2013-10-23Staff Report 2 Superwoman, mother and entrepreneur, 23-year-old Karina Mugonena was born in Windhoek and was raised by her grandmother in Wambo location and often went to Walvis Bay to visit families. Karina grew up with 11 siblings in her grandmothers house and later went on to attend at Mandume Primary School.”I was not very sportive but was a book worm. I attended the Centuarus High School where I was part of the economics competition, where they would compete, discuss and debate economic matters and entrepreneurship. We came third in the competition.” During her high school days Karina would wash her uncle’s cloths for a fee and thus developed her washing into a trade charging his friends in this regard. She later employed three ladies to assist her as business started growing. Karina finished her Grade 12 where upon she started job hunting and faced a lot of discouragement at first, until she landed work at Telepassport Communication as a receptionist for four months, before moving to Siegfried Petroleum. “My grandmother was the only bread winner in the house and she inspired me to do something with my life, and at 18, I started a kapana braai’ing business at the bus stop in the location.” Karina kapana business would prove to be a hit with the locals with people en route enjoying her food. It proved to be a hit and she continued braai’ing her kapana until she was able to get a spot at a local club Monanco Lounge, where she braai’ed meat for the guests. Soon enough people would call her to come and cater at functions and business started to pick up more. Karina decided to register her company earlier this year, which she called Twahafa Investment cc, trading as Twahafa Catering, named after her four-year-old son. Twahafa Catering has been a dream come to true for Karina, as she has a passion for food and service. Karina business has gone on to cater at different corporate functions and parties including the recently. Karina is currently studying Business Administration at the University of Namibia (Unam), with her current schedule, being a mother, entrepreneur and student, things can not be easy but with pure determination and drive, Karina is working on securing a better future for her son. “Before anything else I am a mother and this is the foundation in my life. I go on to split my day between work and my studies. In my free time I concentrate on marketing my business or passion via internet and flyers. Weekend is mostly work but if I do get time off I like visiting the coast to relax and have a breather.” Karina has currently stopped work on the laundry business as she is currently concentrating on her catering business, which she plans extend to in all the regions. Karina advice to the youth is to have faith, be positive and to believe in their abilities as nothing comes to those that are negative and are not willing to work and to take responsibility. By Kevin Kamati 2013-10-23Staff Report 2
