WINDHOEK – Ananias Meduletu Mulokoshi developed a passion for nursing after taking care of his late mother and granny.
“I grew up with my siblings and friends. I am an orphan on both sides. I came from a business family and grew up doing business with my late mother, cousins and aunty in a location called Olumbongo and in the market,” relates the 32-year-old entrepreneur, event organiser, member of the Oniipa Youth Choir and owner of Letu Urban Wear. The Ondando village-born lad from Oniipa, in the Oshikoto Region, has a measure of his mother’s business skills rubbed into him, turning her old place into a complex that he named after her.
Although from a humble but joyous family, life turned for the worse when he was in Grade 10, after his mother started getting sick. “This is where I started doing everything myself. Selling fish, chips and maize corns to help pay my school and hostel fees and at the same time taking care of my late mother,” says Mulokoshi. This affected his school performance. “When I moved to high school, tears always [rolled down] my face while studying and that slowed down my performances and made me feel so bad in Grade 12,” Mulokoshi reminisces sadly.
This drove him to improve his points for four years running while taking care of his sick mother and doing a computer course at Heroes Private School, but he had to give up. He completed his matric at Shaanika Nashilongo Senior Secondary School in 2005. He studied at the Onandjokwe Training Centre in Oniipa, Oshikoto where he was equipped in Nursing, Midwifery and Health and Safety Administration. “I also have certificates in Basic Life Support and Firefighting Level 1.”
“When I entered the nursing profession I was expecting to be given tablets to chase away worries and fear, but no such things,” says Mulokoshi. “In 2008 I decided to apply for nursing and I failed the oral interview. I again had to wait the next year (2009) to re-apply when I passed my interview,” explains Mulokoshi. In 2011 during his final year of nursing, his mother passed away. “Despite that I never gave up and continued studying hard and passed my final examination with two distinctions, one in General Nursing Science, and Midwifery Science.”
Mulokoshi never thought he was going to be a nurse, but an actor and radio presenter as well as businessperson but this changed when his granny was diagnosed with breast cancer, and his mother also getting ill. Mulokoshi is currently a public health service nurse conducting male circumcision in the regions of Erongo and Ohangwena, thereby helping in the curbing of the spread of sexually transmitted diseases (STDs).
He says his journey has been full of challenges, but he is living his dreams and still pushing harder to climb the ladder. He is working towards getting his Bachelor Degree in Health Management. “No matter what challenges you may be going through, never give up on your dreams. Invest in yourself, the rest comes in package,” is his message to the youth.