Mercy Say Yes Preschool in Namibia

In 2019 as we traveled through Namibia on our way to an indigenous community, we had the good fortune to meet Christiana. She is an incredible woman who lives in an informal settlement with a population of approximately 5,000 people. She and her husband started a small preschool as a way to care for the children in her community. Today she feeds up to 200 children each week!

How many people will this project support?

This project directly supports up to 200 children each week at Mercy Say Yes Preschool, along with their families — approximately 800 to 1,000 people when parents, grandparents and siblings are counted. The preschool sits within an Okahandja informal settlement of roughly 5,000 residents, where it serves as one of the only sources of daily meals and early education for children. As Christiana’s capacity grows, so does her reach within that community.

The Issue

With limited resources, Christiana struggles to care for the vulnerable children. Lack of basic technology, land to grow food, access to water and supplies to teach the children. In her words, “The need is great”.

The Solution

We have worked with Christiana since 2019. The Great Gathering Nonprofit has provided a cell phone, food at Christmas, school supplies for the children, chalkboards, cooking pots and other basic needs.

Each year we have supported Mercy Say Yes Preschool as the impact on the community has grown. It is rare to find a person as dedicated to serving the impoverished as Christiana. Each year, we have supplied a few more tools for her to fulfill her role as mother to hundreds of children.

Christiana is known as the Mother Theresa of Namibia after having been in the news on several occasions.

Potential Long Term Impact

Independence will be the most lasting effect of this support, and it will multiply everything Christiana is already able to do. A laptop, a phone and reliable solar power turn a one-woman effort into an organization that can keep records, apply for grants, and reach donors directly — meaning the preschool no longer depends on what one family can carry on its own. The impact on future generations is clearly the focus: children who eat and learn during their earliest years enter primary school ready to succeed, and every year Christiana can operate is another cohort of children who grow up literate, fed, and cared for. Building her own Namibian nonprofit means this work outlasts any single donor, any single year, and eventually Christiana herself — becoming a permanent institution in a settlement that has never had one.

How You can Help 

The current need is to purchase a laptop, hard drives, phones, cell phone bundles and basic solar to power the equipment and food for the children. This will enable Christiana and her husband to continue building her own nonprofit in Namibia and reach donors.

$3,000 USD is the immediate need.

This is an ongoing project, the amount needed will fluctuate as requests are received.

If you would like to make a larger donation to this project, please contact us directly for more details at indigenous@thegreatgathering.org.