Tapping into social welfare
Haingura Maria Katiku is a social services consultant at the Government Institutions Pension Fund (GIPF) in Rundu.
JUSTICIA SHIPENA
Having lost her husband in the same year she started working at the Government Institutions Pension Fund (GIPF) in 2003, Haingura Maria Katiku dedicated her life to assisting others during their most vulnerable times through her work at the Fund.
Sixteen years later, Katiku still enjoys working at GIPF and commends the Fund on the tremendous positive changes it has made in the lives of its members and employees.
Her role at GIPF involves working with people who are grieving and coping with the loss of their breadwinners while adjusting their lifestyles from what they were used to before losing a family member.
“Losing my husband in the same month I started working, and being confronted by the reality of counselling and working on death claims with widows, widowers and orphans, really touched my heart and the whole 2003 was not an easy journey for me,” she says.
Katiku says although she is a social worker it is not easy to be confronted by the real situation. She feels it has been a wonderful experience to have observed how GIPF touched a lot of lives of orphans, widows and widowers in terms of the monthly annuities they receive.
“I have observed GIPF empowering the caretakers and guardians of minor children, widows and widowers by using the monthly annuities to take part in income-generating activities to generate extra income and keep themselves busy,” she explains.
Katiku says GIPF invests money in a variety of sectors, which contributes to the national welfare by creating jobs and adding value to the economy.
The highlight of her job is seeing how it touches people’s lives, especially those of pensioners, by supporting them through the Government Institutions Pensioners Association of Namibia (GIPAN).
“The company does not only focus on paying out pensions or annuities; it has escalated and touched a lot of people lives through a lot of investment. It has stretched out a hand to reach the needy,” Katiku says.
Having lost her husband in the same year she started working at the Government Institutions Pension Fund (GIPF) in 2003, Haingura Maria Katiku dedicated her life to assisting others during their most vulnerable times through her work at the Fund.
Sixteen years later, Katiku still enjoys working at GIPF and commends the Fund on the tremendous positive changes it has made in the lives of its members and employees.
Her role at GIPF involves working with people who are grieving and coping with the loss of their breadwinners while adjusting their lifestyles from what they were used to before losing a family member.
“Losing my husband in the same month I started working, and being confronted by the reality of counselling and working on death claims with widows, widowers and orphans, really touched my heart and the whole 2003 was not an easy journey for me,” she says.
Katiku says although she is a social worker it is not easy to be confronted by the real situation. She feels it has been a wonderful experience to have observed how GIPF touched a lot of lives of orphans, widows and widowers in terms of the monthly annuities they receive.
“I have observed GIPF empowering the caretakers and guardians of minor children, widows and widowers by using the monthly annuities to take part in income-generating activities to generate extra income and keep themselves busy,” she explains.
Katiku says GIPF invests money in a variety of sectors, which contributes to the national welfare by creating jobs and adding value to the economy.
The highlight of her job is seeing how it touches people’s lives, especially those of pensioners, by supporting them through the Government Institutions Pensioners Association of Namibia (GIPAN).
“The company does not only focus on paying out pensions or annuities; it has escalated and touched a lot of people lives through a lot of investment. It has stretched out a hand to reach the needy,” Katiku says.
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