A German-based non-governmental organisation called Bildung in den Entwicklungsländern Fördern e.V. (BEF), founded in 2021 by Ulrich Talla, is working towards using education to fight poverty in Africa.
Talla, born at a township in Cameroon, says: “Our goal is to help people help themselves.
“People should also take responsibility themselves to find their own way out of poverty in the long term.”
The organisation is currently active in Cameroon, Nigeria and Namibia.
Projects in Cameroon include building small farms, financing school fees and supplies, and the construction of a cocoa plantation in Nigeria.
In Namibia, BEF currently focuses on the distribution of compost boxes, including compost starter packs, to various households in Windhoek in cooperation with Green Planet, a Namibian compost business.
With this project BEF believes it can help tackle challenges such as growing food in a dry and drought-plagued Namibia, while also providing children with agricultural skills.
The organisation says it is committed to collecting clothing, sanitary items and other goods to distribute in cooperation with the Deutsche Höhere Privatschule (DHPS), where Talla also works as a teacher.
BEF says it collected clothing to donate to a DHPS cooperation partner, the Havana Soup Kitchen, this month.
Jessica Kaune from Germany, who’s been in Windhoek on a four-week internship with BEF, says she collected the clothing donations that were brought to Katutura with the DHPS last week.
“The BEF focuses on improving the practical skills of the people so they could use them to help themselves in the long run.
“The association works in close cooperation with local NGOs and institutions. It also gets a lot of help from volunteers who assist with individual projects. BEF is based on this voluntary support, which means all donations flow completely into project implementation,” she says.
“We want to help people in the more disadvantaged parts of Namibia, and we believe supporting them in their basic needs is the first step,” Kaune says.
Currently, BEF is collecting clothes, toys, packed food, blankets and sanitary pads.
Phone 081 412 1600 or email [email protected] for more information or to donate.
