enjoy their time with Grandmother Ita very much!

Above Ita demonstrates how to build a traditional San home.

*The children enjoy the finished San house.*

A Container from Germany Arrives!

The organization, “Hilfe fuer Namibia” shipped a container from Germany containing bedding, blankets, towels, children’s clothing, jackets, and warm clothing. Agent/CSN Board Member Helge Mercker gratefully accepted the goods--her car was loaded to the rim as she made her way to Drimiopsis. With winter fast approaching the goods arrived in perfect timing!

*Grandmother Ita, Viktoria and Katrina (housemothers), and Zuma (gardener/handyman) help unload donated goods from Helge’s car.*

A note about CSNS fundraising…

Covid 19 continues to impact fundraising by limiting the size and nature of our venues. We are grateful to the staff and students of Canyon Heights Elementary School for their continuing support of the “Pops for Namibia” program which raises funds through popsicle sales. If your school or group is interested in a popsicle sale fundraising event for CSN, please contact Board Member Diane Mawson for information. She can be reached through email at dhmawson@shaw.ca.

A successful plant sale fundraiser was held in April and May, at Board Member Judy Dunbar’s home in Gibsons. Judy is deeply grateful for all the help and donations of plants from Betty, Diane, Al Fike, Heather Gordon, and other able gardeners in her community. We also extend our gratitude to Board Members Yvonne de Troye and Gayle Rutt who have organized a house concert at Yvonne’s home later this month. And a BIG thank you to everyone who held birthday fundraiser events and activities!

*From left to right, CSNS Board members Betty Owen, Diane Mawson, and Judy Dunbar set up tables and plants for the plant sale fundraiser*

CSN’s website, (our sister agency in Namibia) is now active. For additional information and pictures visit their website at www.childrenssanctuarynamibia.com

We hope you enjoy the images below of the children enjoying some leisure activities….