The churches in Horwich and Rivington, UK, have been supporting rural communities in Northern Namibia for almost 30 years. In February 2025, The Mopane Tree Charity was founded to take forward this work. We have a wonderful opportunity to help and enable these communities going forward.

Life is tough living in a rural community in northern Namibia. The climate is incredibly harsh with severe drought being a frequent occurrence leading to desert-like conditions.
Unemployment can be as high as 85% and many people only survive through subsistence farming.
The things many of us take for granted, such as, a clean water supply, electricity, housing, sanitation are simply not available for many people living here.

We aim to help by supporting schools to ensure each child has a school meal everyday. We also provide educational support and materials where we can. We believe education provides a way out of extreme poverty.

We support the community by helping improve living conditions such as the provision of solar lights and supporting new business start-ups, providing employment for local people.

We believe that helping people to know Jesus as their Saviour is important in their everyday life. Therefore, we support the local churches with bibles and teaching.

In the past we have supported rural communities in Okathitu and Ruacana, which are found in the northern part of the Omusati region of Namibia. This is close to the border with Angola.

Our support is currently focussed on three schools
Okathitu Combined School
Onangholo Combined School
Tjihozu Combined School

We also provide support for local churches and kindergartens in the area.