Six children out of school after family breadwinner dies

A Windhoek grandmother is struggling to care for six grandchildren who have dropped out of school after the death of her daughter, the family’s breadwinner, in 2024.

Secilia Gawanas (58) tells The Namibian that life became difficult after she became the caretaker of her six grandchildren, two daughters and her mother (82), after her other daughter, Jobobeth Gawanas, died.

“After my daughter died, everything became difficult because she was the one who was helping the family. Now I carry the responsibility of taking care of the children and my mother,” she says.

Gawanas says she does not get any pension grant because she is not yet 60. She says she survives through temporary domestic work, earning money only on days when she finds houses to clean.

“I do not have fixed houses where I go and clean. Sometimes, I go there and the house owners are not around. I only get paid when there’s work to do, it’s not a salary that comes every month,” she says.

The six children under Gawanas’ care include her late daughter’s two children and her sick and unemployed daughter’s four children.