A commitment that pays off

Ingrid Poike

A quiet retirement? Ingrid Poike can't do anything with that. She wants to help. And not just around the corner, but in Namibia, almost 8,000 kilometres away. The 76-year-old has been supporting locals there since 2009, primarily collecting money to enable children to attend school. She explains what drives her in the Maker of the Week interview.

This weekend you are flying to Namibia again, for the first time after a two-year break due to the coronavirus. Are you excited?
Ingrid Poike: Yes, and full of anticipation. I realised almost too late that my international driving licence is no longer valid. But that has been sorted out. Then our flight was postponed by another day. I'm very excited to see what awaits us in Namibia. I've been able to keep in touch a lot via phone and WhatsApp, but two years is a very long time.

How many trips have you been on now?
This is the 22nd time I usually spend four to six weeks twice a year in the Kavango region in north-east Namibia. This time we're only there for three weeks, as I'm accompanied by three workers, my daughter, her son and a friend.

How did you get involved in this project?
It came to me. You know, I lost my husband relatively early on. I had to move on. So I travelled. I stayed in a lodge in Namibia in 2008. The landlords had recently set up the Mayana Mpora Foundation. That's when I realised that I could help and that the aid would go straight to the people. I already had a sponsored child, but I didn't feel close to them.

What does your everyday life look like when you are there?
First and foremost, I visit the four schools and the children there. I bring a bit of material from Germany, pens for example. We provide every pupil in Year 8 with an English dictionary. I buy them directly from the donations in Rundu and then bring them to the village. I do all this with the people in charge of the foundation on site, Desiré and Piet Jacobs. Desiré is a daughter of the now sadly deceased landlords; she and her husband continue to run the foundation. Piet takes care of everything there and receives the donated money once a quarter, which he then uses to buy important things. The first priority is to finance the pre-school and provide school uniforms, as most schools do not allow children to attend without them.
Sometimes we walk through the village and Piet says: "There, that cow came from me or that goat." People can also grind their grain with him, which they usually do with a large wooden mortar. It works well with him. It's important that I have someone there that I trust.

Have you also been disappointed?
Yes, in various ways. You mustn't forget how poor the people there are. They are struggling to survive. It's all about getting something to eat every day. The word breakfast, for example, doesn't even exist in their language.

How do the people there live, can you describe it for us?
The village of Mayana is divided by a road. On one side, there are some corrugated iron huts with access to drinking water. On the other side, people live in mud huts with a roof made of reed grass. Without water, without electricity. They have to go to the river to wash. There are days when there is nothing for the family to eat. That is unthinkable for us. The children from these families are the ones we finance to attend pre-school and later school.

The preschool was named after you, right?
Yes, that is true. But that made me ashamed. There's also a girl there called Ingrid. I can live with that (laughs).

So you're not so happy with the Federal Cross of Merit that you were honoured with last year?
I was very pleased. To be honest, I'm almost a little embarrassed because I don't like being in the limelight. I just do it, but I don't have to talk about it.

What drives you?
Nobody knows where they were born. It's not the children's fault that they were born into such poverty. But I think everyone should have the chance to develop. So you have to do something about education.

Is that, so to speak, combating the causes of flight?
No, I never thought about that. It's about equal opportunities. In all these years, I haven't met anyone who has said that they want to flee or that they want to go to Germany. People want things to be better for them and their families. They want to take their lives into their own hands. I could name at least ten women and men right off the bat who were able to find a good job after successfully completing their studies.

Who are your donors?
I have many small donors, but also organisations like the Rotarians. At the end of the year, I send more than 100 letters to my sponsors. They live all over Germany and beyond. This lets them know how their help is being received locally. Some have a child that they support directly. I always try to keep these donors up to date, but it takes a lot of effort and doesn't always work.

How many people have you already been able to help?
It's difficult to say. The pre-school takes in 40 girls and boys every year, plus the normal school with around 100 pupils. We also support a few students who have made it this way. A young woman is now studying mining and a young man is studying education. After that, however, it's all over - we just want them to get on their own two feet. In addition to school clothes and materials such as coloured pencils and geometry sets, the foundation finances assistant teachers and the self-built school bus for the pre-school. Last year, we were also able to buy 115 pairs of washable pads for the older pupils.

Why is this so important?
When the girls have their periods, they often can't go to school. They spend most of their time at the river to keep themselves clean. This is dangerous because crocodiles live in the river and the blood attracts them. I know a girl whose cousin died as a result.

Be honest: you are sometimes travelling there alone. Aren't you scared?
That is problematic. You can't be afraid. I always try to suppress it. But I experienced a fight, for example, when my companion's mobile phone was stolen. They gave me such a dirty look, I was really scared. I was also there when a head was found on the riverbank. I knew the man's family.

And you're not 35 anymore.
Yes, I admit it's getting more and more stressful. My children were shocked that I was flying again. They had probably hoped that after two years I would let it go. But as long as I'm healthy, there's no reason not to travel. Besides, my daughter is with me, she supports me. But that's not always possible. A trip like this costs around 2,000 euros per person, which we finance out of our own pockets.

Can you tell us about one person who has stuck in your mind over the years?
Oh, yes, I can and I could cry again. A girl, Naimi is her name, went to our school. One day in March, she disappeared and we learnt that her father, who lived in Angola, had taken her. Her family made efforts, the father was reported and in May she was back. Without her school bag, she had nothing. She left again in June and her mother, who worked on a farm, set off again. It turned out that her father had Aids and that this seven-year-old girl had to look after him. She had to cook, wash and bring in food. Without money. Until his death. After that, the girl was promised to the deceased's sister as an heir. We gave the mother money for the bus trip and made sure she got an identity card so that she could move around the neighbouring country. The mother was sent away again and again, the aunt probably wanted the orphan's pension. Children like that don't go to school, they become housewives or prostitutes. In November we said: one last try, it's worth fighting for this child! On the fourth Advent, I was already back home, when I received the news at the coffee table: Naimi was back. I was in tears.

Finally, back to Chemnitz: what are your hopes for the Capital of Culture 2025?
I am proud of Chemnitz and overjoyed that we can open up to the outside world in this way. Chemnitz is always treated so neglected compared to Leipzig and Dresden, which always hurts me. With all the negative headlines we Chemnitz residents have had to endure about our city, it's time we welcomed visitors and showed what we're capable of.