Windhoek, capital of Namibia, is located in central Namibia, in a semi-desert climatic region. Modern-day Windhoek was founded in 1890; today, Windhoek is a multicultural city characterised by tranquil co-existence of a vast number of different ethnic groups.
In the nineteen seventies and eighties Namibia became a "safe haven" for war refugees from neighbouring Angola. This development resulted in an increasing number of orphaned and neglected children and thus, SOS-Kinderdorf International decided to become active in Namibia in 1982. In 1984, construction work on the first SOS Children's Village in Windhoek, the country's capital, started and in 1985, the first children moved in. In subsequent years, an SOS Kindergarten (1985), an SOS Hermann Gmeiner Primary School (1986) and an SOS Youth Facility (1989) were added to the SOS Children's Village Windhoek. The official opening ceremony of the SOS Children's Village Windhoek took place on 21 March 1987.
SOS Children's Village Windhoek comprises eleven family houses, houses for the village director and the SOS aunts (who support the SOS mothers and take care of the children when the mothers are on leave), a workshop, an administration and service area, a multi-purpose hall and a computer lab.
Up to 110 children can find a new home in the twelve family houses. Additionally, an SOS Kindergarten was set up on the same premises, consisting of four group rooms, a kitchen and a playground, where up to 100 children can be looked after.