Centre keeping children off the streets

THE After-school Care Centre in Khomasdal is a safe haven for the many children who go there.The centre was opened in 1994 after the then Minister of Local Government and Housing, Libertina Amathila, saw the need for a safe place for children after school.

The centre can accommodate about 500 children but only about 250 children frequent the centre daily. “The main aim of the centre is to keep the children of Katutura and Khomasdal off the street and entertained,” says Adelheid Mbaukua, community liaison officer of the centre.The centre has three different programmes, the first being after-school care for children.The children come to the centre between 13h00 and 17h30, where they get help with doing their homework.Once that is done, they can participate in sport activities such as wrestling, soccer and netball, or cultural activities such as modern and traditional dancing, arts and crafts, drama and games.The After-school Care Centre also offers activities during the school holidays to keep children off the streets and entertained.Holiday activities include visits to big companies like Namibian Beverages, the State Hospital and Ehafo.Different organisations also come to the centre to talk to the children and inform them about important issues, like the Drug Enforcement Unit of the Namibian Police who came to educate the children on drug abuse.The second and very important programme of the centre is taking care of street children.At any given time, an average of 15 homeless children are staying at the centre.They come from all over the country, some as far as Luederitz.The staff of the centre regularly visit spots known to be frequented by street children, and try to convince them to go and live at the centre.Some children are dropped off at the centre by the Police or concerned members of the public who find the children sleeping in drainpipes or on their business premises.The street children are bathed and clothed and they receive three meals and a roof over their heads while the staff try to locate their families.After the families are assessed, the children are reintegrated into the family.While at the centre, the children receive basic education such as learning to read and write, doing mathematics and basic carpentry.The Ministry of Gender Equality and Child Welfare, under which the centre now falls, also pays for the schooling of 70 children who are in boarding schools around Windhoek.The ministry pays for their uniforms, toiletries, school fees and transport costs for holidays and long weekends.An income-generating programme for parents is the third facet of the centre’s activities.Sowing, gardening and baking projects create an income for many of the children’s parents.All the parents and children receive counselling and the staff of the centre make regular home visits to ensure that the children are taken care of.They also visit the children who are in school to monitor their behaviour.Every Wednesday is a special day at the After-school Care Centre, when staff of the Windhoek Country Club Resort arrive with soup, bread and fruit for the children.The Windhoek Country Club has been running a soup kitchen at the centre once a week for the past two years, and for some this is the healthiest meal they have all week.For Thomas and his six siblings, the weekly soup provided by the Windhoek Country Club was probably the only nourishing meal they received all week before they were placed with foster families.All seven children were placed in foster care after it became evident that they were severely neglected at home.”We don’t approve of putting children in institutions, but in this case it is the only thing that we can do to save the children,” says Monica Shapwa social student from Unam.Church organisations like Philippi Namibia and Matiti Safaris occasionally take the children to the movies and on holidays and weekend breaks.Matiti Safaris took some of the children to the coast last December holiday, which was the first time most of them had seen the ocean.”The main aim of the centre is to keep the children of Katutura and Khomasdal off the street and entertained,” says Adelheid Mbaukua, community liaison officer of the centre.The centre has three different programmes, the first being after-school care for children.The children come to the centre between 13h00 and 17h30, where they get help with doing their homework.Once that is done, they can participate in sport activities such as wrestling, soccer and netball, or cultural activities such as modern and traditional dancing, arts and crafts, drama and games.The After-school Care Centre also offers activities during the school holidays to keep children off the streets and entertained.Holiday activities include visits to big companies like Namibian Beverages, the State Hospital and Ehafo.Different organisations also come to the centre to talk to the children and inform them about important issues, like the Drug Enforcement Unit of the Namibian Police who came to educate the children on drug abuse.The second and very important programme of the centre is taking care of street children.At any given time, an average of 15 homeless children are staying at the centre.They come from all over the country, some as far as Luederitz.The staff of the centre regularly visit spots known to be frequented by street children, and try to convince them to go and live at the centre.Some children are dropped off at the centre by the Police or concerned members of the public who find the children sleeping in drainpipes or on their business premises.The street children are bathed and clothed and they receive three meals and a roof over their heads while the staff try to locate their families.After the families are assessed, the children are reintegrated into the family.While at the centre, the children receive basic education such as learning to read and write, doing mathematics and basic carpentry.The Ministry of Gender Equality and Child Welfare, under which the centre now falls, also pays for the schooling of 70 children who are in boarding schools around Windhoek.The ministry pays for their uniforms, toiletries, school fees and transport costs for holidays and long weekends.An income-generating programme for parents is the third facet of the centre’s activities.Sowing, gardening and baking projects create an income for many of the children’s parents.All the parents and children receive counselling and the staff of the centre make regular home visits to ensure that the children are taken care of.They also visit the children who are in school to monitor their behaviour.Every Wednesday is a special day at the After-school Care Centre, when staff of the Windhoek Country Club Resort arrive with soup, bread and fruit for the children.The Windhoek Country Club has been running a soup kitchen at the centre once a week for the past two years, and for some this is the healthiest meal they have all week.For Thomas and his six siblings, the weekly soup provided by the Windhoek Country Club was probably the only nourishing meal they received all week before they were placed with foster families.All seven children were placed in foster care after it became evident that they were severely neglected at home.”We don’t approve of putting children in institutions, but in this case it is the only thing that we can do to save the children,” says Monica Shapwa social student from Unam.Church organisations like Philippi Namibia and Matiti Safaris occasionally take the children to the movies and on holidays and weekend breaks.Matiti Safaris took some of the children to the coast last December holiday, which was the first time most of them had seen the ocean.