By Foibe N Paavo
SWAKOPMUND, 19 May 2022 – Clifton Gawaxab, a 28-year-old waiter, who is also a tour guide, has been sacrificing his savings by feeding children in the DRC community since 2017.
Right from the shacks, Clifton saw the struggle, especially after the first wave of Covid-19 where, due to the pandemic, many people lost their jobs and a lot of children dropped out of school.
“I was walking past a shop one day during lunchtime, when I saw this kid sitting there, looking at me hungrily. He asked me to buy him bread and, at that moment, something woke me. He really touched my heart,” said Clifton.
Clifton feeds the children once every week and expressed the wish to feed more, however, income remains his biggest challenge as he’s doing this initiative out of his own pocket.
He spends around N$1 500 a week to feed between 200 to 400 children with sandwiches using around 40 loaves of bread. Sometimes he is able to provide apples, snacks, and Oros as well.
Volunteers and children’s mothers enjoy helping out by making sandwiches and distributing them to the poor.
Clifton plans on dedicating his entire life to serving humanity and giving back to the community.
“I’m doing this because I’ve seen and been in the struggle before although I’m still in the struggle. I was also homeless and I saw a lot of unpleasant things on the street. I have also experienced a lot of personal struggles. I’ve hailed from drug abuse to fulfilling my purpose,” he said.
Although Clifton has his own family to support, he tries, by all means, to fulfill his duties towards the community too.
Clifton urges the public to hold hands and start helping humanity as he believes the struggle is real.
“There’s a lot of kids without education, there’s a lot of kids who go to bed on an empty stomach, and others without roofs over their heads every day. But if we hold hands as the public, we can make a difference,” he said. – Namibia Daily News
