The Giving Village

Penomwene Nekwaya, a 25-year-old resident of the Havana informal settlement in Windhoek, feeds about 100 children every week. She uses her own money, earned with her tuckshop and selling second-hand clothes, to buy food for the soup kitchen. Realising the need, she has added a kindergarten to cater for young children who are not attending school in the area. "I think I'm that person that likes giving. I so much like to give,” she says.

Penomwene started her initiative in 2021. “I met a girl who was pregnant and had two toddlers aged two and four years. She did not have a place to stay and her parents did not want her. I spoke to my mom and we had her stay with us for three months. When she went into labour, we took her to the hospital," Penomwene says.

The number of children she feeds increases every week. ”The food never seems enough,” Penomwene says. "But I am also a businesswoman and therefore make sure I can buy the combo that will provide for everyone. There was a time when we had no food at all but kids are kids and they always come, so then I had to get bread quickly and make soup."

There are others willing and able to help. On World Humanitarian Day (under the theme It takes a village) the Eengoshi Bikers’ Club visited Penomwene’s soup kitchen and donated food and toiletries. The president of the club, Tuhafeni Jekonia, said that with their donation they wanted to give hope to the children who only get one meal a day: "We thought, why not go where people cannot reach.” Penomwene Nekwaya and the Eengoshi Bikers’ Club are spreading a message of compassion and solidarity. We are the village.

Selma Taapopi

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