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Home / Popya with Otto Kapuka: Failing school never stopped him
Popya with Otto Kapuka: Failing school never stopped him
2018-07-25Staff Report 2 Pinehas Nakaziko WINDHOEK – Highly motivated, ambitious, caring, loving, disciplined and goal oriented is how a motivational speaker and author, Otto Kapuka, describes himself. “I care about my community and country at large and I wake up every day asking myself what difference can I make, how can I help someone going through a challenging situation to change their way of thinking and overcome their obstacles,” says Kapuka. He was born in the village of Olwadhiya in the Omusati Region and brought up in an extended family which has taught him many things. Despite walking long distances to school could be a challenge, to him it was fun. “Perhaps the other challenge I can think of is balancing work in the mahangu field, looking after cattle, doing all domestic chores and studying. By the time I got to my books, I was always tired and couldn’t really grasp anything. Studying was always the last thing to be done after everything else.” Kapuka failed Grade 4 and went to Grade 5 through the wheelbarrow system. He also failed Grade 10 and 12 but he upgraded his marks through the Namibia College of Open Learning (Namcol). School was not on his list as the key or strategy for success. Formidable challenges lay ahead later in his life when he decided to pursue his dreams. “Coming from the village with less exposure to different professions, it’s very difficult to convince your parents and everyone around you of what you truly want to do, especially when it is not known to them,” he reminisces about convincing his people of his wanting to make a living developing fellow humans. “Platforms like radio, television and others don’t really bother that much to help your family and yourself,” says Kapuka, adding that people are reluctant to pay for services that make them better people, making it difficult for people to support one in such endeavours, especially knowing one graduated and could get a job that offers money but not fulfilment. Fulfilling his purpose in life keeps Kapuka motivated as he always wakes up the next day with another opportunity to make a difference in someone’s life. “I’m a goal-oriented person therefore my goals keep me motivated, but I also do what makes me happy and that’s putting a smile on someone’s face and influencing them to live a positive life. That on its own is what keeps me going and I hate seeing someone stuck in life. I have that inner drive to help the next person.” Kapuka is currently a trainer, facilitator, mentor, life coach, radio presenter (on Base FM), author and motivational speaker. All this came after deciding what he wanted to do with his life. “I chose to grow people and I had to identify different ways and platforms to help people grow. That’s how I arrived at all that.” He completed his Grade 12 at Iipumbu Senior Secondary School, but did not do well in his Grade 12. He then went to upgrade his marks at Namcol. After that, he did a Diploma and Degree in Adult Education and Community Development at the University of Namibia (Unam). “I further did my Certificate in Windows, Word and Excel in 2000 at the International University of Management (IUM), and a certificate in transformational leadership at the African Leadership Institute.” Entering his first corporate world job, he became peer coordinator at the University of Namibia HIV/ AIDS Unit. His defining moment is publishing his book, Unleashing and Honouring Your Invisible Contract, which aspires to make an impact on the lives of young people. 2018-07-25Staff Report 2
