Staff Writer
As part of its projects to mitigate the effects of the Covid-19 pandemic, the German Embassy will support families in need in the areas of Gobabis, Witvlei and Okahandja and a total of approximately N$ 99,600 (EUR 5,000.00) from the Embassy’s micro project fund will be made available as an immediate measure to purchase food packages.
The packages include staple foods and will be distributed to the community members by the German Evangelical Lutheran Association of Okahandja-Gobabis (ELCIN – GELC) in cooperation with the Okahandja Community Forum.
The Okahandja Community Forum is a civil organization in Okahandja that includes business people and committed citizens is committed to alleviating the increasing poverty in the community by distributing food to the needy.
Chargée d’Affaires a.i. of the German Embassy, Ellen Gölz, visited the community center in Okahandja on 18 June 2020, were she was welcomed by Pastor Brunotte and Charl Coetzee. They explained how the distribution of food is coordinated and who the affected families are.
“We are glad to be able to support the church and Okahandja Community Forum in their efforts to serve those in need. In times like these, it is particularly important to help each other in the spirit of humanity and Christian charity,” Gölz said.
“In this time of the Corona crisis, there are many needy people – also those who managed to make a living before – and to alleviate this hardship, at least for some, became a matter close to the heart of the German-speaking Evangelical Lutheran communities of Okahandja and Gobabis. Thanks to the support of the German Embassy in Windhoek, we were able to support over seventy senior citizens in Gobabis and almost 80 school children in Witvlei with food donations. In addition, we were able to make a substantial contribution to the aid campaign by the ORPA (Okahandja Rate Payers Association), which supports people who have recently been in need due to the loss of their income with food parcels. Fifty families receive a food parcel here every week. ” Pastor Brunotte of the Evangelical Lutheran Association said.
