Home of Good Hope a light for children
“I started Home of Good Hope in 2007, after the death of my 16-year-old daughter. That's when I decided to give back to the community," says the founder, Monica Imanga.She resigned from her job and with savings she had, she started this crèche. Initially, it assisted about 45 children which has grown to nearly 1 200 today.
The crèche is located in the Goreangab informal settlement of and provides tuition, after-school care and homework support, as well as health care and nutritional support to needy babies and children until their early high school career.
"The children stand in long lines, and when one group has finished creating food, the next group moves in," Monica says.
Monica's colleague, Leoni Futter, explains that they depend on donations - especially when it comes to food. The Home of Good Hope especially receives donations from the Netherlands and Germany and expresses its thanks to the Emmanuel Church as well as Namib Mills for their food donations.
Furthermore, the two women tell how happy it makes them to later run into the children who were once with them.
"Some of the children who ate here with us are now teachers, or lawyers - there is even a chef. It's stories like these that make everything worthwhile," Monica and Leoni say at the same time.
The crèche not only helps to feed children, it also helps them to be able to afford, among other things, school clothes and books so that they can go to school.
"Some children come to us without a birth certificate. I then get these documents right so they can also go to school," says Monica.
New projects
One of the new projects that Home of Good has launched is to build a new clinic to provide better healthcare, especially to pregnant teenagers.
"Many girls get pregnant when they are teenagers - often by men who are much older than them. They think this is the end of their lives, but I want them to know that this is just the beginning," says Monica.
The clinic can then provide support so that these teenagers can complete their school careers while their babies are cared for.
Another project, which is already partially underway, is to "sponsor" a child. Futter explains that some families adopt a child financially - they ensure that the child is supported from childhood until after university. The families then follow the child's progress as they get older.
To raise more money for the project, Home of Good Hope also launched a competition.