Gold flows at Maria Pre-primary

Canadian extractive investor, B2Gold followed up its investment commitment with a substantial grant to a local school. Last week, B2Gold, the developer of the Otjikoto Gold Project announced it has approved an amount of N$185,000 to build two new classrooms and an ablution block at Maria Pre-Primary School in Havana, Katutura.
Fiina Martin, the principal of Maria Pre-Primary, applied to B2Gold’s Corporate Social Responsibility department late last year to sponsor the building of additional classrooms and ablution facilities for her school – an early childhood development centre serving the Havana community in Windhoek’s Katutura township.
Although Martin applied for an N$80,000 sponsorship, the B2Gold CSR steering committee decided to increase the grant to a N$185,000 for two new classrooms, ablution facilities and a kitchen.
Sherri Lytle, CSR Manager at B2Gold, said “The feedback that B2Gold received from the community was that kids from Maria Pre-Primary are some of the best-prepared for formal education once they reach Grade 1. Fiina Martin is also an amazing teacher – such a happy, kind, energetic and grateful individual.”
Wessel Loubser, Owner of Tutungeni Precast, will construct the additional facilities, having gained experience from similar projects.
“Working with Wessel has been a pleasure. He responded so quickly and supported the project from Day 1. We would also like to thank the City of Windhoek for their support in getting the necessary planning approval,” said Lytle.
B2Gold Namibia’s Otjikoto Gold Mine is currently under construction between Otjiwarongo and Otavi. This will be Namibia’s second gold mine.