Belgians donate to Eluwa
The donation of a full playground set marks the end of the 20-year twinning agreement with Lommel but plans are under way for revival.
The Belgian town of Lommel has donated playground equipment to the Eluwa Special School in Ongwediva as part of the 20-year twinning agreement and international youth exchange between the Lommel Municipality and Ongwediva Town Council.
According to Eluwa's acting principal, Ndinelago Nangolo, the school was established in 1973 among the only three schools to provide education for visually and hearing-impaired children in Namibia.
There are only three such schools in Namibia with the remaining two in the Khomas Region.
Nangolo said the school has 350 learners of which learners are hearing-impaired while 100 are visually-impaired.
The school offers pre-primary education through to grade 10.
She said that their school has been receiving support from the city of Lommel for the past 20 years and over the years, they received a donation of three braille typing machines and last year the city renovated their 1973 dining hall.
This week, Lommel's deputy mayor Jasmine van Grieken handed over the playground equipment to the School.
She said that the donation was made possible by the youth of Lommel who raised money through the Ongwediva-Lommel international youth exchange programme.
“We have been with Eluwa Special School for the past 20 years through our twinning agreement. Part of this agreement is the international youth exchange programme. Every year youth from Lommel raise money to assist Eluwa Special School. The aim of the programme is to train youth to be responsible citizens in future,” Van Grieken said.
She said that the facilities are locally produced by the students from the Valombola Vocational Training Centre in Ongwediva.
Nangolo said that the donation means a lot to the special children of Eluwa School.
“We welcome this gesture and it means a lot to our school. This means that our children have something to play on and this makes their learning environment conducive for them. We thank the people of Lommel,” Nangolo said.
Toon Jansen, Lommel's coordinator for municipal services, said that the twinning agreement with Ongwediva Town Council ends next year but, consultations to revive it are under way.
ILENI NANDJATO
According to Eluwa's acting principal, Ndinelago Nangolo, the school was established in 1973 among the only three schools to provide education for visually and hearing-impaired children in Namibia.
There are only three such schools in Namibia with the remaining two in the Khomas Region.
Nangolo said the school has 350 learners of which learners are hearing-impaired while 100 are visually-impaired.
The school offers pre-primary education through to grade 10.
She said that their school has been receiving support from the city of Lommel for the past 20 years and over the years, they received a donation of three braille typing machines and last year the city renovated their 1973 dining hall.
This week, Lommel's deputy mayor Jasmine van Grieken handed over the playground equipment to the School.
She said that the donation was made possible by the youth of Lommel who raised money through the Ongwediva-Lommel international youth exchange programme.
“We have been with Eluwa Special School for the past 20 years through our twinning agreement. Part of this agreement is the international youth exchange programme. Every year youth from Lommel raise money to assist Eluwa Special School. The aim of the programme is to train youth to be responsible citizens in future,” Van Grieken said.
She said that the facilities are locally produced by the students from the Valombola Vocational Training Centre in Ongwediva.
Nangolo said that the donation means a lot to the special children of Eluwa School.
“We welcome this gesture and it means a lot to our school. This means that our children have something to play on and this makes their learning environment conducive for them. We thank the people of Lommel,” Nangolo said.
Toon Jansen, Lommel's coordinator for municipal services, said that the twinning agreement with Ongwediva Town Council ends next year but, consultations to revive it are under way.
ILENI NANDJATO
Comments
Namibian Sun
No comments have been left on this article