WINDHOEK-Twenty-three-year old Joviita Kandjumbwa describes herself as a happy soul, a people’s person and a very bubbly individual who one would think never gets angry.

 “I am also a very ambitious person and simultaneously trying to achieve all my dreams, which is not easy but that doesn’t make it impossible,” she says, adding that finding a career in sport helps her forget about bad childhood memories.
Born in the village of Etilyasa in Omusati region, Kandjumbwa says she is a proud Ngandjera lady, who grew up in the city. “I grew up as an only child by default, lost my twin brothers when they were still quite young, would have loved for them to have lived longer. My mother also passed on when I was eleven-years-old. So my childhood was surrounded by a lot of sorrow, and I had to grow up rather quickly as the harsh reality dawned on me that life is not always fair.” 
Despite that, Kandjumbwa says her childhood was also not that bad as she had to live with her family up until high school.

“Even though I went to a boarding school which was also not a good one. I don’t think I would send my children to a boarding school based on my experience. I don’t think government schools really prepare us for life after school, as we are hardly equipped with a lot of career options after school. I mean I didn’t know one could be a sportscaster and make a career out of it. I don’t even think in my wildest dream I would have been a sportscaster but here I am. I think my love for languages, reading, as well as talking led me to sport.”

She adds that her motivation came from many things, but mostly a desire to live out her purpose of what she was sent on this earth to do.

She is currently a sports presenter at Radio Energy.  “I did not really choose sport, I see it more as that sport chose me, it was and forever would be my saving grace,” says Kandjumbwa, adding that she believes being a sportscaster is what she is called to be.

Even though she finds herself in sport, she says she never truly been into sports even though she was pretty much exposed to it growing up. “I would say my true connection with sports started at 19-years-old. I was studying media at the time and during the 2014 World Cup, I saw Carol Tshabalala on television and I knew then and there that was what I wanted to do for the rest of my life, and I have never looked back since then,” says Kandjumbwa.

She adds that being a presenter was a challenge at first, as getting into the media industry is not the easiest thing, especially in sports broadcast, since it’s a small industry. “It took sometime but now I got the hang of it. There are still challenges but they are small hurdles that one can overcome.”

Kandjumbwa studied Arbitration and Dispute Resolution at the University of Namibia (Unam) and is currently pursuing a Law Degree at the same university.

“I wanted to be a lawyer, and sports found me somewhere along the way, and I refused to choose one over the other, so I am pursuing both.” She says her journey would have been a crazy one and she didn’t think she would make it this far.  With so much loss, insecurities, heartbreak it has been a lot, however there has been so many defining moments too. “Dropping out of media and still being given a shot in media, was proof enough that I can do anything I set my mind too.”
She adds that being a sportscaster has now become the ultimate goal, and she is working on building a brand that is authentic, relatable and one that would inspire people to follow their dreams.