Children in the Wilderness

Following a visit to Namibia in 2018, GTT was delighted to announce a new project in collaboration with Children in the Wilderness. It began with the sponsorship of an Eco-Club at the school by the Kunene River, part of the Marienfluss Conservancy — an area primarily owned by the semi-nomadic Himba tribe and one of the most remote places in Namibia you could ever hope to visit.

The project started with the donation of goats to the Himba people, and there is a good reason goats were the answer. They cope far better than sheep or cattle in the harsh conditions of north-western Namibia, and a single goat can have kids twice a year. Each animal provides milk, meat and skins to wear and sleep on, and goats can easily be sold when a family needs money for food. A small herd means a more secure, more sustainable way of life.

The Otjinungua Clinic

In 2022, GTT was asked to help with something even bigger: the building of a clinic in the village of Otjinungua, along the Kunene River in the remote Marienfluss Conservancy. To understand why it matters, picture this — the nearest town, Opuwo, is around 325 km away, and before the clinic existed, anyone who fell seriously ill had to be driven all that way by the conservation teams.

The clinic had been set up and funded by a group of organisations and stakeholders, but when some small companies closed during the Covid-19 pandemic, a hole appeared in the budget. GTT was able to fill it and help the project across the finish line.

Today the clinic offers vaccinations for children, wound care, help with childbirth, basic government medication for rural health centres — including intravenous fluids — and contraception for the community, and it acts as the first point of entry for all health concerns. It also runs awareness programmes on hygiene, health and nutrition for the school children, so the next generation grows up healthier from the start.