Orano Mining Namibia donated food parcels to 140 households in Spitzkoppe, as well as additional food to two soup kitchens in Spitzkoppe and at Naman Pos in the nearby vicinity, on Friday 28 August 2020.
The value of the food donation is N$110,000, while FP Du Toit, through its subsidiary Wesbank Transport, sponsored transport to the value of N$10,000 to the community outreach effort.
The company has always contributed to development efforts within the #Gaingu Conservancy as a whole, and the Spitzkoppe area in particular. It was understood that the community was hard hit by the downturn in tourism, the main income generator for livelihoods in these areas. In addition, a few years of drought had already affected the area negatively prior to 2020, and the cumulative effect of drought and economic downturn as a result of the crisis has left its mark.
This prompted the decision to provide grassroots support for every household, not only to help ease the financial burden, but also to help build their immunity through provision of quality food items to sustain them for the next few months. Each household parcel contained maize meal, pasta, rice, sugar, tinned fish, corned beef, soup packages, cooking oil, potatoes, onions, beans, as well as soap. A small donation of surgical gloves and masks was also made to the primary health care clinic at Spitzkoppe village.
The Namibian Police of the Erongo Regional Directorate assisted with the relevant permits and also escorted the team and ensured that Covid-19 protocols were followed during the handover.
Orano Mining Namibia has decided not to hold the annual The Rock Spitzkoppe Community Run and Mountain Bike Challenge, an event that attracts athletes from all over Namibia and provides a welcome boost to the local Spitzkoppe economy through direct and indirect income opportunities. In the light of the current Covid-19 pandemic, the health risk of bringing athletes to the community, where many vulnerable residents struggle with underlying health issues, was too high and the event was postponed to 2021.
Contributed by Orano Mining Namibia
