Help my friend care for his disabled family
Donation protected
Johan Swarts, a friend I've known for years, lives in Namibia with a family of 6, and 5 dogs. Due
to circumstances beyond his control, he is unable to acquire better jobs, both locally and online.
He works around 60+ hours per week for a total of 100 USD, if even that. The store that he
works in could close if it's not able to perform well. Despite that, he wants to care for everyone.
I decided to open this donation page in order to help him get his life on track. Below, Johan will
be detailing his decision a bit more:
I don't know how to properly format this, but please allow me to share my story...
- I have a large family, and a few years back we were able to sustain ourselves. My mother was
stil alive and my dad used to work in the mines. Between the two of them and all the pensions,
we were able to stay afloat. But my mom passed away a couple of years ago.
- I've searched all over for jobs, doing some construction or commission work whenever it
popped up along with my dad, who was retired at this point. Over time, all the jobs dried up, but
I was able to secure my current one before then.
- I work every day of the week aside from Thursdays. My hours are usually from 9 AM to 8 PM,
but we also work until 9+ PM whenever it's a potentially busy day, or it's the weekends. My
commute both ways is usually a bit above half an hour by car. I do the books, I check the stock,
I do the errands, I open and close the store, and I handle nearly every other facet of the store.
- I do not make enough to get by. Despite the above, I only make 1700 NAD per month, which at
the time of writing is around 100 USD. My boss is unable to give me a raise due to the shop
itself struggling to keep going. I have a few months of salary outstanding due to that as well.
- I cannot find better employment. Namibia as a whole, though in my local area specifically, has
no other vacancies that can be filled by someone with my qualifications. Much of the open
vacancies in newspapers require advanced qualifications like masters or bachelors, or require
one to move elsewhere. I don't really have that option, as I am the primary caretaker when I'm
not working.
- The majority of my family are Disabled or old, often both. My father is reaching into his 70's
soon, and he relies solely on his pension to keep himself going. My uncle is in a wheelchair and
also getting up there in age. He's been helping the most with paying all of the bills, but it's not
enough, as the two of us also has to take care of his sister and her side of the family. My aunt is
wheelchair-bound as well and too old to work. Her one son helps care for her and my uncle
while I work during the day. She also has a daughter, who is still 2 years out from Gruduating
university and being able to help. Her youngest son is in primary school.
- Even with all of us working together to budget and save what we can, it's not enough. I pay
over 1000 Namibian Dollars, around 60 USD, in water and municipal bills each and every
month. In addition to that, electrical bills over here have been getting too high since Namibia
imports a lot of power. It's around another 80 USD per month for power. Then theres all the
other expenses such as fuel so I can do my job, food to eat, medicine for my family and so on.
We just can't seem to get ahead of any of it, and inflation is just making it all worse.
- So, my friend offered to help me where I am unable to. Paypal is only one of many services
that do not work or operate in Namibia. I have been unable to do any freelance or online work,
as most are typically US or EU only. My friend is able to help me directly with this GoFundMe,
however.
__I do have a plan of action__
Reaching the goal, the plan is:
- Roughly 60-70% of it will go to pay off all debts, and replenish stockpiles. Our current
municipal bill stands over the thousands of dollars. I want to pay it all off so that we don't have to
wake up one day and find our home completely without water for months on end. In addition to
that, food prices have been rising so much that we've exhausted our stockpile, and we find it
hard to buy new food. I want to be able to stock up at least 3 month's worth of food again in
case of emergencies. This includes food for my pets.
- The rest will go to operational costs to keep myself able to work. This includes servicing my
car, having enough fuel for deliveries, supporting the shop and so on.
I will be really, really grateful for anyone and everyone who is able to help...
Thank you so much for listening, and any help you can afford to give. I promise you it will not be
wasted.
Fundraising team (2)
Aaron Faulkner
Organizer
Johan Swarts
Team member