Shop
2025
The shop continues to grow. Mr. Malasa and the students at the Frans Dimbare Center have made additional shelves, built a deterrent to protect the sales staff and prevent theft, and made tables and benches so that customers can be seated.
The demand for food is high. People in difficult living conditions buy on credit. This presents us with new challenges, which we try to solve as best we can.
In Namibia, it is common to buy on credit. If we do not offer our customers this option, they will buy elsewhere.
Depending on sales, we have to drive to Divundu several times a week to fill the shelves with products. The capacity in our car is not sufficient for a bulk purchase.
2024
The store name now make it clear to passers-by that we operate a store with a small selection of food, beverages, and hygiene products.
In the middle of the year, our store was selected by the aid organization Hope Namibia so that people in need could exchange their food vouchers for food packages in our store.
We were asked to buy the designated food and distribute it together with representatives of the NGO Hope Namibia.
In the meantime, the food was stored in the store and attracted the attention of local residents.
Unfortunately, the planned collaboration with an interested retail chain did not come to fruition. We now operate the store ourselves on a small scale with a limited product range.
2023
September
This young woman has been trying to earn a living with the store since mid-September. However, with her modest means, she can only buy and sell a small selection of food. Foodstuffs such as maize flour, pasta, salt and sugar are completely lacking. She can also no longer afford the rent for the store.
For this and other reasons, we are looking for a better solution for the store that meets our requirements and the needs of local residents.
August
The shelves were welded under the covered terrace of the residential building, as electricity was only available there.
Thanks to the tools we brought with us, we were also able to cut the boards ourselves.
July
Since the beginning of the year, the store space is usable, the surroundings designed. For the shelves we have obtained offers from various stores in Rundu. However, they are only produced in Windhoek or imported, which unfortunately drives up the prices.
Therefore, we decided to produce the shelves ourselves. Finally we are able to buy the necessary material in Divundu.
To start the welding work we now only need a few welding materials, which we have to get in Rundu.
March
Next steps are to keep the forecourt clean and to set up the store so that we can put it into operation as soon as possible.
Heavy rainfall is not uncommon during the rainy season between December and March. Small bushes, shrubs, and grasses crowd the surface everywhere and overgrow everything.
The forecourt of the store was overgrown with weeds, and the long roots penetrated deep into the ground. Since the workers could not clear the forecourt by hand, they organized an excavator, which came from Divundu on its caterpillar tracks.
It took less than a day to fill the holes and level the ground.
January
More or less patiently we waited for Nored to finish the power connection. Phone calls were not answered, mail requests were not answered. After 3 weeks of pushing, Nored sent its workers to make the connection from the store to the transformer station. Finally, Mr. Malasa was able to start the rest of the welding, but the connection alone was not enough....the line had to be put into service first. This again took more than a week. Now, at the end of January, Mr. Malasa can finish his work and we hope that the store can be opened soon.
During the vacation season in December, work was slower. Unfortunately, we did not reach our goal of opening the store in December. For the last works we depend on electricity, because the generator needs too much diesel to finish the outstanding welding works.
The responsible foreman of the company Nored was already on vacation in November and not available for our request. So we are forced to wait until the work of the company Nored is accepted again. Nevertheless, we were asked to dig the trench from the transformer station to the store already, which we did. We sincerely hope that during the waiting period the trench will not be filled up again by the downpours.
2022
November
October
2021
The shop will be equipped with a small room and with a toilet/shower so that the staff can sleep there to prevent theft.
The sewage shaft has already been completed and the sewage pipes have been laid in the store.
Construction work on the shop had to be delayed repeatedly due to a lack of funds. Nevertheless, the team remained convinced that a store was necessary and that we would complete it in time.
Thanks to donations, we were then able to continue construction work on the store.
2020
When we started building the project in spring 2020, we were soon asked by many local residents if we would also build a store to save them the arduous journey to Divundu.
The desire to buy basic foodstuffs close to their village became louder and louder. This prompted us to discuss and explore the possibility of a store. In addition, the team was repeatedly asked to make purchases for local residents, as we are the only ones in the area with a car.
The store, which will provide for the basic needs of local residents, is located next to the water point and on the main road between Rundu and Divundu, which is also an alternative for those passing through.
The local team has drawn up a construction plan and has already started building the foundation walls of the store with leftover bricks at the end of 2020.
Project news are continuously updated.
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