By Surihe Gaomas
Nkurenkuru
The just-ended elections in Nkurenkuru appear to have provided a beacon of hope for aspiring entrepreneurs at the town.
Their dreams could become reality through the growth and development envisaged for the new town.
One such person is 24-year-old Kondjeni Hausiku, a positive minded young man whose hobby is photo-journalism. He now runs his own studio photo-lab at the Nkurenkuru Community Open Market.
With a smile, he proudly tells New Era that his photo lab is the first of its kind at the town.
“It was a struggle for me to get my passport photos. I had to travel all the way to Rundu to get my passport photo and that was just a waste of time for me.
That is when I realised that there are many people like me that need passport photos and then I decided to open my own shop,” said Hausiku who completed his Grade 12 six years ago.
With the winds of change sweeping across this new town on the northern borders of the Kavango Region, Hausiku wants to play his part in developing his town and serving the people.
He is very fortunate since business is set to flourish for him, with prospective customers in the town of Kwangar across the river on the Angolan side.
Kwangar has close to 1 000 residents, while Nkurenkuru itself has approximately 3 000 people.
One obstacle that Hausiku faces is that the computer he borrowed from a friend is broken and needs repairing.
“The digital photo printer is still working but I can’t improve on the quality of the photos, so I need a bit of help,” said the determined young man.
Situated about six kilometers from the Kavango River is yet another potentially viable business in the form of a lodge. The Sunshine River Guest House was set up by Musongo Appollus, who is teacher by profession.
Consisting of 10 sleeping rooms, a bar, a kitchen and a pool, the business that started four years ago was set up with his own funds which he accumulated from a previous taxi business.
Each room is fully furnished, but Appollus feels that he can improve on his business with more financial assistance or some kind of a partnership.
“Because I knew Nkurenkuru will become a town one day, I started this guest house in Siarungu settlement area. For now, only a few customers are coming mostly from Germany, Britain and some from South Africa. There is currently no electricity out here, and that is why I am making use of solar power,” said Appollus who showed the New Era news team around the place. He charges N$100 per night per room.
“Since I still want to upgrade the business, I am looking for support from government as I still have plans to build proper toilet facilities and a water system,” he said.
Sunshine River Guest House is the only lodge in the vicinity of Nkurenkuru and has the potential for growth as tourism picks up in that area. This will especially be the case once the Nkurenkuru-Rundu Road is complete.
Nkurenkuru means in the local Rukwangali language “the old place”.
During the colonial years, the then administration set up its headquarters at the town, but later moved it to Rundu while Nkurenkuru was left to become a ghost town. After the decentralization programme, Nkurenkuru has now become the second town after Rundu.
The first permanent colonial presence in the Kavango Region came about with the establishment of a police station at Nkurenkuru in 1910, while the first school was opened at Nkurenkuru in 1909.
Today the town boasts a couple of shops, a hospital and two schools.