“When I finished my kindergarten and pre-school time at steps in Okakarara, I was selected by steps for children as one of the first children for the guardian angel program. steps paid my school fees, bought me the school uniform I needed to attend school, and stationery and other school materials. At the education center, we also had afternoon classes, where we did our homework and also took part in some extracurricular activities with other children from steps. We received lunch every day after school before we started afternoon classes. I attended primary school in Okakarara from first to seventh grade and was supported by steps for children throughout my entire school time.

When I finished primary school, I attended a secondary school in Otjiwarongo, a small town — not really small, but it is an up-and-coming town near Okakarara. 

There I completed my secondary school years because steps knew that I would get a good education there, better than at a school in Okakarara. We have only one secondary school in Okakarara, but in Otjiwarongo there are more and also better secondary schools. steps also took care of me here: school uniforms, stationery and food were bought for me, since I lived in a hostel during the week. And my school fees were also covered.

When I finished secondary school, I did not have the grades I wanted to begin the course of study I wanted. So steps for children paid for my NAMCOL again. NAMCOL is a school where you can improve your matric (Abitur) so that you can begin a certain course of study. It is a school where, through repeated exams and previous lessons, you can obtain the grades you need to be admitted to the degree program you want.

In 2020, I then achieved the score I wanted. So my path led me to Windhoek, the capital of Namibia, where I am pursuing my bachelor’s degree in education. I will become a teacher of mathematics and science for grades four to seven.

I am also in a choir — sometimes we sing in other towns, for example in Okahandja. In addition, I did an internship in my second and third year in Okakarara a school and will also do one in my final year.

At the moment I am a final-year student — thanks to steps for children! I know I would not be doing this without steps, because my parents cannot afford it.

I am a role model for my younger siblings — they want to become like me too; they have learned so much. I know it will be hard for them to finish their school careers. My parents are really proud of me because I am the first child in my family to complete school. And I am the first to make it to university.”

Together for educational opportunities.

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With the onset of winter in Namibia we have started distributing warm blankets and winter clothing to our steps children and young people. The huts are very cold at night; there is no insulation or a sufficiently thick mattress and blankets. Our priority is to ensure that they are warm and protected during this cold season.

With just 19 € you can now donate a blanket and give the gift of warmth! Support us in helping disadvantaged children in this cold Namibian season.

Your donation makes a big difference in the lives of those who urgently need warmth.

>> DONATE FOR WINTER BLANKETS <<

The warm blankets are being distributed here at the project leaders' meeting in Windhoek, and will then be transported to the steps locations.  

Greetings from cold Gobabis from the educational team (from left) Manfred, Sophia and Aletta.

Winter blankets are being distributed here in Okahandja, as well as vitamins to strengthen the immune system and get through the cold season in good health. 

Donate warmth now for €19:

DONATE WINTER BLANKET

In spring, i.e. in Namibian autumn, the time had come again - foundation founder Michael Hoppe and CEO Andreas Roß travelled to Namibia together. Namibia and Zimbabwe and spent a good two weeks taking part in team meetings, visiting the steps facilities and analysing successes and progress, planning future changes and restructuring and addressing challenges together with the respective site managers and the National Coordinator Sonja Schneider-Waterberg.

If you are planning a trip to Namibia soon - why not visit some of these places and see for yourself what your donations can achieve.

1. learning location Rehoboth

On the very first day after our arrival, we travelled to Rehoboth to visit the Otto Xamseb facility and our partner organisation Bridge of Hope.

With Bridge of Hope In future, even more children who are not at steps kindergarten and preschool will be provided with hot meals.

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With Otto Xamseb we offer our steps children more and more stimulating play opportunities and learning environments.

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2. extensions in Gobabis

Afterwards we went to Gobabis, where possible remodelling work was discussed and further activities are planned: A steps toddler and kindergarten group will be established in the former rooms of the computer school. This will enable us to offer children from Epako, the neighbouring poor district, early childhood education and support and lay the foundations for their future education. We will nevertheless continue to work with our co-operation partner Light for the Children and enrol our kindergarten children in the Light for the Children pre-school.

The former PC school, which is now to be given a new use.

From left: Sonja Schneider-Waterberg, Jackie Sanjath and Michael Hoppe in the former PC school. 

Martha Naris, pictured here on the left, looks after the guest house in Gobabis and talks to Sonja Schneider-Waterberg.

3rd Happy Birthday Okakarara

The big celebration for the 18th birthday of steps Okakarara took place on 15 March 2024. The first steps facility, which started with 30 children in a preschool and soup kitchen in Namibia in 2006, now supports over 200 children and young people. With many, very appreciative words, the team in Okakarara, members of the trust and close companions as well as invited guests - but also you, dear supporters and sponsors - celebrated the birthday together.

Here you can read the wonderful entries in our guestbook again:

The birthday in pictures:

Dear supporters and friends, we are very happy that we were able to celebrate the 18th birthday of our first steps project! Without your continued support, it would hardly have been possible for us to reach this age of majority. We thank you from the bottom of our hearts for your commitment in so many different areas.

4. news from Windhoek

No children were found at our newest facility, Single Quarter in Katutura, due to holidays. 

As a result of various planning meetings, we have been able to admit more children to a new pre-school group since April. You can read more about this here:

5. off to Zimbabwe

After four years, the Board of Directors has now been able to travel to Zimbabwe again and visit the projects that have been created through the cooperation with Plan International and Stiftung Hilfe mit Plan. Due to the tight time frame, they mainly looked at the income-generating measures. Michael Hoppe and Andreas Roß were fascinated by the progress and success of the project to date:

„We were impressed by the tireless efforts of the local people in Zimbabwe. They have successfully adapted the fish ponds and even created more ponds to support themselves after the programme was completed. This form of income-generating activity provides a long-term source of income for the participating community and helps to alleviate abject poverty.“

Would you like to get to know our steps facilities in Namibia personally? 

Then find out about the options here:

The new steps facility Single Quarter is struggling
to cope with the increasing crime

One of Windhoek's most dangerous residential areas is Single Quarter in Katutura. This is mainly because poverty here is very high and many people try to secure their survival through illegal activities too. The residents are confronted with numerous problems, including inadequate access to basic services such as water, sewage and electricity and high unemployment. The residential area is known for its high population density with its informal settlements and is predominantly inhabited by low-income families who live in small huts made of corrugated iron and other makeshift materials. Despite these challenges, there is a vibrant community here with a strong sense of solidarity among the residents.

Our steps kindergarten and preschool are adjacent to the eponymous area of Single Quarter and the steps building is located on the grounds of Jacob MARENGO School: A primary school and a secondary school are located here, so after kindergarten and preschool our little ones can move directly on to these schools. They are therefore already familiar with the surroundings and the teachers and can cope well with the transition to school life.

We can clearly feel the crime rate in Katutura, for the second time already. A few months ago, our shade nets were stolen in broad daylight during the holidays despite security measures on the school grounds. For most Namibians, shade nets are of great value - in some cases they provide the only shade, as there are hardly any natural sources of shade in many places.

Shortly afterwards, the kindergarten was once again visited by thieves during play and learning time looking for money. The thefts are mostly acquisitive crime, with people in their poverty trying everything to get money or goods.

We stay and help!

Nevertheless, we are not deterred from our vision of creating educational opportunities and prospects for disadvantaged children and young people. We remain where the children need us all the more and offer learning opportunities and regular meals, protection and security.

In order to increase safety, we are working at full speed (together with Jacob Marengo School) on a security concept, so that assaults of this kind can be prevented. The costs for this are high – alongside a deterrent security fence and a security camera, additional security personnel are being hired, whose explicit job will be to ensure the safety of the steps children and staff, and who will also guard the premises at night.

Support our new Single Quarter facility with a free contribution

DONATE NOW

Would you like to get to know us in person? Please visit us after предварительной registration at info@stepsforchildren.de – we look forward to seeing you!

Travel tips for Namibia:

The Kid-Care Kollege in Katutura offers new educational spaces for children from the poorest backgrounds in Windhoek, Namibia.

In the Namibian capital Windhoek in the district of Goreangab, also located in Katutura, we have been supporting Since the beginning of the year, we have been supporting the Georg Kraus Foundation the Kid-Care colleague, the Johannes Mateus was founded in 2019. He has managed to get many children off the unsafe streets of the very poor neighbourhood and offers them the best possible development and educational opportunities with a team of eight educators and teachers.

The Katutura neighbourhood, which translates as „place where we don't want to live“, is one of the poorest in Namibia and also in Windhoek. Here we create a protected space for children to open up future prospects for them, but also to provide acute help through care and nutrition.

While 68 children attended the social centre in 2019, today there are already 155, who are supported and provided with meals in the crèche, kindergarten, pre-school and a first class. The founder is a teacher himself and has invested his savings in the centre. We would like to support his commitment and thus the educational path of the children in his centre by building two urgently needed classrooms. In this way, we are making it possible for last year's 1st class to continue to be looked after in this facility as a 2nd class.

The building for the new classrooms is almost finished. We still need €900 to complete the financing - help us now with a pro rata donation for the new classrooms of the Kid-Care Kollege in Katutura.

CLASSROOM

Single Quarter in Katutura

In the poorest district of Windhoek,, we have founded a new social facility for children, providing educational activities, care and meals, to create prospects.

We are pleased that our new facility, the pre-school „Single Quarter“ in Katutura, can start its work in April. We have rented and renovated a building on the premises of the „Jakob Marengo“ facility in Katutura. There is a classroom here for just under 15 children, an adjoining room and toilets. The cooking area will be newly built outside the building, and a playground is being prepared. For this we need further support – at the end of the article you will find a way to donate to Single Quarter.

The building was completed during the Namibian summer. We can see a few impressions of the work here. 

The large plot on which the building stands is bordered by a wall and the entrance is guarded. This ensures that no unauthorised people can enter the premises and that the children have a protected space to play and learn. 

The newly appointed teacher Rautia Shikongo and the cook Secilie Ekandjo have been looking forward for several weeks to finally welcoming the children in April. At the top of the photo we see them together with Martin Schölling, a member of our National Coordinator Team. 

We are grateful for support for the new playground of the steps facility „Single Quarter“ in Katutura. A total of €2,100 is needed for this.

PLAYGROUND

Stephan Hock, who moved to Windhoek with his family a few years ago, is currently developing a living cookbook: together with a cooking school in Windhoek, he cooks recipes submitted and shared via his website. And of course he also shares his own recipes featuring culinary delights. The first recipes are already available on his website www.cookwithstephan.com and can be viewed and cooked for an annual fee of €5.99. And what does steps have to do with it?

Stephan Hock is committed to ensuring that children in Namibia have enough to eat, not just the guests at Immanuel Lodge, which he has run in Windhoek with his wife for several years. The membership fee on the website finances meals for children from the area around our partner project Bridge of Hope in Rehoboth. The meals are cooked and served in the new soup kitchen of the project, which was only completed in April. The project is a matter close to the heart for chef Stephan Hock! 

„The eyes of the children we saw last week during a visit to Rehoboth, and the commitment of Milli and steps for children, confirm to my wife and me that we have chosen the right partners. It makes us very happy to support these children as much as we can, because children are our future.“

His goal is to provide 100 children with a meal every day. Of course, this depends on the number of registrations on his website and the corresponding membership fees received.

On behalf of the whole steps for children team

we would like to thank you very much for the interesting idea and the support that comes with it!

Do you also enjoy cooking passionately or are you looking for new inspiration for special occasions? Sign up on Stephan Hock's website and help finance meals for the children in Rehoboth with your membership fee:

www.cookwithstephan.com

Juliane Scheller worked for us as a volunteer at steps for children in Okakarara (Namibia) for two and a half months. The 26-year-old speech therapist from Hamburg vividly describes the experiences and insights she gained during her time with the people in Africa.

So I packed my bag and took a few usual utensils with me, such as a mirror, a hand puppet, feathers, straws and lots of other therapy ideas in my head. Even on the way from the capital Windhoek to Okakarara, I spoke at length with our project manager Sonja about speech therapy. She immediately told and explained quite a lot to me about the project, life in Okakarara and about a boy from the project who would stutter. Meanwhile, during the journey, I kept looking out of the window and saw the fascinating nature of my new temporary home, with its incredible vastness and the odd warthog. Upon arriving in Okakarara, I got to know the other lovely volunteers Tabea, Anne and Paul. I moved into my room, made it cosy and quickly settled into our familiar house. For the rest of the day, the other volunteers told me about their everyday life, the community of 7,000 souls, the warm-hearted project and the children.

After the weekend of my arrival, my work in the project began too. I got to know my new colleagues and the project grounds and, above all, saw laughing and happy faces. After I had spent the first few days in close contact with the teachers, accompanied their lessons and gained an overview of the children's individual areas of development, I then started with individual language support. The focus was, of course, on Namibia's official language, English. They learned vocabulary for colours, days of the week, food, animals and many other helpful English words as well.

The work was fun on both sides, as I quickly noticed, because the children were all committed and proud of their own folders, which we made, labelled with their names and all the worksheets they had worked on and completed. We played games to strengthen the mouth muscles and tongue strength, or blew hard at feathers and small cotton balls. The children had great fun with just a few things and were able to enjoy my language support therapies as a carefree time.

During my volunteer placement, I was in a different group every day and therefore also had plenty of time for a great exchange with the colleagues. They could tell me important things about the children, the family home and their background. In addition, I was able to ask important questions and support them in the areas of pedagogy and communication. This targeted exchange made the work extremely pleasant and efficient. Most of the time, you learned a lot from one another. Sometimes my colleagues were amazed at how quickly and without much time effort certain things could be done when the problem was communicated clearly, such as questions about documents that could be discussed in just a few minutes. In return, I admired the stress-free calmness of the local educators in some situations, as a certain calmness can be very helpful in many problem-solving processes.

In the afternoons, the volunteers supervised classes 5, 6 and 7 with their homework. This often led to topics of conversation such as school or university, the role of women, but also contraception and HIV. I was repeatedly made aware of how much responsibility I had and what knowledge and ways of thinking I could pass on to the children for the future. Friendships developed built on a great deal of trust. Twice a week, I sat together with three girls from ninth grade - we did their homework together and talked about important everyday topics. They did not dare to participate in school lessons and to talk to their teachers, because it emerged that they were afraid of authority and therefore preferred not to make any mistakes. It was a long journey for me to understand this behaviour and resolve their blocks, to give them the self-confidence and courage they needed. But by the end of my time in Okakarara, they were clearly daring to hold conversations and ask questions on their own when they wanted to know something. They became more self-confident in dealing with others and were proud to speak English better and better.

IDuring my time as a volunteer, questions regularly arose about life, the individual families, certain social or political structures and some of the children's fates. For all of this, our manager Sonja was always there for me. In every imaginable matter I could count on her support, whether it was visas, doctor visits or simply a few encouraging words when the days were not so bright. It always felt good to know the project management was by your side with an open ear and helping words.

During my two and a half months at steps for children in Okakarara, I gained extremely varied insights into the lives and everyday realities of children in Namibia, which could hardly have been more different. Children who developed speech impairments such as stuttering due to family difficulties, yet actually communicate so wonderfully. Children who did not dare to speak, although they are actually so brave and strong. Children who could be comforted more than enough by a smile from the person opposite, a sincere hug or encouraging words.

I am extremely grateful for my time as a volunteer in Okakarara, as it brought me an incredible amount of joy, shaped me in many different ways for life and enriched me greatly. Here's to the successful continuation of the project with happy, healthy and self-confident children.

Thank you very much for your great work and we wish you, dear Juliane, all the best and continued success on your path!

A donor trip to our project areas gives supporters the opportunity to see the work on site for themselves. Nine of our supporters from Germany were able to experience various project locations in Namibia up close in mid-November.

 For some, it was not the first project trip, including Anton Rathgeb, who has been providing steps with wide-ranging support for nine years. For him, as for others, the personal impression counts. It was also heartwarming when the children spontaneously came up to him and the joy they radiated, Rathgeb said.

For many, the personal experience gained on site from the people and children in the projects is one of the reasons for travelling to the African country. For four days, our supporters and sponsors were able to visit eight of our projects and partner projects, such as Boomerang (Windhoek) or Light for the Children (Gobabis) with us.

The highlight and at the same time the conclusion of the tour was the outing with the Schutzengel children to Etosha National Park. For the children in Okakarara, a great dream came true. To see the wild animals in their own country, which they only knew from books - that was what the children had wished for. Thanks to some of our supporters, we were able to fulfil this wish. The children’s eyes were full of excitement and curiosity on the day of the outing. Their joy was especially great when they saw the huge elephants for the first time.

We would like to thank our sponsors from the bottom of our hearts, who made this outing possible in the first place. They gave the children an unforgettable day.

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