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Home / Young entrepreneur on a learners’ motivation crusade
Young entrepreneur on a learners’ motivation crusade
2017-03-08Staff Report 2 Pinehas Nakaziko WINDHOEK-Young entrepreneur, social activist and motivational speaker Michael Amushelelo continues to contribute to young people’s lives by encouraging them to stay focused and to study hard to become successful in life. “Motivation will help a great deal in helping shape the lives of our young people,” says Amushelelo, after speaking to learners at the Mandume Junior Primary School in Windhoek last week. He adds that if we teach children from a young age to believe in themselves, nothing can limit them from achieving their dreams. Amushelelo has been offering free motivational speeches to various schools around the country since 2014 after realising that many Namibian youth lack motivation and genuine role models they can look up to. Amushelelo initiated the programme of motivating the youths after realising that many young scholars have lost focus. “Our scholars are not interested in bettering their lives; some young people would come from school and instead of engaging in productive activities, they would rather engage in counterproductive activities such as indulging in alcohol and drug abuse,” he says. He adds that this could also be partly blamed on the fact that many young people come from poverty-stricken homes, or the mere fact that they do not have access to facilities for productive extra-mural activities, such as sport, libraries, internet cafes and so forth. His motivation programme is a one-day event that usually lasts for about an hour. “I usually speak about my life and my upbringing, the bad choices I had in my life and how they impacted my life severely and negatively. Most of our learners’ dreams are usually shattered when they fail Grade 10 or 12. So I provide them [with] hope, having failed Grade 12 myself. “As a society, we need to embrace failure, because they need the encouragement to continue pursuing their dreams. If we as a society fail to embrace these young people, we are failing ourselves,” he advises. He adds that the first and most important thing in motivating young people is understanding them. “I assist young people in understanding their passion and talents.” This year Amushelelo is striving to reach as many schools as possible, and says this can only be achieved if society collectively understands the role and importance of motivating young people. “I’ve been in school and I understand how draining it can be. Sometimes all you want to do is quit and give up. However, motivation is all you sometimes need to keep going,” he says. 2017-03-08Staff Report 2
