The Foster Home

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Southern Africa is the region of the world hit hardest by the impact of HIV and AIDS. Namibia is one of the five countries with the highest infection rate worldwide, and the Caprivi Strip is the area with the highest infection rate of HIV/AIDS in Namibia. An estimated 34% of the population are infected with HIV/AIDS. One in four pregnant women is HIV positive, and the likelihood of the children “inheriting” the virus from their mothers is extremely high.

Hundreds of children in the Mayana region are left without parents. Two of them live at N’Kwazi as members of our family.

Some years back, the plot of land next to N’Kwazi Lodge was bought by our partner Mr. Oliver Bohm of the Kasper X-change program in Aachen/Germany, and in July of 2005 he organised a group of path finders from Stolberg/Germany (“Rover”) to come to Rundu on a voluntary basis to build houses for orphans in four weeks during their school vacation. With the help of two local football teams we were able to finish two of the five houses and do some plumbing.

The initial plan was to build five houses for eight boys or girls respectively on the premises. A “cultural mom” would live in each house to supervise the children, check on their homework and serve as a first contact person for the children to turn to.

At the present stage, the orphanage project has come to a halt due to a change in the Namibian government’s policy. A new law has been put into action that was especially designed to overcome the huge problem of AIDS orphans in this part of the country.

Every family who accepts an foster child into their home is awarded 200 Namibian dollars (roughly 20 Euros/32 US dollars) per month by the Namibian government which is meant to cover the cost of living for the orphan as well as the school fees. This provides an incentive for families to add to their monthly household income while contributing to the general welfare in the area at the same time.

We have decided to wait for the effect of this new law and to orchestrate our future actions in accordance therewith. While right now we cannot be sure that a foster home is going to be built, the destiny of orphans is still one of our major concerns.

Since 200 N$ are month are hardly enough to feed, dress, and send a child to school (which requires money for school fees, books, writing materials …) we have started a project to identify the poorest families in a village with the help of the village chief. The Mayana Mpora Foundation will then try to find sponsors willing to support a family for a year. We will then provide an additional bag of maize meal or enlarge the house to fit the additional child.

The families can be seen under www.derspecht.de, please click on “Waisenprojekt”.

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