PUPILS of the Josef Shifeta Primary School at Ongenga in the Ohangwena region received a donation of school jerseys from the Johannes Shikoyeni Community Trust and the Sovereign Asset Management Company last week.
The jerseys were acquired after the group started an initiative to assist mostly Grade 0 and 1 pupils with jerseys during winter.
The initiative, started in February this year, encouraged members of the public to donate second-hand school jerseys which are in good condition, contribute N$100 to the trust, or purchase the jerseys needed for the targeted school.
The school at Ongenga was the first recipients of the trust’s donation, where 117 children received their jerseys.
“The children were very excited. We are happy to see them looking so nice, and knowing that they do not have to go through this winter feeling cold.
“It does not help to study while you are feeling cold. We hope that more people will contact our group with more donations, as we need to clothe more schools in other parts of the country,” founder of the trust, Frieda Shikoyeni, said.
“The donation has immensely contributed to the school’s dream that each child should have a school jersey during winter. Your organisation has brought sunshine in the lives of especially orphans and vulnerable children at a time when it was mostly needed” said the principal of the school, Theopolina Kayumbu.
The group plans to donate jerseys to two more schools in the south, and one at the coast.
The Johannes Shikoyeni Community (JSC) Trust is an autonomous association formed by young adults who came together to meet the country’s common economic, social, and cultural needs.
Frieda Shikoyeni started the group at Walvis Bay about six years ago in memory of her brother Johannes Natangwe Shikoyeni, who was murdered at the town in 2001 aged just 15.
Since the establishment of the trust, members have organised various activities, including collecting food and clothing for needy children, and a ‘Big Minds’ book drive, where they distributed school materials to various primary schools at Walvis Bay.
The trust also started a “birthday surprise” programme, where cakes are delivered to children at a literacy centre on their birthdays. In 2014, the group established a social network programme, ‘Poetic Healing’, where young adults come together to share their poetry.
A monthly sit-down session ‘Petjofa’ was added in 2016, and allows various people who have taken the initiative to do something positive in their communities selflessly to share their stories with the aim of motivating the audience and sparking the spirit of giving back to the community.
The Petjofa programme also creates an opportunity to find out where the trust can lend a helping hand.
