Block Foundation and steps for children create spaces
A new home for work and education in Gobabis, Namibia
At one of our locations, in Gobabis, A new building, a multifunctional centre, was completed just in time before the start of the coronavirus crisis. The Hamburg entrepreneur Eugen Block is not only an expert in catering and hotels, but is also convinced that it is possible to provide good training for young people with difficult educational backgrounds as well as older people without school-leaving qualifications. With the Block Foundation It takes responsibility - and invests sustainably in our projects. Sustainability means that not only the costs of constructing the building, but also the running costs such as electricity, water, repairs and the salary of an additional social worker will be covered by the Block Foundation over the next 10 years.
Michael Hoppe, founder of the steps for children foundation, and Henk Olwage, head of the steps projects in Gobabis, were able to carry out the ground-breaking ceremony in October 2019.
Philipp Block (son of Eugen Block and member of the Block Foundation Council) and Thomas Naber (Managing Director of the Block Foundation) had previously laid the „spiritual“ foundation stone for this building during a project tour in spring 2019. Work on the building began in mid-October. The ground plan was quickly laid and the roof truss was already in place before the summer break in December.
„It is a great feeling to see that the Block Foundation has been able to construct a new building for the people of Gobabis with the active support of the steps for children foundation. The building combines many important functions for the local people and creates new space for education and work. We look forward to continuing our cooperation with steps for children in Gobabis, Namibia.“
Philipp Block, Council member of the Block Foundation
Come in!
The house will be used communally. In addition to the guardian angel children and our steps homes children, who come here to study and work in the afternoons, the doors will also be open to people from Gobabis who are not directly involved in the project. Multifunctional - the name should become the programme. Santiago, a long-standing preschool teacher at Light for the Children, our local cooperation project since 2010, already feels at home here. Together with preschool teacher Sofia, he breathes life into the house.
A tour of the rooms
But now it's time for a tour and a look inside the building, because the printer and copier have already been delivered and are ready for their first use.
The spacious classroom will be used for homework help and supervision in the afternoons, as well as for „Second Chance“ adult education courses in the mornings.
Tables and chairs made by the joinery for the large classroom and the conference room.
The Resource Centre offers copying and CV writing as a service.
There is also a library.
The office for administrative matters.
The reception of the building.
Teachers and educators sit together in the conference room and think about where they could hang the children's self-painted pictures. They decide to set up a reading corner.
Why the rooms will soon become more important
Girls' club and boys' club
A Girls Club and a Boys Club with guardian angel and steps homes children will be created. In a trusting atmosphere that encourages people to talk to each other, discussions can be held on a wide range of topics, such as love and sexuality, but also problem situations in the family and at school, with friends or teachers. A protected space is created. Individual counselling sessions can also be held with a social worker if required.
Enough privacy for one-to-one conversations
The room for a new social worker has already been created and the search for the right person to work here together with Noubert, who looks after the steps homes, has begun. Noubert enthuses: „Something who was outstanding is we have several issue which we want to comminicate more on a personal level with different parents. We can now take them seperate to the multipurpose centre and talk in private. Thanks steps for such great effort.“
Second Chance
Adults who do not have a school-leaving qualification can continue their education here. A wide variety of topics will be on the curriculum: Primarily literacy courses, but also household management and budgeting, through to „how can I best help my child with their homework“, everything can be offered. Demand will determine what is on offer.
People in the multifunctional building
Santiago
Santiago takes over the management of the house. This means that he has an overview of what is happening in the building. For example, he organises the timetable and determines the opening hours and price lists of the house for the community.
Sofia
Sofia, here in an orange cardigan with a student from our steps homes families, is together with Regina, herself a former steps homes child, who works here as a volunteer, is responsible for the steps homes children in the afternoon. They take on homework supervision and a few other tasks.
Takeover of a school and construction of a new school building in Rehoboth
Since the end of 2019, the Block Foundation at another location in Namibia, in Rehoboth, steps for children by purchasing the existing Otto Xamseb House preschool and financing the construction of another school building at this location. Here too, the Block Foundation has a very sustainable impact and will cover the running costs of the school for 10 years.
