From humble beginnings

Desiree Gases Gaoses attended Opawa Primary School as well as Martin Luther High School at Okombahe, where she later matriculated. Thereafter, she obtained a BSc in Chemistry with honours at the University of KwaZulu-Natal. She then started her first job in 1999 at Unam as a chemistry tutor and towards the end of the same year started at the City of Windhoek as an industrial pollution control officer. Three years later, at the age of 25, Gaoses had this extraordinary sense of maturity that informed her of exactly what she wanted in life. she knew then that she needed to improve on her career in the environment field, so Gaoses went on to study at the University of Witwatersrand for a graduate diploma in civil engineering, which was more focused on environmental engineering. At the age of 32, she graduated with a master’s degree in development finance from the University of Stellenbosch. Her thesis focused on environmental economics and finance. Gaoses is married with three children, two girls and a boy.“As the current section head of environmental engineering, our team aspires to work with industry and Windhoek residents in preventing pollutants from entering our wastewater,” she says. Windhoek has a unique set-up that the treated domestic wastewater forms part of the water supply. Thus, their primary goal has been the protection of wastewater as a water supply source. “A typical day at the office entails effectively working our way through the weekly plan, responding to queries, conducting inspections of suspected pollution incidents, advising industries on wastewater handling just to ensure that we do not pick up any chemicals or foreign substances in our wastewater that will upset our treatment plants. Apart from monitoring different potential pollution activities, we also spend some time looking at our own facilities, such as the landfill, the wastewater treatments plants to make sure that we also do not pollute our own City.“While I have enjoyed this position, this job is not without challenges. One of these challenges we constantly face is showing the residents that the City has made strides and continues to improve on the pollution prevention front as well as ensuring that industries comply with the environmental standards. “That being said, breakthroughs have been plentiful in this profession, particularly whenever we have been able to see industries reform their internal policies and make conscious decisions to install wastewater treatment plants to reduce pollution at source. Seeing these advancements inspire me to continue working in this field,” said Gaoses. She adds “I am also inspired to see young people entering this field with so much vigour to make a difference in the how we treat the environment. They are constantly taking initiatives to make the changes they want to see rather than remaining complacent. This is something I would encourage the next generation to continue doing- constantly working towards your goals and remaining not only confident in your ability to make a difference but also staying positive is what I believe, everyone should do. If there were something she would change, is the mindset of individuals to be positive. I do aspire to one day be able to impart the knowledge I have accumulated in my field of expertise with aspiring environmental engineers and perhaps work towards a PhD”. Teaching has always been a passion of hers, primarily in efforts to create effective methods for students who are not neurotypical to still have all the opportunities to obtain the same knowledge their counterparts have. This is a skill she has not been naturally blessed with, nonetheless she believes it is a skill that should be developed, and Gaoses admires people who do this work. All these ambitions can only be accomplished if she truly remains fearless. “Over the years, as my faith has deepened and strengthened, I have learnt that fear is often insignificant as God is constantly with me in every situation; any fear we have is simply there to hold us back and we need rise beyond that.”

From humble beginnings

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Republikein 2025-05-02

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From humble beginnings

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