Dr Michael Hoppe, Hamburg entrepreneur and Founder of the foundation, In „6 questions for Dr Michael Hoppe“, he talks about his greatest learnings, his vision for steps for children and the moments of success that still inspire him today.

What is the biggest difference between your years as a successful entrepreneur and your work as a board member of your own foundation?

As an entrepreneur, I had a 50+ hour week and very good pay. Today, as a board member of the foundation, I work even more, but without pay, but more meaningfully!

As an entrepreneur, I looked at the balance sheet at the end of the year to see what financial success I had. Today, I look at the end of the year to see what social success we have had: how many young people have been able to complete their matric (comparable to the German Abitur) and are about to go to university, how many pupils have been able to improve their school results with our help, have been promoted or have even received awards. How many families have been able to live without abject poverty. How many additional people have we been able to help with food or meals in our soup kitchens in today's very difficult situation? How many jobs have we created, how many people have been given back their dignity?.

It is a different feeling to look into the smiling eyes of children in our projects than to have satisfied customers!

What was your greatest moment of success?

I was particularly impressed by the first guardian angel children who passed their matric in 2020 and then went on to study. This is encouraging proof that our Guardian angel programme is sustainable and successful and we are therefore on the right path to giving children and young people opportunities for a self-determined future.

Another current moment of success was the fact that, despite the critical crisis situation in Namibia We were able to keep all employees and continue to pay them. We were also able to ensure the nutrition of our steps children and young people as well as provide all of their relatives with basic food and meals from our soup kitchens or with food parcels on an ad hoc basis.

A great success for our Guardian angel programme is that female guardian angel children despite pregnancy, after domestic violence in lockdown continued to come to school and to our projects, instead of staying at home „as usual“ and going down the path to permanent poverty due to a lack of education.

And of course the many Awards and honours, that our work is seen and honoured.

What surprised you during the development of steps for children?

When I started the foundation and the first project 15 years ago, I assumed that we would leave it at one project and grow slowly. On the one hand, however, the vision of independence from donations convinced so many donors, including larger ones, that we quickly got the opportunity to think about further projects. On the other hand, word quickly got around in Namibia that there was “someone” who was doing a lot to support children and young people, and requests for cooperation came from all corners of the country.
Almost all of the senior employees and project managers approached us of their own accord. I hardly had to make an effort.

I was pleasantly surprised by the warmth and personal drive of the people in Zimbabwe. When I first visited the churches that we might want to support in the future, there was already a lot of singing and joy. 

On my next visit after the collaboration began, the residents greeted me with dancing, singing, live chickens, banana trees, eggs and homemade honey. I felt like a member of a big family. The people “sparkled” with joy and gratitude. The participants in the projects showed unusual activities of their own in order to complete the projects faster and more cheaply - thousands of bricks were fired in a self-made oven, the soil for the fish ponds was dug out by hand and shovel, the plantations for the bananas were prepared by hand, etc.

Especially the consistency of the many donors, some of whom have been involved for almost 16 years and always provide financial support. It has become a large community of supporters who help wholeheartedly and sustainably, and many partnerships with companies have been in place for over ten years.

When you think about the last 16 years of steps, what critical moments were there?

We had planted 1,640 olive trees 14 years ago with the prospect that we would become independent of donations after growing and harvesting/processing and selling the olives in the Okakarara steps project. After a mistake in the application of fertiliser, over 80 % of the plants died - I saw the dream of independence from donations shattered.

In the course of Corona in Namibia, some employees died and the income from the guest houses was almost zero, some of the rented flats stood empty for a long time, as the income situation of most people in Namibia had deteriorated significantly. The question arose as to how we could cope with and survive these situations. We are constantly working on solution strategies.

What was your biggest learning?

• That despite many delays and laborious procedures, many things are somehow achieved in the end. Often somewhat differently than planned, but nevertheless they are achieved.
• The collaboration has been a long learning process and is still ongoing. The people and employees we deal with live in a completely different culture - no better and no worse - and we can only achieve something by understanding and responding to this culture. Trying to impose your own point of view fails miserably.
• We can also learn a lot from our colleagues in Namibia and Zimbabwe: live more „in the here and now“ and don't always think about the problems of tomorrow (some of which won't even materialise)

What is your vision for the future?

Above all, I want to achieve independence from donations through sufficient income from the income-generating small businesses in the steps projects. That is my biggest dream.

In the future, I hope that even more guardian angel children will complete their matric and study or complete another vocational training programme with our support.

Another dream It is hoped that guardian angel children who have now started their studies will return to the projects as employees or perhaps even as leaders after graduation. They are then examples of a successful educational path and can motivate and encourage the children of the new generations.

The introduction of a minimum income for all employees at steps for children is another path we would like to take. This would allow us to set an example for other projects and fundamentally improve living conditions.

At some point, steps for children in Namibia will be able to offer everything from childhood to job opportunities from a single source.

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