NYS does it for the community

ON a small farm between Otavi and Grootfontein in the Otjozondjupa region, we meet a group of National Youth Service (NYS) trainees who have defeated the gender stereotypes.

These young women and men strive to excel in careers that are traditionally meant for the opposite gender.

The NYS Rietfontein Training Centre provides them with a platform to turn their dreams into reality. The centre currently has 559 trainees who are given free training and accommodation.

In line with the curriculum changes, which require a strong vocational and technical component, President Hifikepunye Pohamba in his speech delivered by the Minister of Education, David Namwandi, applauded the NYS for responding to government’s request.

Pohamba said it is government’s belief that education and training enhance opportunities for full participation in economic development.

“I am delighted to note that the NYS, in line with our national objectives, has taken on the challenge of developing employable skills in our youth,” he said, adding that this will reduce unemployment in the country.

Farm Rietfontein situated on 1 616 hectares of land, produces different crops such as white and yellow maize, vegetables and Blue Buffet hay. You also get cattle, goats, sheep and game such as kudus on the farm.

NYS spokesperson Johanna Kambala said the NYS enables the youth to share common experiences and encourage notions of equality. This, she says, is done in three phases.

Phase one, done in collaboration with the Namibia Defence Force and the police, deals with civic training takes three to six months.

Phase two is for voluntary service to promote social responsibility amongst the youth. Trainees have so far assisted at hospitals, clinics, on rural feeder roads and NYS agricultural projects. The training period for this course takes anything between six months and two years.

Phase three involves skills training to prepare the youth for the job market.

Most female trainees, who have taken up what were traditional male jobs, said apart from the passion that influenced their choice, they wanted to break the stereotype about women not being able to carry out jobs such as plastering, mechanical work, plumbing, bricklaying and pipe fitting.

Hendrina Fernando, a plumbing and pipe-fitting level two trainee, said she has chosen this field because she had an undying love for water and pipes since growing up.

Born and bred in Grootfontein, Fernando said she also loves plumbing because she finds it quite interesting. She also said that lack of plumbers in Namibia motivated her to take up the trade.

The 26-year-old joined NYS in 2011 and did her civic training in Ondangwa before moving to Rudnu District Hospital for her voluntary service. She started skills training in 2013, which she said was tough at the beginning, but everything eventually blended in.

“It was tough in level one. I thought I would not make it to level two, but now it’s easy. I would love to go and continue with my level three and level four,” she says.

“Women have moved. They are there, but they are discriminated against,” Kakuizike Chris, training officer for plumbing and pipe-fitting said, while watching Fernando work.

A statement that students don’t seem to agree with, Fernando said she was never discriminated against by her male counterparts when she started the programme, but only struggled because the activities required greater strength.

She advised other young women to follow in her footsteps, as she believes women can also make it far in life.

“It’s no longer a man’s world,” Fernando said, smiling confidently.

In plumbing and pipe-fitting, they have 20 women and 30 men, with Sofia Paulus who received the award as best plumbing and pipe- fitting trainee.

Meanwhile, men are also trying to break the stereotype of ‘women belong in the kitchen,’ as quite a few have taken up modules in hospitality, food beverages, hairdressing and cosmetology.

Entering the hairdressing room, there was one man amongst the many ladies practising how to curl hair with flex rods. This was Olavi Haindere who said he has a passion for doing hair and this has motivated him to take up the profession.

Haindere said he came from a remote area, and people would cut their hair with bottles which he didn’t think was appropriate.

“I now want to learn, go back and do a better job for my community. Both men and women,” he said.

He too said he struggled to adjust to the activities at first but persevered to get it right. Haindere who hails from Okavango region received the award as the best student in hairdressing and cosmetology Level One.

The passion-driven 23-year-old said he wants to open up his salon back in Katima Mulilo and employ others.

NYS brick laying trainee officer, Mariana Mushona, who was trained at Valombola Vocational Training Centre, is now content with what she does, despite the many critics she had to endure.

Mushona said she had a choice of going to college but opted for the vocational centre after her Grade 12 as she was more keen to do practical work than theory. She said at the beginning she faced criticism even from other trainees who would ask her why she chose a male dominated trade.

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