Phillips family: The First Residents of a Polycare home in Namibia

Back in 2016, Namibia and Germany launched programme to create affordable housing for residents of informal settlements. The model house, which was presented to the public for the first time at the international investment conference in Windhoek in November, became a very special Christmas present for a family in Namibia. In the presence of the Namibian Minister for Regional Development, Sophia Shaningwa, and representatives of the German Polycare GmbH, the first house built from polymer concrete was handed over to a needy Namibian family in Windhoek.

Heinrich Schröder, Production Manager of “We Build Harambee Prosperity Cities” spoke on 10 December of the scheduled demolition of the corrugated iron house on a plot in Otjomuise, Windhoek. For the period of the new construction, a replacement accommodation for the eight-member Philip family was built on the adjacent property. From the time of preparation of the building ground until its completion, the construction project was personally supervised by Daniel Nghidinwa, the Secretary General, Big-Don Kondunda, the Director of Housing Construction in the Ministry of Regional Development, and Peter Rowland from Buhrmeister Ingenieure and the building surveyor Frikky Jordan.

The Christmas handover of the new house to the Philip family by the Namibian Minister for Rural Development Sophia Shaningwa represents a hopeful new beginning for the residents. With the demolition of the first corrugated iron house and its replacement by an affordable and high quality Polycare home, a process begins that will restore comfort and security to its residents. The father of the Abel Philip family is paraplegic since he was beaten up and seriously injured by South African soldiers shortly before Namibia gained independence. The modest 57 year old thanked Shaningwa and the German government for building this dream home for his family with visible emotion. Philip is highly dependent on his wife, without whom he cannot move.

Thanks to the housing construction programme, he finally sees a future for his wife and six children. Proudly he reported on the plans of his three sons, who want to become a doctor, pilot and accountant.

Our innovative houses can be built within 48 hours by the inhabitants of the settlements after a short training. Neither water nor cement is needed to produce the components, which resemble Lego bricks. The system developed by Polycare GmbH was presented in Namibia at the Invest-in-Namibia Conference in November 2016. Polycare GmbH was one of 42 German companies that accompanied the Thuringian Minister of Economics Wolfang Tiefensee in a delegation to the conference.

Written by Andreas Walter & edited by Ushi Karuaihe, Maxine Mathias