The slums of Otjomuise consist mainly of sheet-metal shacks which are hot during summer and cold in winter and which have no running water, toilets or electricity. Otjomuise (where the Mammadu Center is located) belongs to the Khomasdal North District in the farthest outskirts to the west of Windhoek.
The residential district comprises unstable buildings, made with tin or clay, with unpaved roads, and poorly extended electricity and water grids. Toilet facilities are lacking and just a few public latrines are available for a fee.
The hospital serves the district with limited functions, offering only minimal basic services, not including meals and bedding for the patients.
A medical dispensary is available in Otjomuise and is attended by nurses only.
The area is marked by a low level of employment, literacy and education and by an ever growing number of children in need of assistance. The local children come from families living in extreme poverty or are orphans whose parents were victims of the HIV-AIDS virus.
In Otjomuise the censured population is 28000 people, but possibly an estimated number of 40000 is closer to reality due to the urbanization and uncontrolled influx of people. Otjomuise is a settlement which originated due to the expansion of marginal urban areas in Windhoek.
In the last few years one-room homes with kitchen and bathroom were built thanks to the intervention of local non-profit organizations working in the field aiming to support the low-income population. Such interventions improve living conditions of poor families through micro-financing so that they can receive basic services such as living quarters, hygiene, health and education.