Grooming tomorrow’s leaders

Michelle MushongaMost organisations offer bursaries as part of their social responsibility projects. Afrox Namibia, however, looked at the socio-economic issues adversely impacting society and developed a leadership mentoring programme for learners in grade 10. The project is aimed at alleviating poverty and youth unemployment by offering skills development as the key to unlocking these challenges.The six-month programme kicks off with a weeklong leadership training camp, followed by continuous participation in community projects. On 15 April the new intake for the Afrox Leadership Academy (ALA) was announced. Khomas education director Gerard Vries commended Afrox Namibia for their contribution to the country’s youth. “The Afrox Leadership Academy programme is an important contribution towards the project of social change by mentoring not just leaders, but also altering thinking systems. It better equips leaners to make more informed decisions essential for future success,” he said.Eckhardt Vorster, the managing director of Afrox Namibia, believes that building leadership at a young age encourages responsibility and develops self-efficacy. With this in mind, the ALA was launched in April 2018. Starting with only 16 learners from the three top-performing public schools, the programme was extended to make allowance for 25 learners from five top-performing schools in 2019.Vorster said young people are aware of the issues in the country. “Young people in Namibia from all walks of life are very aware of how to fix the challenges that we face and know exactly what they want. We knew that it was important that we rally around these dreams and the potential that they’ve got.”When asked how she thinks the ALA will benefit the youth of Namibia, Tanyaradzwa Master, a 14-year-old learner at Delta Secondary School, said she hopes to learn the skills needed to make a change. “I was looking at the statistics and I discovered that grade 10s have the highest pregnancy and dropout rates in the country, so this programme gives us something to focus on. It fosters a wonderful snowball effect because once you teach a child leadership skills and educate them, they can teach the next person who will then teach someone else. Consequently, we can learn from each other and all advance holistically,” she said.The 25 selected learners are Hilde Haipinge, Akwaake Tuyeni, Mathias Victoria, Junias Frans and Amukoshi Festus from Hage Geingob Secondary School, Jana Hein, Susie Van Zyl, Richard Von Schulz, Christine Mukumbi and Nadia Horn from Windhoek High School, Hans Mwiiyale, Ileni Ngenomesho, Unovandu Tjavara, Cristo Eduardo, Jonathan van der Westhuizen and Eva-Rakel Johannes from Concordia Secondary School, Silva Lopes Hama, Jôakina Endunde, Ailly Nuuyoma, Adeleke Kaloia and Raymond Semango from it is Chairman Mao Zedong High School and Tanyaradzwa Master, Jemimah Ndebele, Ama Geingos and Patji Tjiroze from Delta Secondary School.

Grooming tomorrow’s leaders

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