Newsletter July 2026 [🇳🇦]
Morokeni friends,
Today we want to update you on the progress of our kindergarten project in Mayana, Namibia. Heartfelt thanks to everyone who has continued to support our work, allowing the project to grow noticeably. However, this success brings not only wonderful milestones but also new challenges, which we are tackling together with the local community. In late July / early August, the Voß family is planning a ten-day trip to Mayana. After our return, we'll share our impressions and more information with you.
📈 Growing Number of Children & New Classroom
Our kindergarten provides early childhood education for children aged 3 to 6. Over the past three years, enrollment numbers have risen rapidly:
2024: 45 children
2025: 83 children
2026: 100 children
To accommodate this large number, the children are divided into classes by age group (3–4 years, 5 years, 5–6 years, and 6 years), each taught by its own teacher.
Thanks to our combined efforts this year, our simple school building was expanded with a third classroom. Even so, space remains tight for nearly 100 children: the youngest children currently still have to be taught on the veranda. The grounds also include a small playground. Already in spring 2025, many chairs and benches were repaired or replaced to give the children a better learning environment.
The new classroom from the outside (above), and inside (below).
🎓 Educational Milestones & State Recognition
Our teachers' levels of training vary. However, we were able to celebrate a historic achievement in November 2024: our most experienced teacher successfully passed her diploma in education. This makes her the very first student from Mayana to earn such a qualification.
In 2025, the kindergarten received official state recognition. Since this step, teachers are meant to receive a state salary in addition to the parents' contribution. The monthly parent contribution is 35 NAD (approx. €1.85) – but due to the difficult economic situation in Mayana, many families are often unable to afford even this amount.
Our current challenge: Unfortunately, the state payments still are not being made regularly to this day. To secure the livelihoods of the educators and prevent qualified teachers with their certificates and diplomas from moving to state schools, our association provided emergency salary support from 2023 to 2025. Regrettably, our financial resources are likely to fall short this year to continue this vital support at the level needed.
🍲 Nutrition & Health Monitoring
Besides education, combating malnutrition remains our absolute priority. Teachers repeatedly tell us that some children receive no meals at home – meaning the food at the kindergarten is their only meal of the day. We provide the children with a varied diet of bread, peanut butter, eggs, soup, vegetables, and fresh fruit.
Since gaining state recognition, the government has additionally been providing maize porridge. The children's parents actively pitch in here, preparing the porridge directly at the kindergarten over an open fire.
To keep track of the children's development, their nutritional status is regularly monitored through measurements. According to World Health Organization (WHO) criteria, the situation unfortunately worsened over the course of 2025:
Early 2025: 10% of children were severely and 34% mildly underweight.
Late 2025: 19% were severely and 42% mildly underweight.
We currently still lack sufficient data for the current year to assess whether the additional state-provided maize porridge is sustainably improving the children's nutritional status.
🧶 Community Project: "Sit & Knit"
A particularly lovely project for fostering community spirit in the village is the "Sit & Knit" initiative. Women from the community regularly come together to knit hats, scarves, sweater vests, and socks for the kindergarten children.
The materials for this are fully funded by our association. The project serves two wonderful purposes: it keeps the children warm during the cooler months, and it gives the participating women the opportunity to develop personally, acquire new skills, and strengthen the sense of community in the village.
The children with their new knitted apparel at the start of the second trimester of 2026
💚 How you can help
Our project is growing and bearing fruit – but the financial burden of fairly compensating the teachers and ensuring the daily healthy nutrition of the 100 children is enormous.
If you would like to help secure the future of the Mayana Meho Kindergarten, we welcome any donation. Every contribution – big or small – goes directly toward supplies, teaching materials, and support for these wonderful children.
Thank you so much for your loyalty and your support for the children in Mayana!