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China rescues SOS children’s village

2018-12-17  Staff Reporter

China rescues SOS children’s village

Staff Reporter

WINDHOEK - The SOS Children’s Village in Khomasdal had its 34-year-old aging water system repaired with funding of N$88,184 from the Embassy of the People’s Republic of China through its ambassador Zhang Yiming and N$36,816 availed by a Thai businessman, bringing the total donation to N$ 125 000.


According to the manager of the SOS Children’s Village Rodney Cloete, since the establishment of the village, no major repair work was done, as such, it faced numerous challenges such as its underground pipes that would burst. Cloete said the water will be flowing and this increased the water bill. 


Currently, the children’s village struggles financially despite funding from various organisations.
“We struggled paying plumbers. For an NGO to take out N$125 000 was costly while we have children to feed,” he remarked. 
The old pipes were replaced with PVC pipes which will last more than a decade. 


Zhang said this is a small project in terms of the scale and the budget, but demonstrated the friendship between the two countries. Zhang believes in future Chinese enterprises and community and said the embassy will do more charity activities to help destitute Namibians. SOS Children’s Villages Association Namibia national director Leonard Diergaardt said their board chairperson Robin Raines was instrumental in the manifestation of the partnership and through his persistence, on September 25, 2018, a representative of the King Fun group from Thailand Zhang Yang and a representative of the China Henan International Group Cui Yunke paid a courtesy visit to their facility. “A few minutes later and one phone call to the office of the ambassador Zhang Yiming- we got the instant response, ‘we will replace the entire water supply system to the children’s village with the support of the Chinese Embassy. Miracles still do happen,” recalled Diergaardt.


The repair started in September and it took two months to complete, bringing much relief to the children’s charity. This year alone, the Chinese embassy has donated substantial amounts of money to numerous charities, institutions of learning and to several vulnerable Namibian families to help them improve their social welfare. One of the beneficiaries of the Chinese generosity was the University of Namibia (Unam) that got a cash injection of N$300 000 to support the establishment of a multi-functional science research and development centre from the Chinese Embassy that also previously availed N$254 000 to the Organisation for the Empowerment of Widows/Widowers and Orphans of HIV and Aids (OEWENA). Also, in its quest to assist Namibian trainee workmen, the Chinese embassy previously donated 20 desktop computers worth N$200 000 to the Windhoek Vocational Training Centre (WVTC). At that ceremony, ambassador Zhang highlighted the importance of vocational training for national development and the economic contributions that WVTC makes to Namibia’s economy and skills development.


2018-12-17  Staff Reporter

Tags: Khomas
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