Namibians overseas care
"During Covid-19, we held fundraisers to buy and distribute emergency food parcels via our network of volunteers in Namibia. We help households and communities that our volunteers and partners have identified as the most needy and work in the informal settlements of Okahandja, Rehoboth and Windhoek," said Stephanie Collins, the founder of the welfare organisation Help4Nam.Three Namibian women currently living in the United Kingdom (UK) founded Help4Nam to help the less fortunate in their home country. The three women are originally from Khomasdal. However, they still have strong ties with the people in Namibia and come to visit as often as possible.
Stephanie has lived in London for the past 20 years. She and her co-founder Marliese Williams-Gill are longtime friends who worked together in Windhoek at the time.
"Marliese's mother was also my Grade 1 teacher at the Gammams Primary School. She now lives in Manchester and our treasurer Cathy Paisley who lives in Liverpool is my younger sister,” said Stephanie.
"I have always dreamed of starting a food bank for the people at home. After the pandemic broke out, I started looking at how we could go about it. I lost my job at the onset of the pandemic and had a lot of time to raise money from friends, neighbours and family in the UK."
Help4Nam's volunteers in Windhoek bought food with the money and prepared food parcels. "First we started to look at households with small children. We have seven women who live in the communities in which we work. They are our backbone, our feet on the ground and without them, our work would be impossible."
According to Stephanie, it is difficult to say exactly how many people benefit from Help4Nam. So far they have distributed 1 030 food parcels to households consisting of an average of six people.
"If you look at it, it is about 6 200 people who benefit from it. Unfortunately, this is but a drop in the bucket. There are so many people who need our help and although the exchange rate sometimes counts in our favour, since food in Namibia is very expensive. We can also only distribute food when we have the money available."
This coming Friday, Help4Nam will celebrate its first anniversary after being officially registered last year. "We are very excited and celebrate the day with the people in the three towns where we are currently active. We are also going to enjoy a big birthday cake with children in Otjomuise."
Help4Nam now hopes to establish a community food bank and they are looking for suitable premises in Windhoek with a small storage room, a small office and access to toilet facilities. It should be safe and free.
"The premises can be in exchange for food parcels. We can create jobs through the food bank. We can also appeal directly for donations of food and toiletries, rather than needing cash to buy the food ourselves."
To get in touch with Help4Nam, send an email to [email protected]. – [email protected]