Rotary Clubs build ECD centre

Mariselle Stofberg
Elizabeth Joseph



The Rotary Club in Lüderitz in partnership with the Rotary Club in Bocholt, Germany, officially inaugurated the ELCRN Exodus ECD Centre in the area of Jakkalsdraai last Thursday.

The project to the total value of N$1.6 million is the brain child of a teacher, Magdalena Boer, who promoted the idea after children attending the kindergarten had been receiving lessons in a single corrugated iron classroom.

According to the Rotary Club’s president, Erich Looser, it is a great honour for the two Rotary Clubs to have been a part of this venture.

“It was Magdalena who spoke to our mutual friend Renate Moeninghoff about the need to accommodate her pre-school children. We looked at the old, rusty shack that used to serve as the original ELK Kindergarten and came to realise that there is a need to upgrade,” he says.

“This project was started to support the early childhood development of the Namibian child.”

Looser commended the work of all Rotarians who came together to make this project a success.

In attendance was the minister of gender equality, poverty eradication and social welfare, Doreen Sioka. The ministry, as a custodian of ECD, showed their admiration for the job done by the German as well as Lüderitz Rotary Clubs.

Sioka said investing in early childhood development makes economic sense and is an investment into the ever growing economic scene in Namibia.

“I highly commend the Rotary Clubs who deemed it necessary to invest in ECD,’’ she said.

She further urged parents in and around Lüderitz to take advantage of such establishments and ECD centres and to enrol their children as early as possible, as ECD helps with the stimulation of the child’s future of learning and development.

The ELCRN Exodus ECD Centre – equipped with three fully furnished classrooms, each with an en suite toilet – currently accommodates 40 learners, but has hopes to have more enrolments into the school this year.

The teacher Magdalena Boer says they are extremely appreciative to the Rotary Clubs for the work that they continue to do in Lüderitz and what they have recently done for the children.

“We are more than grateful to be able to do what we love in a brand new building. This would’ve never been possible without the help that we have received from the Rotary Clubs in Lüderitz as well as Bocholt, Germany. Thank you, thank you.”

Minister Sioka prompted teachers and parents to show more interest in the lives of children to be able to see the best results.

“Let us make this ECD centre one of excellence by getting involved, dedicating our time and talents to further encourage the children,” she said.