Pinehas Nakaziko
Windhoek-Making a difference in the lives of fellow young people and leaving herself a legacy in this regard is the aim of young entrepreneur, media personality and educator, Helena Ngaifiwa.
Ngaifiwa is also project coordinator for the Namibia Careers Expo, a platform to expose learners to different career opportunities by working with the youth and helping them shape their future. “I am a teacher by profession, but because of my outspoken personality I’m currently in event and media,” she says proudly.
Ngaifiwa who is also co-founder of the Simply You Magazine (SYM). Her major challenge was giving birth to a baby boy when she was just a teen, compelling her to work hard to provide for him and his grandmother. “I became a mother at a very young age. I had a child so I needed to become someone in order to look after this person,” she says.
She adds that her father and late grandmother also contributed to her success, because they always wanted her to do better in life. During her school years, she was appointed as a member of the Learners Representative Council (LRC), ran a school magazine, organised various functions and was tasked to deal with a lot of gender issues. Apart from that, she was also involved in a lot of public speaking and was part of ‘My Future Is My Choice’ and HIV and AIDS groups.
When she finished her twelfth grade, Ngaifiwa very much wanted to do media studies but her family did not agree so she took a gap year to rethink what she would study. That entire gap year she started engaging in a lot of youth activities with the National Youth Service (NYS), directing ceremonies (MC) like at small beauty pageants that she usually organised with the help of her friends. One thing that is not known about her, apart from her business activities, it is that Ngaifiwa has a big heart and over the years founded a charity group with her friends called “Put a Smile on a Child’s Face” that has helped numerous children and children’s homes by raising funds, donating and just spending time with less privileged children.
“Every day is a defining moment for me. Every day we have different challenges but raising my son… launching Namibia’s first ever Lifestyle and Fashion Awards last year through SYM was also a big opportunity for me,” she says, adding that by giving back to the community and seeing her magazine next to international magazines in shops have proved her massive successes.
In the media, Ngaifiwa started with Omalaeti Events, where she got groomed into the person she is today. “In radio, I started with Radio Energy that was a big dream because I grew up listening to radio, especially to presenters Jozzy and Tafandji. Having an opportunity to share the studio with them it was more than I expected,” she says. Ngaifiwa later moved to television as a television anchor, where she founded herself reading news on One
Africa TV for four years. “I am glad to be in a space where I can pass on my knowledge.”
She advises the youth to always believe in themselves and be a better version of the person they were yesterday.