Volunteer teacher Georgina Kahipuire looks down at the energetic little girl with a warm smile after gently scolding her to behave.
She says she knows each and every one of her 74 kindergarten pupils, ages three to five.
She knows when they are sad and when something is bothering them.
“This one is Ngumanewa. She is a happy girl … but sometimes, when she is not happy, I talk to her to make her feel better,” Kahipuire says about the girl, who is leaning on her during break time.
Another little girl is tugging at her hand. “And this one is Elwina. My naughty little friend.”
Kahipuire tells the girls to go outside and play.
The laughter of children fills the small Fall n Opstaan kindergarten at Gobabis’ Turiandjera township.
The owner, Johanna Nakale (53), welcomes them with open arms every day at no cost to their parents.
She does not turn any of the children away.
Kahipuire (32) is one of three volunteers who help Nakale run the kindergarten from Monday to Friday.
The Fall n Opstaan kindergarten (meaning fall and stand up) was started in 2016 under a tree. Today, it has enrolled 143 children – from kindergarten to preschool – free of charge.
At the Fall n Opstaan kindergarten, children from impoverished families who previously roamed the dusty streets unsupervised have found a safe environment where they learn to read, write and make new friends.
Their parents are unemployed and often leave them unattended during the day.
“We teach them confidence and how to communicate with each other. It’s not easy because some of them do not listen,” Kahipuire says. She, however, adds that working with children is her passion.
Owner Nakale says she has dedicated her time offering free education to children from disadvantaged backgrounds, buying their stationery from her own pocket and ensuring they have something to eat before sending them home at the end of each day.
“I buy the food and stationery from my pockets,” she says.
From her home at Gobabis, she offers free education with the assistance of volunteer teachers helping the children to read, write and be disciplined.
To her, education is about giving children an opportunity to build a better future. She also has three of her own grown children.
Those who know her say Nakale’s generosity goes far beyond teaching. Mothers like Martha Afrikaner (25) say their children are in good hands.
Another teacher, Tina Damm, says teachers get to know the children, give them attention, teach them how to be disciplined, love one another, ask for forgiveness and apologise to each other.
“I have always loved working with children. I enjoy working,” Damm says.
She says although some come with certain attitudes from home, she loves working with children.
Part of teaching discipline, she says, includes asking them personal questions about their feelings, playing games and giving them time to be themselves.
“It is a challenge sometimes. Some are naughty, not receiving attention at home so as teachers we have no choice but to bond with them,” she says.
Damm says children are taught according to a syllabus, while teachers prepare lesson plans using material provided by different schools and the Ministry of Gender Equality and Child Welfare.
She says she was trained by the gender ministry and has been working at the kindergarten for five years.
The ministry is also paying her N$1 700 a month to teach at the kindergarten.
