Volunteering at a soup kitchen in Namibia

my first days

To be honest, the first few days were a little challenging for me. My accommodation had changed at short notice because of Corona and unfortunately I didn’t get that much sleep on the long flight. Accordingly, I had to recover a bit after my arrival.

With immigration and the airport transfer, however, everything went well and I was greeted very nicely by Stefanie, the RGV contact on site, and the homeowners. The next day, Stefanie showed me the city and my project so I could get some orientation. She also explained everything else that was important to me, such as how to withdraw money or change the SIM card.

The accommodation

Since the accommodation I stayed in was only used on a temporary basis, the information about the house is probably irrelevant for future volunteers. The accommodation was very nice and provided everything I needed. However, since I was the first RGV volunteer after the Corona period, I initially only lived with two other German volunteers who were there without an organization.

My project

The project I've been working on is a soup kitchen located in the township of Windhoek. I always worked from Monday to Friday from 9 a.m. to 14 p.m. In the mornings I took over a school class for the first few hours and taught the children English. Then came the food, which we distributed to the younger children in the area. Afterwards it was always a bit quieter, so that I could play with the children. For example, we played football or tag or read something.

From 13 p.m. the school children came out of school. After that it got really crowded and I was busy handing out the food. From time to time it also happened that a child was injured, which I then quickly treated (gloves are available and you only have to do that if you want).
Since I had collected donations in advance, we were able to enable some children to go to school. So I also spent a lot of time finding school places and buying school uniforms.

Essen

I am a vegetarian and had a few concerns about the food beforehand, knowing that a lot of meat is usually eaten in Namibia. But it wasn't that much of a problem to continue to eat vegetarian food there, because you cook for yourself. When we ate out, the selection wasn't that big.

All in all, the food is delicious there. I definitely recommend Pap trying a corn porridge and stopping by the Single Quarters, an indoor market where you can eat kapana.

leisure

During the week, I was often exhausted in the first afternoons, since working with so many children is of course demanding every day. I then often stayed in the house or in the garden with the other two volunteers and we took care of the household (shopping, washing clothes, ...).

In the evenings we cooked together, watched a film, went to karaoke, ate out or invited friends over. We often drove away on weekends to see a little bit more of Namibia than just Windhoek. I would also recommend that to everyone, because Namibia really has such beautiful places!

Personal conclusion

I can say that my time in Namibia was probably the best time of my life so far! It's not always easy and you definitely have to face new challenges, but you learn so much and surpass yourself. I think what made my time there so nice is above all the people I met there. On the one hand, there are the other volunteers with whom I am still in contact, but on the other hand there are also the children and women from my project.

I was warmly welcomed and integrated into the soup kitchen, so that I not only got to know many children, but also their parents and siblings and, for example, had a good relationship with the whole family of the project leader and also visited them at home.
What was particularly special were the connections I built up with individual children and the feeling that they trust me. I've grown so fond of the soup kitchen and all of their children that I can safely say I'll keep coming back.

Field report from Emma, ​​January to March 2022