MTC staff bring comfort to rural learners
Well-rested children learn better
MTC staff donated much-needed bedding to two hostels in the Kunene Region through the MTC Cares employee-led initiative.
Learners at both Omuhonga Combined School and Otjikoto Primary School in the Epupa circuit of the Kunene Region will no longer have to sleep on cold floors, thanks to a donation from MTC employees.
Coming to the aid of the learners, employees donated 120 mattresses and pillows to each hostel as part of an employee initiative known as MTC Cares.
The donation, valued at N$94 000, was made in response to the deplorable state in which hostel learners at the two schools live.
Uplifting fellow citizens
MTC Cares, which is an employee-led initiative aimed at assisting communities with funds voluntarily contributed by MTC employees on a monthly basis, has in the past made similar humanitarian donations, assisting leprosy patients in Omashare, donating sanitary pads to learners in Koës, and donating food to The Men On The Side Of The Road project in Windhoek.
The MTC Cares project has also donated an electric wheelchair to a student and assisted single mothers whose shacks were destroyed by shack fires both in Windhoek and Walvis Bay.
"The request for donations from the two schools reached us in March, and it was sad to see the state in which the learners live in the hostel. Some sleep on the floor, and others simply sleep on worn-out, thin mattresses.
"While some hostels have beds, some [learners], who do not have mattresses, simply use boxes to sleep on; this is not right. We then had internal discussions to raise funds from our salaries so that we could see how we could assist these learners with the little that we had," Fikameni Mathias, an MTC spokesperson, explained.
Underlying issues
Mathias added that the decision to assist was necessitated by the need to see Namibian children in rural areas enjoy education equal to those who receive their education in urban areas.
"It cannot be right that we as a country have accepted that deplorable hostel states should be normal in rural areas but expect competitive academic results nationally. When we investigate schools’ performances at the end of the year, it is only fair that we understand the ground dynamics and our responsibility to assist those who do not have it at par with the rest of the country," he added.
From their own pockets
Receiving the donation at Omuhonga Primary School was school principal Sande Shilini, who said the donation marks a significant positive change for the learners.
"As teachers, it is difficult to teach a child who has not rested comfortably at night and expect the best from them. The learners face many challenges as this is a rural school, so we can only thank MTC employees for assisting our school and other Namibians. What is most outstanding is the fact that this is money from the pockets of employees who also have families to take care of. This teaches us all that we have a responsibility to take care of society," Shilini said.
Coming to the aid of the learners, employees donated 120 mattresses and pillows to each hostel as part of an employee initiative known as MTC Cares.
The donation, valued at N$94 000, was made in response to the deplorable state in which hostel learners at the two schools live.
Uplifting fellow citizens
MTC Cares, which is an employee-led initiative aimed at assisting communities with funds voluntarily contributed by MTC employees on a monthly basis, has in the past made similar humanitarian donations, assisting leprosy patients in Omashare, donating sanitary pads to learners in Koës, and donating food to The Men On The Side Of The Road project in Windhoek.
The MTC Cares project has also donated an electric wheelchair to a student and assisted single mothers whose shacks were destroyed by shack fires both in Windhoek and Walvis Bay.
"The request for donations from the two schools reached us in March, and it was sad to see the state in which the learners live in the hostel. Some sleep on the floor, and others simply sleep on worn-out, thin mattresses.
"While some hostels have beds, some [learners], who do not have mattresses, simply use boxes to sleep on; this is not right. We then had internal discussions to raise funds from our salaries so that we could see how we could assist these learners with the little that we had," Fikameni Mathias, an MTC spokesperson, explained.
Underlying issues
Mathias added that the decision to assist was necessitated by the need to see Namibian children in rural areas enjoy education equal to those who receive their education in urban areas.
"It cannot be right that we as a country have accepted that deplorable hostel states should be normal in rural areas but expect competitive academic results nationally. When we investigate schools’ performances at the end of the year, it is only fair that we understand the ground dynamics and our responsibility to assist those who do not have it at par with the rest of the country," he added.
From their own pockets
Receiving the donation at Omuhonga Primary School was school principal Sande Shilini, who said the donation marks a significant positive change for the learners.
"As teachers, it is difficult to teach a child who has not rested comfortably at night and expect the best from them. The learners face many challenges as this is a rural school, so we can only thank MTC employees for assisting our school and other Namibians. What is most outstanding is the fact that this is money from the pockets of employees who also have families to take care of. This teaches us all that we have a responsibility to take care of society," Shilini said.
Comments
Namibian Sun
No comments have been left on this article