Diamond bus on the go

A 14-seater Toyota Quantum is the solution to the travel problems of Ambrosius Amutenya Primary School in Oranjemund. When the learners travel in a large group, the transport is provided by the Karas Regional Directorate of Education but for small groups, the travel arrangements posed a problem.

This has now been solved by the donation of the minibus from the Debmarine Namdeb Foundation to enable small groups to travel outside of Oranjemund. The town’s isolation, while attractive, has made travelling very difficult seeing that the distance to Keetmanshoop, the region’s capital, is more than 400 km by road.
The diamond conglomerate said the donation is in response to the school’s request for transport which will enable learners to engage with other schools in different extramural and educational activities at regional and national level.
The minibus was presented to the school at a special ceremony attended by the learners, teachers, the principal, Mara Beukes together with Otto Shikongo, Debmarine Namibia’s CEO, Markus Lubbe, Namdeb’s acting CEO and Daniel Kali, the De Beers Country Representative.
Ambrosius Amutenya was established in 2013 as the first government school in Oranjemund. The school caters for pupils from pre-primary to grade 7. The pupils are exposed to a variety of recreational activities like netball, rugby, soccer, hockey, choir and cultural events.
Competing against other schools outside Oranjemund was a challenge due to a lack of transport. “The school was unable to take a small group of learners to play sport or to participate in cultural activities and other educational competitions in the region, because of the lack of transport. The Regional Directorate of Education usually assisted the school with the transport of larger groups of learners, but transporting smaller groups to nearby places, was a challenge,” said the principal.