MANNA in Namibia
Sue Daugherty-Rodriguez, RD, LDN offers a first-hand account of her work with ANSA at Hope Initiatives Windhoek in Namibia, Africa, from July 27 to August 9, 2007.
Here I am 32 hours since my return from a two-week stay in Windhoek, Namibia, located in southern Africa. I received word on May 17 that I’d be representing MANNA as part of an international nutrition program headed by the Association of Nutrition Service Agencies (ANSA). Words could never describe the range of emotions I felt in preparing for my departure, though excitement along with some anxiety were probably the most consistent.
After two days of travel, my team and I finally arrive at a beautiful bed and breakfast in Namibia called Terra Africa. My “Namibian Team” included Emily Piccirillo from Food & Friends in Washington D.C., Rachel Gardner of Food For Thought in Sonoma, California, and me. The three of us had never met before, but we formed an instant connection and welcomed the adventure that was ahead of us.
The goal of the project was to work with Hope Initiatives, an organization that was started by Patricia Sola as a soup kitchen in Okahandja Park in 2001. Okahandja Park, considered a squatter community, is supposed to be temporary, but for the majority it remains their permanent residence.
To understand Okahandja, imagine a dry, dirt landscape with thousands of loosely constructed “homes” built of sheet metal, each no bigger than a small bedroom, with up to 15 individuals living in just one. The residents have no electricity or plumbing and only one well to provide drinking water for the entire settlement. For one month’s water supply, each person must pay 100 Namibian dollars (one U.S. dollar equals seven Namibian dollars). Looking across the landscape, I could see clothing hanging out to dry and meat they are preserving by dry aging in the sun.
Hope Initiatives has grown tremendously in a short period of time. In addition to the feeding program at Okahandja Park there is now a feeding program at Kilimanjaro Park and a Bridging School which prepares children for basic education. Jointly, these programs feed more than 500 orphaned and vulnerable children (called OVCs), as well as adult women and men living with HIV/AIDS. I was overwhelmed with emotion as I met the children for the first time. These children have nothing, so they rely on Hope Initiatives six days a week for a meal and as a place to play safely together. For most of them, it’s their only meal of the day.
When I arrived, I couldn’t help but notice it was a pretty chilly day- winter in Africa. I was wearing jeans, a shirt, sweater, shoes and socks, while most of the children were barefoot, wearing short-sleeved shirts or tank tops and shorts. As the car pulled up to the community, the excited children ran toward us. I pulled out my camera to take pictures and couldn’t help but feel very popular with children all around me. They were excited for me to take their photo on my digital camera and show it to them. For many of these kids, it is the only time they get to see themselves.
I could write many pages on my experiences in Africa, and how these programs are critical to peoples’ lives every day. What they need is funding, along with resources, to sustain their program. Hopefully someday Hope Initiatives will be able to provide all the nutritional needs of the community.
Many people said I would be changed when I returned. I was not sure what that meant until now. There is the gratitude I have for being part of the initial stages which will lay the foundation for a strong partnership between ANSA and Hope Initiatives, and on a more personal level, I have a new found appreciation for how lucky and privileged I am to live the life I do.
For more information on ANSA and the international program in Africa, visit www.ansanutrition.org.
