Guardian angel children take flight
Ndapeua, Clenda and Johanna go to Windhoek.
Our sponsored children are spreading their wings and are now heading to Windhoek. Ndapeua and Clenda had already sat their Matric in Grade 12 in 2019, but their scores were not high enough to enrol at university. So they used the last year to study in order to retake exams in some subjects at NAMCOL at the end of 2020.
NAMCOL
This NAMCOL – Namibian College of Open Learning – offers young students and adults the opportunity to improve their Matric (high school diploma) and then enrol at university with a better score. The courses take place both in person and in decentralised online sessions.Johanna, who attended Year 12 in Otjiwarongo in 2020, even passed her matric (school-leaving certificate) in the first round with a sufficient score and can be admitted to a degree programme at NAMCOL without improving her score.
A really big success
This is a great success both for the three from Okakarara and for our sponsorship programme: 12 and 13 years ago, they came from the informal settlements to the steps preschool in Okakarara, were the first children in our sponsorship programme, persevered throughout their entire school years and now the first two are going who have managed to overcome the extremely difficult circumstances of their childhood and are heading to the Namibian capital to study. All three are going to Windhoek; however, Ndapeua's score is still not high enough for her chosen degree.
Thank you
A big thank you goes to Okakarara's project manager, Sonja Schneider-Waterberg, the teachers involved, the volunteers who supported us for a time, and of course we would like to thank our sponsors in Germany, who are supporting our young people so sustainably.
During the waiting period after the exams, until the results were announced, they came to Sussie Nganjone, the office manager in Okakarara, and helped her and Eveline Ketjivandje with the preparations for the coming school year by collecting the school uniforms for the other pupils together with project manager Sonja Schneider-Waterberg and taking on various light tasks such as photocopying in the office.
The wait is finally over and new decisions have been made. In all their deliberations, the three of them have repeatedly turned to Sonja Schneider-Waterberg and Sussie Nganjone with confidence.
Ndapeua was not quite able to achieve the number of points she had hoped for due to the lack of face-to-face lessons during the pandemic, but has now decided to enrol on a 9-month course in Windhoek. With face-to-face lessons and weekly tests, she can then enrol for a bachelor's degree programme at the NSSC - Namibia Senior Secondary Certificate - if she achieves the necessary points.
Dear Ndapeua, the whole community and we from the steps team are by your side – both on site and here in Germany and Switzerland. You are on the right path!
Definitely improve their points Clenda. After this year, during which she studied independently at NAMCOL to improve her scores, she decided to become a middle school teacher (Senior Primary School).
Dear Clenda, congratulations on
passing your Matric! You have achieved a lot
and we are delighted that you are interested in
pursuing a career as a teacher.
Johanna passed her matric on her first attempt and has now been able to enrol at the Namibia University of Science and Technology (NUST) in Windhoek. She will study the four-year Bachelor of Economics programme. Her first choice of degree programme was Bachelor of Accounting and Finance, but this was already full. Nevertheless, satisfied with her second choice, she started her first classes at the end of February.
Dear Johanna, our heartfelt congratulations on
passing your Matric and we wish you
every success on your journey ahead!
