Born in Oshakati, Mavis Elias Braga is a 20 year-old ambitious young lady and a third year civil engineering student at the Polytechnic of Namibia.
Mavis attended five schools, which she believes helped her with her speaking and peoples skills. She joined radio immediately after Grade 12 and has been in the radio industry for three years now. “I chose to study Engineering because I would like to master in Project Management, which is where my ultimate goal lies. Radio started off as a means to improve on my speaking skills considering the fact that Engineering is a male-dominated field. I look to own a consulting company that will do project management and consulting work,” says Braga.
At the tender age of 14, Braga first conceived the idea of one day starting a charity organisation. It was however not until 2013, when as a civil engineering student at the Polytechnic of Namibia, and a part-time radio personality, that she decided it was time to turn her dream into reality. She spoke of her dream when she was featured in a local newspaper in 2013, pointing out in no uncertain terms that “charity begins at home”.
With her ‘big dream mentality’ and ‘never say die attitude’, Braga has teamed up with two other well-known and equally ambitious friends, Faizel Browny and Anne Hambuda, to work on the Love is Charity campaign. “It is astounding to realise that there are few selfless, very hardworking and caring individuals out there who have dedicated their lives to improve and care for the lives of others, especially vulnerable children. We have been touched by some of these individuals and inspired by their work, where they operate in poor to very poor sections of our society. To lend a helping hand and to give whatever we can is easier said than done,” she says.
Braga says she loves people but sometimes prefer to be alone. She reads a lot and her favourite authors are Jodi Picoult and Paulo Coelho. Her family is her number one priority. However she also has a number of friends she regards as family. Braga is currently a radio personality at Energy100FM and also does practical work at Buhrmann and Partners consulting engineers.