Self-Help helps communities across Namibia

The US Embassy held a Self-Help Grants Programme on Wednesday at the American Cultural Centre.
US Ambassador to Namibia, Ms Wanda Nesbitt opened the workshop for this year’s ten grantees, who received a total of N$425,000 to carry out development projects in their communities. The workshop focused on financial management and on one-on-one consultations with former grantees.
The programme is a grass-root assistance programme that provides financing for small, community-based projects that are initiated and administered at a local level. Projects include significant contributions in cash, labour or materials from the local community and are expected to be self-sustaining.
The 2013 projects will encompass a diverse range of locally generated initiatives that seek to improve social and economic conditions in local communities. The organizations to be supported this year are based in the Caprivi, Hardap, Kavango, Ohangwena, Oshikoto and Otjozondjupa regions.
Funded projects include a range of income generating activities such as gardening, brick-making, dairy production and tailoring. In one case, members of the project will provide sustenance for students by increasing the productivity of a community-based gardening project attached to a secondary school.
The Self-Help Programme has been operating since 1990 and has provided nearly N$19 million in funding to community-based development projects throughout the country.
Applications for the Ambassador’s Self-Help Programme are available at the US Embassy in Windhoek or online at http://windhoek.usembassy.gov/self_help.html.