Pinehas Nakaziko
Windhoek-Determined and go-getter, Esra Kavetu (30), was one of 22 lucky young Namibian leaders who recently returned home after participating in the 2017 Mandela Washington Fellowship (MWF) in the United States of America (USA).
Kavetu was an intern at the University of Texas in Austin, the growing vibrant fun technology city of Texas, where he studied Business and Entrepreneurship at the Red McCombs School of Business. It is esteemed as one of the best business schools in the USA.
“My favorite experience was the many people I met and the connections made, and thanks to the fellowship, a couple of international organisations looking to expand their overseas operations and enter new markets now want to partner and work with me here in Namibia,” says Kavetu, adding that, he also enjoyed the closing summit in Washington DC, which gave him the opportunity to mingle and network with about 1 000 youths from Sub-Saharan Africa.
“I believe it is important for young people to partake in this exchange programme, as the fellowship gives us skills, knowledge, and opportunities to meet people who are professionals in both my field and other fields,” he says.
Kavetu is passionate about technological solutions that can empower humanity and loves serving and helping people in his community. He is a founder and country liaison officer for World Possible Namibia, a technology civic organisation that develops digital educational content. One major way it has been able to help people is by using the Remote Area Community Hotspot for Education and Learning (RACHEL) server. RACHEL allows individuals and communities to access free open source educational content from leading websites without the use of the Internet.
With over 30 countries worldwide, it is making itself official in Namibia, for the first time, to help the educational sector with free content and to increase educational opportunities while getting users excited about learning.
“With my new strong understanding of cultural and business norms, I will be more effective in developing solutions to local and universal problems,” says Kavetu, adding that he believes that the skills he has gained from the programme will benefit his organisation and add value to his role.
Born and bred in Nau-Aib, Okahandja, he finished his high school at Academia High School in 2005. In 2006, he furthered his studies at the University of Namibia (Unam), enrolling for a Bachelor of Accounting. In 2008, he dropped out for lack of interest. In 2009, he went back to the university to continue but again lost interest and dropped out totally. Lessons learnt in life are that at university one shall never be good in anything he/she does not love.
“Lost interest in Accounting, got involved with wanting to work hands-on with people and impact communities and that is how I came up with the World Possible Namibia,” says Kavetu, adding that next year he is planning to go back to school to study science technology engineering and Mathematics.