Windhoek
Today Kapenangutjiua Vetira (25) is one of the youngest professional homebrewed local choreographers.
She was born and raised in the town of Otjiwarongo where she attended her primary school at the Spes Bona Primary School. After her primary, she went to Paresis Secondary School where she developed a passion for arts. She started performing at a very young age but she was born a performer. “I choreographed a few dances that we performed with my friends and school mates. I had a passion to dance and [teach] other people how to dance and perform,” says Vetira.
Her passion led her to the discovery of the College of the Arts (COTA), and in 2010 where she registered for a diploma in African Performing Arts to further learn to dance, sing, act, among others. In 2011, Vetira went for an acting audition at the National Theatre of Namibia (NTN) as it was looking for actors to go and participate in the Negotiating Ibsen in Southern Africa. “We were hosted by Chipawo Zimbabwe, which is an arts education for development and employment trust, that educates children and young people through arts and culture and they run arts programmes in selected schools,” explains Vetira. She adds that the beauty of seeing children perform inspired her to start an organisation that is like minded. “I realised the need for arts education in schools and in the community. That’s when the dream came true and I and my colleague initiated an organisation known as ChiNamibia, which stands for ‘Children of Namibia’ Arts Education for Development. This organisation educates, empowers and develops children and young people through arts and culture,” says Vetira.
In 2013 they took 30 children to Zimbabwe from Namibia for a cultural exchange programme where they learned so much from the Zimbabwean culture bringing home the skills and knowledge they obtained there. In 2014, ChiNamibia again took 16 children to Botswana to participate in a cultural exchange programme, where they learned new things from Botswana, and sharing in return the Namibian culture with the Botswana children. “All this is successful because of the focus and determination I have within me. It has not been an easy journey as people don’t believe in what you do until they see you succeed, and when you succeed they want to come and take away what you have worked hard for, for so many years,” says Vetira.
She adds that one need to be strong, believe in the Almighty God and he shall make everything successful. “Believe in yourself and trust your instincts. Write down 100 dreams that you want to achieve in your lifetime and work towards achieving them. Read a lot of inspirational books because they give you knowledge and humble yourself with everyone,” advises Vetira.