In a precociously cold May morning I was visiting some of the children in the sponsorship programme that my organization, Terre de hommes Italia (TDH IT) - an Italian NGO, is carrying on in Windhoek's informal settlements for just over two year. A belt of tin and wood shacks locally known as "kambashus" and home to probably 20,000 of the poorest and most vulnerable people in the country, the informal settlement area snakes for about 12 km west and south-west around the capital, Windhoek. People from all over Namibia are drawn here in search of work and end up being part of the informal economy sector, where the average household depends mostly on the sale of beer, cutting of firewood and sale of food on the street for their livelihood.

Children here are faced a variety of challenges including poverty, malnutrition, exploitation, no access to shelter, limited access to services such as education, health care and social welfare, all of which make them increasingly vulnerable to HIV/AIDS. TDH IT works with two local organisations, Hope Initiatives and Family Hope Services, to support 593 children, orphaned and/or vulnerable, providing them with a safe and stable environment in which to achieve their emotional and social maturity and their right to education.

That May day I had the opportunity to visit some of the beneficiary children that live with their grandparents. About 12% of the children in our programme do. Households headed by older people are one of the legacies of the HIV pandemic, but we have often noticed how many of these children appear to be better looked after than those who live with their parents, and how there is a very strong bond between child and grandparent. Most times it is grandmothers who take the responsibility of the care of the grandchildren left behind by prematureley deceased sons and daughters.

Sabina, 65 years old, made me understand what it means to call, day after day, this tin shell home, and bring up your grandchildren in it.

"Before I die I would like to spend a day in one of those luxury hotels, you now, those with a room, a big bed and a television all to myself Well, if you want to do a great project, send all poor people like me to a hotel for a day". Sabina bursts out into a gutsy laugh. I join in too: automatically I wonder what our sponsors would think of such a project. But maybe Sabina is right: to be safe and comfortable is such a basic aspiration that I start to feel a a bit emotional. And maybe it is because I want to to get rid of this this knot in my throat that I am telling you her story, the story of a grandmother with a hard life that dreams of spending a night in a luxury hotel.

Sabina moved to the settlement of Okahandja Park in 1992 with her husband who at the time worked as a gardener. "There were a lot less people than now", she says "We had to walk two km to get water and the bush was our toilet. I got bitten by snakes twice! Now there are too many people, and even snakes are afraid. Then two of my daughters died and they left us with three children to look after. I was so worried: I used to lie awake at night and wonder how I would manage. My husband is retired, and all we have to live on is his pension (about 39 euro per month). The children's fathers disappeared and I felt I was not strong enought to go out and look for work. But day after day we learned to cope. In the end I have learned that children are a true blessing. There is not much time to sit and be miserable, because they keep you busy: there is food to prepare, clothes to be found, fees to be paid. At night they read the bible for me, and I pray that life will be more generous with them than it has been with me. I imagine them grown up, become doctors or policemen. I imagine that one day they will come to pick me up in a car to take me to their place, a real house, not like this one... I truly believe this will happen, because I pray so much. And God must have listened to me, because this project came along and it helps so much. Before I had to start to think about how to pay the school fees, months in advance, and even so often I did not manage. The children were ashamed of going to school without a uniform, and they used to tell me they went to school, but the neighbours came to tell me they had been seen loitering aroung the market. I got so angry! But now the project pays for thes fees of two of my kids, and it provides their uniforms. In the afternoon they go to the centre of Family Hope Services and I am sure that they are not in the street up to no good. If I have a problem, I can go to the centre and hope to get some help." imagine them grown up, become doctors or policemen. I imagine that one day they will come to pick me up in a car to take me to their place, a real house, not like this one... I truly believe this will happen, because I pray so much. And God must have listened to me, because this project came along and it helps so much. Before I had to start to think about how to pay the school fees, months in advance, and even so often I did not manage. The children were ashamed of going to school without a uniform, and they used to tell me they went to school, but the neighbours came to tell me they had been seen loitering aroung the market. I got so angry! But now the project pays for thes fees of two of my kids, and it provides their uniforms. In the afternoon they go to the centre of Family Hope Services and I am sure that they are not in the street up to no good. If I have a problem, I can go to the centre and hope to get some help."

Sadly, not all the grandmothers involved in our project have Sabina's strength: we do have a few cases of grandparents who exploit their grandchildren for their own needs, to the extent that the children are not allowed to go to school. Many guardians are alcoholics and show very little interest for life, their own's and their grandchildren's. During these couple of years we have come to realise how in a project in support of orphaned and vulnerable children it is essential to get the adults involved. Women like Sabina are our ambassandors in the community, with their positive example they help other guardians to feel more responsible for the children in their care. As part of the projecy they also receive training in subjects that can be shared with other people in the community, such as living positively, psycho-social support of children affected by trauma, and income generating activities.

Johan, the eldest of Sabina's grandchildren, is 11; he sits quietly on the side and listens to every word. He is rather shy but vey curious about this foreigner sitting in his yard. When I ask if he would prefer to become a doctor or a policeman he answers that he would prefer to work in a hotel where you can get a lot of tips. Then I ask if he will take his grandmother to his hotel and he nods vigorously. What was the best thing that happened to you this year, I ask? "The holiday when we learned to swim" he answers promptly in English. Johan is one of 20 children who took part in a Life Skills Camp organised by TDH IT and its partners. For a week the children and five facilitators camped outside Windhoek with a full programme of activities. The children's feedback was interesting: only three chose the most material aspects of the experience, such as three meals a day or having a toothbrush, or a bed to themselves, as the best part of the experience. The rest indicated they loved most having learned about personal hygiene, childrens' rights, and obvioulsy, swimming! The Life Skills camp was a very positive experience that parents as well as children appreciate. "Johan has come back more self assured" Sabina says. "At times I was afraid that other children might tease him at school because he is so shy, but now he seems to be more confident. What did you teach him? Will you teach me too? Well, I am joking, but the one thing I want to learn is how to do those gardens on legs, vegetables are so expensive".sonal hygiene, childrens' rights, and obvioulsy, swimming! The Life Skills camp was a very positive experience that parents as well as children appreciate. "Johan has come back more self assured" Sabina says. "At times I was afraid that other children might tease him at school because he is so shy, but now he seems to be more confident. What did you teach him? Will you teach me too? Well, I am joking, but the one thing I want to learn is how to do those gardens on legs, vegetables are so expensive".

It is the first time I have heard it called that way, but it is a good term. Urban gardening is one of the objectives of TDH IT project in Namibia: we have just obtained some funding from the American Self Help Fund to train 120 households on how to build hydroponic tables (the gardens on legs), a low cost gardening technology that allows people to grow vegetables where there is no land and scarce water. In the two centres TDH IT supports there is a weekly crop of spinach that ends up in the soup that about 400 children eat daily, improving significantly the quality of their food intake. In a country where almost all vegetables are imported overland from South Africa the importance of making vetetables affordable and availbale to poor people cannot be underestimated. The health of people of low income, children, old people and HIV positive in particular, suffers from lack of vitamins and minerals in their diet. The high demand for hydroponic tables that we receive at the centres from all kind of people is proof of the potential of this project.of of the potential of this project.

Time to say good bye. "Send greetings to our friends in Italy" Sabina says. "Do you have hotels in Italy?" In these days of fast information sometimes we forget how far we are, and how little these two realities, Namibia and Italy, know of each other. But it is quite likely that anywhere in the world the wishes of a grandmother will be similar: health, happiness for her dears and a nice hotel room where to put her feet up!