Fostering charity work
Jasmine Goagoses is the co-founder of a charity organisation and she shares with The Zone the importance of charity and being selfless.
Goagoses, a receptionist at a local motor vehicle assessment company, defines charity as the thought and action that is instinctive when it comes to helping a person or solving a situation. “It is something that is instinctive. You cannot force charity and you cannot teach it either, you have to feel it and react with love,” said Goagoses. She explained to The Zone that she formed a charity organisation called Namkid with her friends because she wishes to make a world a better place. Namkid was formed in 2015 and to date, the charity organisation has hosted five charity events mainly targeted at young people. “My friends and I share a common vision and we wish to see no social ills prevailing in our community… that is why we founded Namkid,” she said.
She explains that she does not want to see beggars look for a few cents for their next meal. “I do not want someone to be worried about what they are going to eat, or worried about where they are going to sleep.” Goagoses deeply wants to see people in her community happy and she wants women in particular to be able to walk freely in the streets at whatever time of the day or night without fear of getting raped. She maintains that in order to make her wishes come true she started doing small things that make an impact in her community. “I know I may not change the world, but I hope to inspire someone to take over from where I will end,” she said.
Goagoses calls on young people to clean up their communities and summons those with the necessary means to feed those who are starving. “As young people we need to be more selfless and it is not about who is seeing you do this work. At the same time, do not be embarrassed to do the right thing in your communities,” she said.
Goagoses acknowledges that changing the world cannot be done individually and that is why she works with a team that shares common goals and visions. She explains the importance of charity by stating that each one of us as human beings have had our fair share of suffering and these experiences are supposed to teach us to not want others to go through the same ordeals. “We feel the cold while we have blankets and sometimes even heaters on… now imagine a person sleeping under a bridge,” she said.
She further noted that anyone would not want to be in a situation like that and if you know of a person in a situation like that, as a human being she thinks it should be natural to help those that are suffering.
Goagoses commends a handful of young Namibian people that have come up with solutions to social problems in their communities. “I applaud the young people trying to do something to solve these social problems in our communities, this is evident by the number of charity organisations and non-governmental organisations that are led by young people,” said Goagoses.
However she feels some of these young leaders want their own glory pointing out that there is no teamwork among different charity organisations that are led by young people. “Everyone or every charity organisation wants to change the world alone and get the recognition alone. We lack a sense of unity and working together.” Goagoses believes that the youth need to come together and recognise that these issues affect many people and thus requires a collective effort to solve.
Goagoses shared with The Zone that for their next event Namkid is planning a social splash. The social splash will be an event were Namkid will employ five artists to showcase five canvases around Windhoek. “These five canvases will have topics aligned to contemporary social issues that Namibia is facing at the moment - from baby dumping, motor vehicle accidents, poverty, gender-based violence and tribalism,” Goagoses shared. She further explained that the aim of the social splash initiative is to use art as a platform to try and solve social issues that Namibia is facing as a country. “We are going to have five artists to paint on these canvases; each artist will have a topic.” After the canvases are painted they will be revealed on 21 October at the Katutura Youth Complex stadium at a fundraising concert with a special guest artist from South Africa.
Goagoses shared that the response from the corporate world to sponsor charity events has been great but there is still room for improvement. “Having companies getting on board to sponsor our charity events has given us a sense of validation to accomplish what we want to,” Goagoses said. She admits that corporate companies sometimes are hesitant to help in terms of sponsoring charity events because of the prevailing economic climate. But overall Goagoses is grateful that corporate companies in Namibia are not too busy focusing on making profit, they do invest time and money in their own social responsibility programmes.
MICHAEL KAYUNDE
She explains that she does not want to see beggars look for a few cents for their next meal. “I do not want someone to be worried about what they are going to eat, or worried about where they are going to sleep.” Goagoses deeply wants to see people in her community happy and she wants women in particular to be able to walk freely in the streets at whatever time of the day or night without fear of getting raped. She maintains that in order to make her wishes come true she started doing small things that make an impact in her community. “I know I may not change the world, but I hope to inspire someone to take over from where I will end,” she said.
Goagoses calls on young people to clean up their communities and summons those with the necessary means to feed those who are starving. “As young people we need to be more selfless and it is not about who is seeing you do this work. At the same time, do not be embarrassed to do the right thing in your communities,” she said.
Goagoses acknowledges that changing the world cannot be done individually and that is why she works with a team that shares common goals and visions. She explains the importance of charity by stating that each one of us as human beings have had our fair share of suffering and these experiences are supposed to teach us to not want others to go through the same ordeals. “We feel the cold while we have blankets and sometimes even heaters on… now imagine a person sleeping under a bridge,” she said.
She further noted that anyone would not want to be in a situation like that and if you know of a person in a situation like that, as a human being she thinks it should be natural to help those that are suffering.
Goagoses commends a handful of young Namibian people that have come up with solutions to social problems in their communities. “I applaud the young people trying to do something to solve these social problems in our communities, this is evident by the number of charity organisations and non-governmental organisations that are led by young people,” said Goagoses.
However she feels some of these young leaders want their own glory pointing out that there is no teamwork among different charity organisations that are led by young people. “Everyone or every charity organisation wants to change the world alone and get the recognition alone. We lack a sense of unity and working together.” Goagoses believes that the youth need to come together and recognise that these issues affect many people and thus requires a collective effort to solve.
Goagoses shared with The Zone that for their next event Namkid is planning a social splash. The social splash will be an event were Namkid will employ five artists to showcase five canvases around Windhoek. “These five canvases will have topics aligned to contemporary social issues that Namibia is facing at the moment - from baby dumping, motor vehicle accidents, poverty, gender-based violence and tribalism,” Goagoses shared. She further explained that the aim of the social splash initiative is to use art as a platform to try and solve social issues that Namibia is facing as a country. “We are going to have five artists to paint on these canvases; each artist will have a topic.” After the canvases are painted they will be revealed on 21 October at the Katutura Youth Complex stadium at a fundraising concert with a special guest artist from South Africa.
Goagoses shared that the response from the corporate world to sponsor charity events has been great but there is still room for improvement. “Having companies getting on board to sponsor our charity events has given us a sense of validation to accomplish what we want to,” Goagoses said. She admits that corporate companies sometimes are hesitant to help in terms of sponsoring charity events because of the prevailing economic climate. But overall Goagoses is grateful that corporate companies in Namibia are not too busy focusing on making profit, they do invest time and money in their own social responsibility programmes.
MICHAEL KAYUNDE
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