Bonifasia Sihako Siteketa has used the hurdles that cluttered her academic journey as stepping stones to work hard towards achieving what she is passionate about in the life – becoming a qualified aircraft engineer.
Siteketa describes herself as an extrovert who does not limit herself by any obstacles thrown her way. “I think of myself as a go-getter,” Siteketa said.
She was born at Mururani, a village between Rundu and Grootfontein, but later moved to Rundu where she attended Rudolf Ngondo Primary School.
Growing up at Rundu, Siteketa used the social problems such as teenage pregnancy, poverty and the high number of school drop-outs that prevailed in her community as motivation to strive to be better and distance herself from bad things. “I just wanted to be among the game changers and a motivation to other young people to not give up on their dreams,” said Siteketa.
She then attended St Boniface College and later went on to study aircraft engineering at Samara Aerospace University in Russia. “Aircraft engineering is a branch of engineering that deals with the design, production and maintenance of aircrafts,” Siteketa explained. Siteketa, who graduated in July, admitted that it was not easy studying aircraft engineering and pointed out people who did not believe in her and her course as some of the challenges she had to endure during her studies.
She said that there are people who tried to belittle her because they believed her course was less important in Namibia and that it is a course that suits men only. She added that another obstacle she experienced during her studies was not having adequate knowledge about the aviation industry when she first started.
“I initially applied for a scholarship to study medicine, but during the selection process, I was granted with the opportunity to study aircraft engineering which was a new course at the time. My mother convinced me to take the offer, which I consider the greatest decision I have ever made in my life,” she said.
Siteketa shared that she did not let her challenges demoralise her or make her lose confidence in her course and noted that her course equipped her with lots of confidence to deal with these hurdles.
She mentioned that her source of inspiration is people who never give up in life regardless of their circumstances. “I am inspired by people who refuse to give up on their dreams and thrive despite the challenges thrown at them,” she said. She shared that one of the people she looks up to is her grandfather who she said became an orphan at an early age but managed to pick himself up and went on to become a prominent leader in society.
“I draw a lot of inspiration from my grandfather because of how he did not let his circumstances stop him from achieving his goals,” Siteketa said fondly about her role model.
Besides her academic expedition, Siteketa is also keen about social issues, such as the state in which access to rights or opportunities are unaffected by gender in Namibia. She applauds Namibia for being a country that strives to give equal opportunities to all, not just in leadership positions but other spectrums of life as well. “Just the fact that women in Namibia are given equal opportunities as men gives me courage to always aim higher in life because I know that there a lot of countries in the world that deny women such opportunities so I do not take it for granted. I commend our country for having such a system in place,” she said.
On encouraging young people who are keen to pursue a career as an aircraft engineer, Siteketa said that engineering in general is often feared which has led many to give up on this dream before giving it a shot and settling for less. “My advice to others is to always remember that the outcome of the life you live is always determined by your mindset,” said Siteketa, adding that if you perceive engineering to be a difficult field, then it will be difficult for you, so look at it just like any other course and do not surrender.
Siteketa shared that she does not know what the future holds but she plans on taking her career to greater heights so that the future generation can have a role model to look up to in her line of work. “I am going to work hard and make a name of myself to let young people, especially young girls, believe that Namibian women can make it in the aviation industry too,” said Siteketa.
