Sammy ‘Saba’ Kapia is a 20- year -old y businessperson from the Ohangwena region. He has five siblings and attended his Grade One at Onakambunda Primary School in the Northern part of the country and later moved to Windhoek to continue Grade Two at Bethel Primary School.
Since he couldn’t speak English and Afrikaans, Saba was told to attended kindergarten in the morning to learn the two languages and at the same go to school in the afternoon. “I used to be talkative at school but when people spoke to me in Afrikaans and English, I would listen but couldn’t respond. It took me half a year to learn these languages,” says Saba. He then continued his Grade Four at People Primary School where he lived in the hostel. After primary school he attended Grade Eight at Concordia College where he also lived in the hostel. Saba didn’t know what to do after he finished school so he came up with an idea of printing t-shirts. “I printed a t-shirt for myself written ‘SoBisooo’ and when I wore it one day in town people started asking me where I got it from and from that day I knew I can get an income if I start my own business,” he says.
Saba made N$3000 on the sale of his first batch of t-shirts. “Stock run out fast and that motivated me to work harder. My uncle ‘Paulus Kapia’ advised me on how to run my business and how to become self-employed so I don’t become a thug. I listened and now I’m making profit with my t-shirts,” says Saba. Saba would like to be known as an employer one day as well as a very popular brand owner. “I want to contribute to the Namibian economy. I’m aiming on promoting local brands and would like my business to expand internationally.”
He encourages the Namibian youth to use the opportunities availed them and to employ themselves. “We have a lot of opportunities and we don’t make use of them. Our opportunities are being taken away by foreigners because we are just waiting for things to happen for us but it’s time the Namibian youth take a step and grab these opportunities.
“We need to start being responsible, do something for ourselves because that something might just be the gateway to a bright future and remember to never doubt yourself or your ideas,” Saba motivates.
Picture: Popya with Sammy
By Selma Neshiko