At the start of the new school year in 2018, a new steps preschool and a kindergarten opened their doors in Ongombombonde in January. The village is located at the end of a tar road, 8 kilometres east of Okakarara, and has a few hundred inhabitants. There, an old and unused building was converted thanks to the great support of the Futura Foundation and extended with a sanitation block. The newly established Early Childhood Development Center (ECD Center) now offers 24 children aged 3–5 a place to play and learn, something otherwise only available in Okakarara. 13 children attend the preschool, 11 the kindergarten.
Right next to the school building are our income-generating projects – a vegetable garden and tree nursery. For the children of employees, steps provides a childcare place in the new daycare center. By expanding early childhood education in this rural region, we have created additional jobs – a cook, a preschool teacher and a kindergarten teacher were hired.
Imelda Zemuundja, childcare worker, about her new workplace: “ steps gives the children here a safe and beautiful environment in which to play, learn and grow. At the Center, all children receive two meals every day. steps is an important source of support in the community, for parents and children. I hope that steps will continue to grow in Namibia.”
Thanks to funding from the Senior Expert Service (SES), the German teacher Sabine Bohlen-Roß worked in Ongombombonde for a good five weeks with a focus on accompanying lessons, explaining and supplementing teaching materials in order to introduce best practice and successes from Okakarara there. The educational team in Okakarara, consisting of seven staff members, will also support the team in Ongombombonde in the long term with its know-how and many years of experience. At the end of the last school year, four steps teachers from Okakarara, who have already worked for us for 10 years, were honoured by steps for their work with a Certificate of Good Service and a financial grant.
 |
 |
 |
 |
We would like to sincerely thank the steps staff members in Ongombombonde and Okakarara for their great and wonderful commitment. We would also like to express our thanks once again to the Futura Foundation and Sabine Bohlen-Roß for the extensive financial and voluntary support that made this step possible.
