Warming a Body – Warming a Heart

By Clarice S Theys 

clarice@exposenewspaper.com

The “Warm ‘n Lyfie” project is the brainchild of Natalie Kotze, a young mother of three girls and part-time radio presenter at West Coast FM 107.7. Natalie always had a heart for the less fortunate but after reading the ‘n Ander Ek written by EKM Dido, a heartwarming but thought-provoking book about the life of a woman, who, after an indescribably horrible attack of rape, mutilation and almost death, landed on the streets. Her wounds left her with amnesia and no-one (family or friends) came to identify her … 

Natalie, in collaboration with West Coast FM 107.7 and many other volunteers, embarked upon a journey of getting acquainted with the homeless. Warm clothes and blankets were collected from the local community. 

Swakop Uranium came on board as the main sponsor who made the recent live broadcast possible. Pep Stores Swakopmund donated 50 blankets and Shell Vineta kindly donated soup and brotchens to feed the homeless on that day. During the previous weekend when clothes were collected on certain points in Swakopmund, Woermann and Brock sponsored bottled water towards the project. Waltons and Tribe Trading sponsored paint and paintbrushes respectively. 

The Live Broadcast which took place in front of Woolworths was well attended by the homeless people of Swakopmund, who have shown their appreciation openly and there were times that almost the whole crowd were in tears. Miss Namibia 2008, Marelize Robberts came from Windhoek to show her commitment and dedication to the cause. 

Said Natalie “This is not the end of this project – we’ll be doing this as often as we can … we will stay in contact with the homeless people and see where we can assist them because we even quite unexpectedly, also receive financial assistance which will help us in our future endeavors. 

“There are still a lot of clothes as well as blankets left which we’ll be handing over to the people staying in the DRC settlement in Swakopmund as soon as possible. 

“I would also like to thank all the companies and individuals who sponsored and donated items and money towards the project. I cannot tell you how much it means to me personally and I just salute you for your open hearts”.