Correspondence with Austria
The Kufstein Sparchen elementary school in Austria has started a pen pal friendship project with the Little House of Hope. Under the motto “Friends around the world,” the children in the third grade classes first created and sent out profiles about themselves. Then they wrote their first letters. The children were very proud and excited to receive a personal letter from such a distant, foreign country!
The correspondence is in English, which has been the official language of Namibia for many years. Since the third grade in Austria is an international bilingual class, the children can also read and write English. Through the exchange of letters, photos, and personal profiles, the children learn about each other’s different cultures, everyday lives, and dreams for the future.
This project opens the eyes of children in both countries to the world, teaches them the importance of learning English, developing empathy, and growing up to be responsible global citizens.
An article in Daily Maverick from August 28, 2025 shows that South Africa is also unable to get its education crisis under control and how important it is to systematically promote skills in preschool and elementary school through our private initiative, thereby giving children better prospects.
How investing in early childhood development sets up children for a lifetime of success
by Takudzwa Pongweni
“We have to completely change our minds about what matters in education. Investment in early education accounts for at most 5% of the government budget, and yet your best returns are in the first five years,” says SmartStart founder Grace Matlhape.
What do I want to be when I grow up?
Our children at Little House of Hope also ask themselves this question. They were allowed to dress up and slip into a possible future profession. Some dressed up as doctors treating patients, some as police officers arresting thieves, and others as judges sentencing or acquitting suspects. We set up various stations in the classroom where the children could play their roles. It was exciting to see how seriously the children took their roles!
In addition to a good preschool education, we at Little House of Hope also teach our children important skills for their future lives (“life skills”). Taking on different professional roles helps the children to see things from different perspectives and develop into responsible, determined individuals.
3rd Golf tournament in aid of Little House of Hope
At the end of September, we held our third charity golf tournament at the Kronberg Golf and Country Club in the Taunus region, raising a substantial amount of money for charity.
Around 40 players took part in the 18-hole tournament, which counted towards their handicap, and had a lot of fun playing. The participants included both long-time golfers and young players, all of whom wanted to support a good cause.
We would like to express our sincere thanks to all donors for their fantastic support! Only with this help can we provide children in Namibia with systematic support for their educational development and thus give them better prospects for the future.
Project Update July 2025
The Little House of Hope has once again developed very positively in recent months.
Our children worked very diligently and highly motivated in the first half of the school year. The approximately 70 children we newly admitted to our kindergarten and preschool classes this year, as our older preschoolers moved up to the 1st grade, have settled in very well.
And our new first graders, who attended our preschool last year, were very well prepared this way and have successfully started their school life. Every afternoon after school, they now return to the Little House of Hope full of pride and drive, receive a warm meal – often the only one of the day – and then attend afternoon classes. Our afternoon teacher, Annetjie, practices reading, writing, and arithmetic with them – and the kids are always full of fun and energy!
This is primarily thanks to our experienced team of dedicated teachers, who do everything to make the children feel at home at the Little House of Hope from the very beginning. Only when children, who often live in difficult circumstances and sometimes come to us traumatized, find a positive, supportive environment and trust, are they able to learn and develop.
The fact that we at Little House of Hope, together with MYO, our partner organization on the same premises in Mondesa Township of Swakopmund, are like a big family, is repeatedly confirmed to us by various parties – employees, alumni, visitors, volunteers, etc.
Read the latest events and developments from our “family” here on our website or in our quarterly newsletter!
A New Bus for MYO and the Little House of Hope
Thanks to the numerous donations received in the first months of 2025, we were able to acquire a new bus, together with Rotary sponsors, for our partner organization Mondesa Youth Opportunities (MYO), which will also be used by the children of the Little House of Hope.
This way, we can finally take our children on excursions and show them educational content live, for example, from the animal and plant world, or visit the local fire department or the museum in Swakopmund. Such excursions are important for the children to get to know their surroundings and their country better. Many of them have never left the township they live in. Thus, the new bus now enriches our lessons.
Many thanks to all donors who made this possible!!
The children at the Little House of Hope, together with our volunteers Emma and Neele, painted one of the long walls that border our school grounds towards Mondesa Township.
With great joy and creativity, they created a wonderful mural – inspired by the nature and animals in their home country Namibia. The children had the most fun painting colorful leaves on the trees with their handprints!
With these activities, we foster the imagination and creativity of the children at the Little House of Hope and give them the opportunity to develop and flourish positively outside of reading, writing, and arithmetic.
Many thanks for this great project, Emma and Neele!
Successful Start to School Life
Abigail, Liina, and Ailly are among the new first graders who attended our preschool last year. They were very well prepared this way and have successfully started their 1st year of school!
Every afternoon after school, they now return to the Little House of Hope full of pride and drive, receive a warm meal – often the only one of the day – and then attend afternoon classes. Our afternoon teacher, Annetjie, practices reading, writing, and arithmetic with them – and the kids are always full of fun and energy!
Our support works!
We have been successfully collaborating with MYO in Swakopmund for 10 years now. Our educational facilities are located on the same premises in Mondesa Township and are managed by our manager Anke Husemeyer.
During our last visit, we had the opportunity to meet some of the former Little House of Hope children who are now supported by MYO. For example, 14-year-old Shoombe in our video attended our Little House of Hope from kindergarten to 3rd grade and was then supported by our partner organization MYO until 8th grade. Now he is an “alumnus” and continues to the 9th grade at Namib High School. It was wonderful and moving to speak with him and learn how much he values the time spent in our educational institutions.
Project Update December 2024
Another year full of bad news, conflicts, and armed conflicts in the world is coming to an end. Namibia also continues to struggle with high unemployment, especially in the townships, the ongoing crisis in the education sector, and this year, additionally, with a major drought.
Good news from our institution is a true ray of hope! For example, it is very gratifying that all children in our preschool classes have successfully completed the school year and can now start 1st grade next year. As part of our Christmas celebration, which took place at the end of November this year due to the presidential elections in Namibia, we were able to present the proud children with their graduation certificates.
Furthermore, we had another reason to celebrate this year: Our Early Learning Center is celebrating its 10th anniversary this year!
As you know, the Little House of Hope Foundation was established in 2007 with the aim of improving the difficult living conditions of children in the townships and enabling them a better perspective through systematic support of their academic development. After initial projects in Windhoek and Keetmanshop, we found an ideal site in the coastal city of Swakopmund in Mondesa Township and have been operating our Early Learning Center there since 2014, consisting of a kindergarten, a preschool, and an after-school care center for grades 1 to 3. With this unique project, we have been offering children from the extremely problematic environment there a place where they can learn and develop freely for 10 years now.
That the focus on early childhood education and the decision to offer a coherent overall pedagogical concept together with our partner organization MYO, which is dedicated to academic support for grades 4 to 8, were correct, is shown by our graduation rates: While almost 50 percent of all students in Namibia leave the often overcrowded and underfunded schools without a degree or further qualification, the students supported by us and MYO achieve a 100% pass rate in their final exams!
In 2024, we were also able to successfully further develop our foundation – thanks again to your generous support:
At the beginning of the year, we admitted another class in our newly built classroom. This way, we can now provide 25 more children from the surrounding township with better education and prospects. The children of the “Dolphin” class have settled in very well and are learning with great enthusiasm and diligence! In total, with your help, we now support more than 200 preschool and primary school children at the Little House of Hope.
However, our foundation has also developed further in terms of quality. Our teachers have again participated in various further training measures – including primary school curriculum, the development of their pedagogical skills, but also topics such as first aid and mental health. We are very happy to have such a stable and dedicated team of teachers and management on site for 10 years now! Without this, all our efforts here in Germany would be in vain.
Finally, allow us to ask for further support – currently against the background that prices for food and energy in Namibia have risen sharply, and we also have to cover the costs for the ongoing operation of our newly admitted class – i.e., costs for teaching staff, teaching materials, care, etc. – additionally next year. Your help is therefore still and always more than welcome!
