The experience of Lazarus Van Wyk

 

Shack dwellers federation of Namibia has helped hundreds of people from all around the country, achieve dreams that they never imagined possible. Today, one of the federation members Lazarus Van Wyk from the Peoples force group is proud to say the federation is one of the best choices he has ever made. According to Van Wyk owning land, let alone building a house was nothing he had imagined achieving with the little he had. However, today he is privileged to own a property through the federation.

According to Van Wyk before joining the federation in 1987 he used to rent however, due to high cost in renting he thought of joining the federation. The federation work was, nevertheless, familiar to him as he would help his mother who was a federation member with the activities. 

Joining the federation, Van Wyk was part of the Habitat 2 group under this group he would do his daily saving and carry out federation activities. Moreover, as a group they would meet every Saturday to discuss their concerns, and help other groups form bricks and build houses with the hope that one day he would be the one they are building for. Even though, the process to acquire land was not a walk in the park, he was devoted in carrying out the federation’s activities, even as he saw other members give up.

At a later stage, Van Wyk moved from Habitat 2 to Peoples force group where he had acquired land and was able to build his house between the years 1995-1996. At the time, it was the best thing he had achieved, even though he had no access to electricity and sanitation. Van Wyk, therefore, continued with his daily savings to improve his living standard and was able to acquire basic services in his house. Today Van Wyk looks back at his life and cannot believe he made it this far with the help of the federation.

He is thus, grateful for what the federation has and continues to offer him, as through the federation he was able to acquire land, gain basic construction knowledge and at the same time attain independence from his parents. For that reason, he encourages people across all parts of the country to join the federation for a constructive change.