Smiley’s charity provides essential foundations

Smiley’s National Charity Foundation is a grassroots non-profit organisation working to uplift vulnerable communities in Namibia.

Founded by Ndanyengwa Kautondokwa, nicknamed 'Smiley', the foundation focuses on early childhood education, food security and community care. The primary beneficiaries of Smiley's National Charity Foundation's work are vulnerable children, toddlers and pre-primary students.

The foundation began in 2019 with Smiley’s Kindergarten in the Otjomuise informal settlement in Windhoek, growing into a national initiative over time.

Its programmes include kindergartens, feeding drives, senior care and sustainable infrastructure projects.

“Seeing families struggle for basic daily needs, like consistent meals, and seeing young children miss out on critical early childhood education inspired a vision for a safe haven,” Kautondokwa told Careers.

“The foundation was built to be a beacon of hope, ensuring that background or financial status doesn’t dictate a person’s future or well-being,” she said.

Funding remains its biggest challenge.

The foundation is currently seeking donations and sponsorships to build the Uukwanandjenga Multi-Purpose Centre in the Omusati region. The centre is intended to provide education, food, vocational training and support for seniors and people living with disabilities.

The foundation's work with young children is one of its proudest achievements, including Smiley’s Kindergarten, which has successfully provided "a solid, loving educational foundation for 38 children in Windhoek".

Kautondokwa added that the small kindergarten has since grown into a recognised foundation.

"We have evolved into a fully recognised foundation capable of organising massive community events. We transitioned from small daily efforts to hosting large-scale feeding drives that together with our partners feed up to 568 individuals at a time,” she said.

Kautondokwa added that they also value personal and local support. “Some generous local companies supported us too in our community events. And we are very grateful for their support. On a personal level, we received vital, heartfelt backing from our local and international supporters; all contributions big and small have directly fuelled our community events,” she said.