{"id":379698,"date":"2025-08-06T05:00:00","date_gmt":"2025-08-06T03:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/informante.web.na\/?p=379698"},"modified":"2025-08-05T18:01:05","modified_gmt":"2025-08-05T16:01:05","slug":"abuse-neglect-case-emerges-amidst-grandmothers-financial-struggle","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/informante.web.na\/?p=379698","title":{"rendered":"Abuse, neglect case emerges amidst grandmother’s financial struggle"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Maria David<\/p>\n\n\n\n

SEVENTY-YEAR-OLD Leena Shaanika is facing the immense challenge of feeding 16 family members, including four minors between the ages of 8 and 13.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Her only source of income is a monthly social grant of N$1,600, which is proving to be insufficient for the family’s needs.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

This dire situation has now led to a reported case of abuse and child neglect.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Shaanika indicated that the mother of the children currently lives in Ruacana and is unable to assist as she is not working.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

“I am currently the one with the responsibility of looking after the needs of the family,” she said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

She added that they need assistance with food items, as the drought relief food they receive does not come in on a monthly basis.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

This came to light after Richard Kalola, the school principal of Onampira Combined School, alerted the police to the minors’ state.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

According to Kalola, the situation has been ongoing, and the learners had in many cases stayed away from school to fend for themselves.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

“One of the learners left school at one point, which then prompted me to reach out to the police commander,” he said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

He added that those are not the only cases the school handles.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Kalola recalls an incident where a learner from Oshikuku, who stayed with a guardian, was abused, and as a school, they had to intervene and act fast to ensure the safety of the child.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

He said that this is currently the second case being handled and reported by the school.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Following the intervention of the police, Kalola said the learners’ appearance and attendance have improved a bit.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Oshana Head of Community Policing Sub-division, Chief Inspector Thomas Aiyambo, indicated that they were aware of the matter and had also visited the family.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

“This is a family in need of help, as the only person with income is the elderly woman, who has the responsibility of looking after the whole family,” he said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

He added that the minors currently have no national documents because their father is Angolan, and in the absence of national documents, they are missing out on the chance of being given social grants from the government.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

NamPol social worker Kendela Kapopelo said that in many cases, the mother is not staying with one person and has children she cannot maintain.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Kapopelo said that the children’s mother’s current partner has no national documents, making it difficult to register for social grants.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

“In most cases, those are people who do not do anything and depend on the parents to support the children,” he said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

However, he indicated that the mother now has the power to register the children to get birth certificates and hopefully be registered for a social grant.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

He added that this, in most cases, leads to children misbehaving as they have no proper guidance.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

On Monday, Zachary Itodo of Anti-Violence Emergency Response and Rescue donated school uniforms and food items to the family.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Itodo urged the learners to focus on their education.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Maria David SEVENTY-YEAR-OLD Leena Shaanika is facing the immense challenge of feeding 16 family members, including four minors between the ages of 8 and 13. Her only source of income is a monthly social grant of N$1,600, which is proving to be insufficient for the family’s needs. This dire situation has now led to a …<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":10,"featured_media":379705,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[24],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-379698","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-news"],"yoast_head":"\nAbuse, neglect case emerges amidst grandmother's financial struggle - Informant\u00e9<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"SEVENTY-YEAR-OLD Leena Shaanika is facing the immense challenge of feeding 16 family members, including four minors between the ages...\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/informante.web.na\/?p=379698\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Abuse, neglect case emerges amidst grandmother's financial struggle - 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