Excursion through dunes and canyons

Created: 04/08/2022, 18:00

By: Veronica Power

The students experienced endless expanses with representatives of the association "Outjenaho - radiant children's eyes eV" from Ottenhofen on the dune "Big Daddy" west of Sossusvlei.

© Outjenaho Association

The Ottenhofen association "Outjenaho" promotes school education in Namibia.

The next project is already in the starting blocks: the construction of a dining room.

Ottenhofen

- The association "Outjenaho - radiant children's eyes eV" from Ottenhofen supports children in Namibia and wants to promote intercultural exchange.

Now a delegation was visiting Africa again and went on an excursion with some students from the graduating class of Morukutu Primary School in Otjiyarwa in the Omaheke region.

(By the way: everything from the region is now also available in our regular Erding newsletter.)

Chairwoman Martina Zoglowek reports that the students expected an extensive program: From Otjiyarwa they went to Windhoek, on to Soussuslvei, Swakopmund and via Waterberg back to Otjiyarwa.

The group not only had lots of games, skipping ropes, rubber thread and handicraft materials in their luggage, but also letters that the primary school children in Ottenhofen had made and written for their Namibian friends.

Zoglowek says that she and her two companions were picked up by the students at the airport.

In the days that followed, the group visited a radio station, a sewing workshop where the girls and boys were given warm sweaters and hats, the “Big Daddy” dune west of Sossusvlei and the Sesriem Canyon.

On the way to Swakopmund, the excursionists made a stopover at a fish factory in Walvisbaai.

"There were a variety of topics around Swakopmund that were super interesting for our children and their further education," says Zoglowek: the Welwitschia Drive landscape route including the moonscape, the Atlantic beach and a living desert tour.

The last stage of the educational trip was the Okatjikona Environmental Education Center on the Waterberg.

During the excursion, the group catered for itself. One time we had a barbecue together - "It was a Namibian-Bavarian barbecue," says Zoglowek: Traditionally, there was pap (maize porridge) and Bavarian potato salad.

“We had a wonderful time together with the children, the teachers and everyone who accompanied us on this journey.

Our children – and we too – take an awful lot with them from this trip,” says the chairwoman and summarizes: “It was an enrichment for all of us.”

Meanwhile, the next project of the active association is already in the starting blocks: "We are building a dining room for the school." The financing for this so-called dining hall is in place, the contract between the school authorities and the construction company has been concluded, and the construction project will be on site at the end of June started.

The association is planning a construction period of around three months, so that – if everything goes according to plan – the building could be ready by September.

The inauguration and official handover are then planned for the end of the year.

In addition to many private donors, the association receives support from "Sternstunden - We help children" and "ALTERNAID - Foundation for people in need".

Outjenaho architect Andi Schmitt and the company Polycare owe the planning and a large part of the implementation (report follows).

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All information about the association and its projects can be found on the website www.outjenaho.com.