By Anna Shilongo
WINDHOEK
No river is too deep to cross, and when you are determined to climb the highest mountain peak, nothing would prevent you from doing so – so the saying goes.
All it takes is sweat, but the reward may be worthwhile. This is the principle of an ambitious young man who sells pieces of roasted meat locally, known as ‘Kapana’.
Kauluma Uleinge, who is 25 years old, is determined to do what ever it takes to make ends meet and survive the storm of poverty and unemployment.
Uleinge is one of the few entrepreneurs that New Era recently spoke to at the popular meat market at the Single Quarters in Katutura about their booming businesses.
“Men are described as hardworking people, and sitting idle is not their culture or tradition but to feed their families. Putting food on the table is the most important task for us men,” said Tobias Kadengela who came all the way from the north in the hope of securing a job.
Some men are not socially and economically empowered, and thus some resort to evil deeds such as criminal activities just to look after themselves.
However, to some the wind of change has blown for people like the 25-year-old Uleinge who refused to indulge in any such acts but to rather sell the ‘Kapana’, a popular delicacy, in 1994.
“I started selling, with my uncle just across that road. At that time we would sell sweets and apples to enable us to put bread on the table. Sometimes we would make money while other times it was drought. But we never gave up,” explained the young entrepreneur.
But finding a proper place for him wasn’t easy at all, and the two had to struggle to get a place at the Single Quarters.
It’s because of his energy that he is today a proud father and an elder brother supporting his family from the earnings generated from ‘Kapana’. He built himself a house – something he did not own before at Greenwell Matongo.
Another successful young man is 22-year-old Tobias Kadengela from the north. Kadengela came to the city at the age of six years after he lost both his parents. He lived with his family in Katutura making a living from the meat business.
Like many other children, Kadengela unfortunately never got a chance to go to school like he wished. His dream of one day becoming a career man was dashed, poverty never accorded him a place behind a desk in a classroom.
” I have struggled all along, I would pray and hope that one day someone would come to my rescue just so I could sit in a classroom. There was no money to pay my school fees and, at the same time, I had to go to the bus stop to sell fruits and sweets,” said Kadengela, tossing the pieces of meat as the smoke stung his eyes making them water.
In 1993, he moved into the Kapana business where he started selling goat meat, but today he can afford to buy a whole cow. One cow ranges from N$5??????’??