Nkwazi Lodge, in the north of Namibia, is situated on the banks of the Kavango River and boasts a swimming pool with beautiful views across the river into Angola. Accommodation is offered in rustic chalets or the campsite, and facilities include a bar & boma style restaurant. This welcoming lodge offers optional activities including boat trips, fishing, game drives and walks, but Nkwazi is much more than a hospitable stopover. During the past few years the owner Valerie and her team have been contributing greatly to the local community and have been instrumental in facilitating an irrigation system, clothes and donations of food for the local school children.



The irrigation system at Mayana Primary School has been very successful. The idea of the school garden is to assist in the feeding of the children on Tuesdays and Thursdays as at present they only get food on Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays.

Mayana Lodge, which is soon to be an agricultural school, is also doing quite well with tomatoes, green peppers, and green beans currently being grown and reaching a good size. Through local funding in Namibia the grassroots garden project is going to be sponsored for a year, and because of this ten students will be able to learn more beneficial methods of agriculture and pass them on to the rest of the community.

The Second Pre-Primary School is still under construction but it is going along smoothly and will hopefully be finished in the middle of June 2008.

Recently two Swiss Samaritans donated a large amount of stationery to some of the schools in the area. In the collection was a large number of pencils, pens, erasers, colouring pencils, rulers, toothbrushes and lots of nice toys which will come in handy for the school Christmas tree in December. These were donated to Mutwarantja Primary School, one of the poorest schools in the area.

People have also sponsored families in the area, and as such they will be receiving a bag of maize meal that will be much needed this winter as well as school uniforms for the children.

Nkwazi is perfectly positioned for travel into the Caprivi, Etosha or Kaokoland and offers a welcome respite from Namibia's desert interior. And staying here comes with the added bonus of knowing that the local community will continue to benefit from tourism for many years to come!