Pinehas Nakaziko
Windhoek
The 24-year-old Elivi Shinedima continues to contribute to the lives of fellow youths’ lives by helping learners who are having difficulties in school.
Shinedima is currently running an organisation known as Ndjuluwa97 Academy that offers extra classes and helps learners in Grade 1-12, including Namibia College of Open Learning (Namcol) learners.
“Apart from the extra lessons, we freely assist Grade 7s apply to Grade 8 and Grade 12s apply to university, offer soccer and karate training, life and career guidance to our registered learners, take our learners to museums as part of the learning process, and offer career affairs to enlighten them so they make better choices in choosing their professions,” says Shinedima.
She adds that with the organisation, they also make provision to teach learners who are not able to pay for their services and collect second-hand clothes, shoes, blankets and toys and donate them to orphans and vulnerable children, mainly in informal settlements and different schools.
The donations are done every second month and they usually take along their registered learners to expose them to different environments and teach them about giving to those who are less fortunate. Shinedima says she named the organisation after her late father who passed on in 1997. Ndjuluwa97 Academy is an accessible and affordable low cost, yet quality private academy aiming to make a positive impact on communities regardless of their economic or social status.
The academy currently consists of six full-time and two part-time tutors. Currently they are helping 41 learners from various schools in the north. “Opening this academy came through my three years’ teaching experience as a student teacher, personal tutor to some of my past University of Namibia (Unam) colleagues and mainly as a volunteer at an after-school centre termed Physical Active Youth,” says Shinedima.
Her inspiration stems from the need to assist learners who struggle scholarly.