Hope Village opens its own clinic

THE Hope Village in the Greenwell Matongo informal settlement recently opened its Kalahari Sands Clinic to the community.

Hope Village offers a clinic, a place for children to stay and frail care for the terminally ill, where parents and children affected and infected with HIV-AIDS can live together and don’t have to die alone.The new clinic was built in 2007 already, but it was only recently registered as a clinic by the Ministry of Health and Social Services.The clinic is for the parents and children living at Hope Village, as well as the surrounding community. About 209 mothers receive twice-weekly food parcels from Pharm Access via the clinic. A dentist, optometrist and occupational therapist make use of the clinic to help the people of the areas of Greenwell Matongo, Goreangab, Havana and Kabila.’The 2001 census counted 156 165 orphans under the age of 20 and more than 97 000 orphans up to the age of 15. It is estimated that by 2021 Namibia will have over 250 000 orphans, representing 10 per cent of Namibia’s total population,’ said the Minister of Gender Equality and Child Welfare, Marlene Mungunda, at the opening.In 2004, two thirds of all Namibian orphans were orphaned by AIDS. Recent statistics released by the Ministry of Health and Social Services show that more than 200 000 people in Namibia are living with HIV.Kalahari Sands paid for the building of the clinic and also donated bedding, furniture, cutlery, crockery and more to the three houses. There is a boys’, girls’ and baby house at Hope Village, looking after 74 children.