ABOUT THE NAMIBIA PROJECT

The Namibia Project was founded in 1999 at the ACS Cobham International School. In 2015, the Namibia Project Charitable Incorporated Organisation (CIO) was registered with the UK Charity Commission.

We were established by Ann and Rijn Brandse, who both still take an active role in the charity.

Back in 1999, it had relatively humble origins: the plan was to offer just 20 students and 2 teachers at the school the chance to spend a month in Namibia, exploring and learning about a country that for many, was as far away from their consciousness as it was in actual physical miles (that’s 7,617 miles, to be precise).

The Namibia Project and ACS Cobham International School are now linked, with many wonderful fund-raising campaigns that make a tangible difference to the lives of orphans and vulnerable children in Namibia.

WHAT DO WE DO?

The Namibia Project is all about creating life chances, in fact this informs everything we do.

We want to support Namibia through sponsorship and raising money to help fund education, as well as the means to meet basic welfare needs – the essentials that all of us in the Western world take for granted.

Our focus is on making a difference at grassroots level. On the things that make practical change happen, such as clean water, food and electricity. Hands-on details like solar lights to replace candles, HIV/AIDS awareness workshops, computer lessons. School uniforms, furniture and sports equipment. A hostel, a community hall. Even a truck to take children and orphans to hospital, should this be necessary.

We also raise funds to enable educational sponsorships, giving life-changing opportunities to a limited number of young people.

WHERE DO WE WORK?

The Namibia Project is a UK-based charity that works solely in Namibia.

You can read more about these areas here…

WHAT DON’T WE DO?

We are NOT about flying in as super-heroes to save the day.

We are not about the paradropping of aid from the developed world into the third world. The Namibia Project is passionate about enabling people, about empowering them, about “teaching a man to fish” – although fish are a bit scarce!

We’re one world, one people, one heart. Would you like to get involved? Why not get in touch today?

OUR HISTORY

We were established in 1999 at ACS Cobham International School.

Since that time, the Namibia Project’s founders, Ann and Rijn Brandse, have been the driving force behind the charity’s fund-raising efforts, as well as the key facilitators of the relationship between ACS and the schools in Namibia that we support.

HOW WE STARTED

The Namibia Project started with the aim of offering an international learning experience to students (with 2 teachers) of ACS with a month-long trip to Namibia.

And what a trip it was. Whilst the Namibia Project has gone from strength to strength, 20 years later, those wonderful life-changing summer expeditions to Namibia still happen.

Each returning student feeds back their experience to the charity’s Trustees and shares their learning to their fellow pupils and teachers. They see for themselves the difference that all that hard work has made to the regions in question.

Namibia, once seen is never forgotten. Indeed, many students have been deeply affected, shocked even, by what they’ve witnessed. And no wonder. Several young people from ACS have even changed their life plans to focus on their engagement with this amazing country.

CHARITABLE STATUS IN 2015

In September 2015, the Namibia Project Charitable Incorporated Organisation was registered with the UK Charity Commission.

Trustees were appointed strictly to act in the best interests of the charity and to ensure that all procedures and processes are followed correctly.

We elect our Trustees annually, as well as two co-opted student trustees, whose task it is to keep the board up to speed with developments upon their return from Namibia.

WHAT A LONG WAY WE’VE COME SINCE 1999

Our fund-raising events and campaigns are almost too numerous to mention but safe to say, the Namibia Project is a high-profile initiative at the school. Indeed, the “Night for Namibia” event is a must-attend highlight in the annual calendar.

Would YOU like to get involved? We welcome donations from everyone. And we’d love to hear your fund-raising ideas, too.

OUR TRUSTEES