Blue Santa Makes History on Swakopmund Beachfront

Swakopmund made history when the Delivery Room Foundation hosted Blue Santa Namibia 2026, making Namibia the first country in Sub-Saharan Africa to host the internationally recognised Blue Santa ocean cleanup movement, founded in Japan by NPOUmisakura.

Volunteers, families, schools, community members, and partners gathered at Platz Am Meer Waterfront, Swakopmund, dressed in blue Santa costumes, and together cleaned 3.3 kilometres of Namibia’s Atlantic coastline up until Seaside Hotel and Spa in just 2 hours and thirty minutes. Waste collected included plastic bottles, milk cartons, paper and cardboard, cans, cigarette butts, clothing and textiles, and mixed litter.

According to the organisers, this was more than just a Beach Cleanup, as Blue Santa Namibia 2026 was dedicated to mental health. “The Delivery Room Foundation believes and has documented through five years of community work across all 14 Namibian regions that the state of our environment directly affects the state of our minds,” a statement by Blue Santa states. “When you clean your environment, you clean your mind. Every piece of litter picked up today was also a piece of hopelessness removed from our community. A clean beach says: this place matters. And if this place matters so do the people in it,” Elago Nantana, Chairperson of the Delivery Room Foundation said.