One Institution at steps for children in Gobabis, who has been there on site since the project began, we would like to introduce to you today. At first, she worked as a cleaner for the premises at steps, but after some time the children and young people took her into their hearts and into the project as a whole because of her empathy and her ability to help the children in a loving way. With lots of temperament and power she still cleans the classrooms and offices in the project in the mornings – but in the afternoons she teaches the younger children together with another teacher and helps them with their homework.  The 42-year-old is clever – because although she cannot use a computer or speaks only a little English, she knows how to motivate the children and always manages to work through school tasks together with them.  Recently there was an assignment where the children had to prepare a poster at school about the different sheep breeds of Namibia – including the Karakul sheep imported at the beginning of the last century and the sheep renamed Swakara in Namibia since 2013. As she herself cannot use a computer, she researches together with the children in front of the computer – and in this way the children practise using digital tools. Aletta helps them to focus and filter out the right information. And she does this in their mother tongue, that is, the children’s mother tongue – in Kheo-Kheo Gowab, one of the more than seven tribal languages spoken in Gobabis. The children then learn English with the other teacher – because the afternoon care is always supervised by at least two teachers, and one of them always speaks English too. She herself has five children – her youngest is now in Grade 11 and is a steps angel child. She has good chances of being accepted into the steps students programme within the next few years.  

“I have known Aletta for over 10 years and I am impressed by the development she has made, even though she is quite ill. The children love her for her empathetic and down-to-earth manner, and she is an indispensable caregiver in Gobabis for the angel children and the steps homes children and young people. Since the beginning of the collaboration with our local partner project in 2010, she has supported us with her empathy and her power.” 

Dr Michael Hoppe
Founder steps for children