Thank you for your generous donations, which make our work possible! Our ongoing projects are:
Mother House
The “Mother House,” as it is affectionately known, is CSN’s registered residential childcare facility and is home to 18 of the most vulnerable children in Drimiopsis and their caregivers. CSNS is committed to raising funds to pay the orphanage’s operational costs. Ongoing costs include meals, wages for a manager and 2.5 house mothers, wages for two groundsmen, medical and school costs, staff development, and other needed resources.
CSNS fundraising contributed significantly to the erection of the building, which includes two dormitories (one for boys, the other for girls), a kitchen, dining room, meeting room, laundry, showers, toilets, storage, and office space. To learn more about the history and building of the Mother House, please visit the “News” section of the website.
Garden Project
We see this project as twofold: enriching the children’s diet, which is deficient in most nutrients, and providing income to fund the gardens by selling excess produce to community members.
CSNS provided funding to drill a borehole (well), purchase water tanks and stands, and install solar panels for a water pumping system. This essential water resource and the hiring of two groundsmen (a gardener/handyman and gardening assistant) made establishing Indigenous and vegetable gardens possible. The latest garden addition is a greenhouse or shade net 2.5 m x 30 m x 15 m in size. The development of an orchard is also underway.
Soup Kitchen
The Omaheke region, where CSN is located, currently has the highest rate of child malnutrition in the country. Through its soup kitchen, CSN assists in fighting malnutrition in Drimiopsis and the region. Over the past decade, with the help from a group of dedicated women volunteers, CSN has fed 75-190+ orphaned and vulnerable children (OVC) a soup kitchen meal 2-3 times a week. The volunteers prepare a meal of lentil soup, mealie meal, or rice in an outdoor kitchen on the Sanctuary Land.
Recently, CSNS provided the funds needed to build a new structure for the soup kitchen. The new structure includes sinks, a toilet and a shaded area where the village children can come for soup kitchen meals. Donations to purchase a gas stove, pots, and utensils for the new soup kitchen are needed and most welcome. CSNS provides funding to purchase food for the soup kitchen and to pay honoraria to its volunteers.
Kindergarten Food Program
CSNS provides the Sanveld Kindergarten with funds to buy and prepare two meals, five days per week, for up to 55 OVC who attend kindergarten classes. The successful Sanveld Kindergarten operates from 8 am to 1 pm weekdays. This project funds food supplies such as oatmeal, mealie pap, lentils, bread, peanut butter, wood for a cooking fire, water storage containers, and transportation costs for purchasing and delivering the food. This is an ongoing CSNS project.
Dedicated volunteers help the orphaned and vulnerable children line up for their meal at the Soup Kitchen.
Sanctuary Staff
CSNS is proud to pay the wages for CSN’s fantastic staff. From left to right: Zuma (gardener/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 Tsuses (manager), and in front is Chief Ita (board member and grandmother to all the children). Thank you for your incredible work!
Founding members of CSN: Theresa Matengu & Chief Ita Kambases.
other Initiatives
SOLAR PANELS—Currently, 5 kw powers the Mother House. Additional solar panels are needed to meet current electrical needs and to power future homes that will accommodate more children.
NEW RESIDENTIAL UNIT UNDERWAY—In April 2024, the Country Club Resort in Namibia committed to partnering with CSN for 12 months and will work with CSN to build one residential unit to house 8 children.
BACKGROUND INFORMATION
The Namibian government’s donation of land in 2016 was in response to CSN’s demonstration to the government that orphaned and vulnerable children in Drimiopsis are vulnerable to many forms of abuse and exploitation. When they reach school age, they do not stay in school because of hunger, lack of supervision, and absence of support and shelter. With safe housing, a nurturing environment, and educational support, they can grow to become change agents for their community rather than victims who repeat the cycle of desperation and hopelessness.