Sponsoring Impoverished Students at Ondobe Secondary School
In May of 2022, the Footsteps for Africa team visited Ondobe Secondary School and met with headmaster Ms. Frieda Elago and her staff. The school has 442 students, including 128 who must live in on-site housing due to the school’s long distance away from many students’ home villages. It is located in the Ohangwena region, where the highest number of impoverished children reside in Namibia.
Many of the students in this school live in extremely difficult circumstances and have urgent needs: some must be housed in hostels in order to get an education, but they cannot afford the costs; due to rising costs, the school has been struggling to provide three complete meals for the students living on site; students must purchase their own school uniforms and school supplies in order to attend school, and many are not able to afford either. Teachers have been supplementing some of these costs where possible out of their $1,000/month salaries, but they aren’t able to do much.
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See sponsorship options below!
Donations are tax deductible. Footsteps for Africa is a registered 501(c)3 organization (EIN: 27-3872294). Sponsors will be sent a picture of the child(ren) they are sponsoring holding a thank you note with sponsor’s name after the completion of our fundraising campaign.
Pictures and situation descriptions of four students requiring housing sponsorship are below.
Lukas has 12 siblings. His mother abandoned them, and his father passed away. He is currently being raised by his grandmother, who also cares for three other grandkids.
Rebecca is caring for her other three siblings after their father passed away. Her mother is married to another man in a different region, and does not care for them; they are abandoned.
Penexupifo’s mother is unemployed and her father has retired, and they do not take care of their children. She is being raised by her grandmother with three other siblings.
Shifoleni has seven siblings, lives very far away from the school, and both of her parents are unemployed. They are struggling severely to care for her and her siblings.
Lebeus has six siblings, and both of his parents are unemployed and uninvolved in his life. He is being raised by his aunt.
Sponsorship Options
Housing and School Supplies needed for seven (7) students for an entire school year. These students are not able to attend school unless they can be housed in the hostels on site, but they are unable to pay the housing fees. $350 per student needed.
Feed all 128 students housed in the hostels three meals per day for 1 week. This sponsorship will allow the school to provide enough protein and vegetables to feed the children three balanced meals per day. Goal: 8 weeks of meals.
Uniforms and school supplies for one student for an entire school year. Goal: sponsorship for 100 students.
FUTURE INITIATIVES
Location: School in Kavango, Namibia
$18,000 – Water borehole, Pump, Drilling, Transportation
$30,000 x 3- Shipping Container Library (3 needed in this region). Retrofitted container, electricity and lighting, doors/windows, furniture, shelves, shipping to site.
$4,000 – School supplies for 50 children for an entire school year.
Location: Shalumbu, Namibia – School
$18,000 – Drilling of borehole to access water, solar-powered pump, installation and start-up
