Our star of this week is Johannes Tala Matsi, a visually-impaired Chief Labour Relations Officer in the Ministry of Labour, Industrial Relations and Employment Creation who graduated with a Master’s Degree in Gender and Development Studies from the University of Namibia last week. “Disability is not inability,” said Matsi, aged 37. He has been visually-impaired since the aged of 5, but defied all odds to excel academically all the way to the Master’s level. He credits his grandmother for encouraging him to study. “She used to compare me with successful disabled people,” he said. “Why should I only worry about things I don’t have while I possess many other senses that could be used for my advantage,” he remarked. He encouraged prospective disabled students to never give up on their aspirations in life on the grounds of impairments.