The FNB Namibia Holdings Foundation Trust has supported the Okondjatu Combined School with an amount of N$50,000 towards a study skills workshop for grade 10, Youth Workshop for grade 6 & 7, Sports Day and Academic Awards. This is the second year in a row that FNB Namibia has lent this helping hand. 30 boys and 30 girls took part in the 2017 Youth Development Workshop on the 28 July at the school premises, while 40 elders from the surrounding communal farms were spoilt on that Saturday. The rural school was established in 1970 with about 1120 learners and is situated in Okondjatu, Okakarara Constituency.
Revonia Kahivere, CSI Manager at FNB Namibia: “Since FNB’ s involvement the mind sets of the learners, teachers, principal and the community have changed and because of this positive mindset change, transformation is evident. We are so proud of the learners and teachers at the school who have managed to improve Grade 10 results from a 40% pass rate in 2015 to 66% in 2016.” Revonia added that there had been further positive changes which the school, teachers and FNB Foundation were extremely excited about. “This means that our contribution is having a real impact on the learners and the teachers and for that we are eternally grateful.
These positive changes at the school are evident in the fact that examinations results across all grades improved during the first trimester of the 2017 academic year. “Furthermore, there has been a decrease in pregnancy rates from 6 to 2 learners, and teenage learner pregnancy is something that our Government is also extremely concerned about and we are happy that education has had an impact,” says Revonia.
Bolle Hans, Manager of Public Sector Banking at FNB Namibia attended the workshop and said: “This workshop showed me that the playing fields in all spheres of life are not the same, but despite these disparities, one needs to have a belief in one’s abilities and destiny.” He spoke about self-respect, and respect for others (peers and teachers/parents) as well as discipline in all areas of life. His advice to the boys: “Give more of yourself (your gifts and talents), and time to others and your personal growth will benefit from it. Study hard, work diligently, and focus on short term goals, towards your overall goal and you will succeed.”
Another facilitator at the Youth Development Workshop, Ms. Angela Katjimuine addressed the girls and spoke about various fundamental life skills, the key message being respecting oneself, others and the environment. Her main purpose was to inspire and motivate the students. Feedback from the participants was very positive and both the girls and boys committed themselves to living more meaningful goal-orientated lives.
The elderly thanked the sponsors for the food hampers, lunch and in particular the youth for washing their feet. They referred to FNB as the bank with the tree always reaching out to uplift the communities.