Paheja Siririka
WINDHOEK – Vistta Angula is an emergency practitioner whose job is mainly to assist people at the Katutura hospital.
But besides that he is an innovator who has decided to try building a house from plastic bottles filled with sand. “People constantly complain about the heat during summer and the cold during winter,” Angula shared the lamentations of fellows. He noticed that firstly, people got sick from extreme temperatures, secondly, people have to relieve themselves close to their houses leaving waste scattered around, making people sicker. He thus realised that something needed to be done. “I started researching how other young people that don’t have the money or political power are solving similar issues in their communities,” Angula states. “The next step was putting formulas together on materials and items needed,” he adds.
Angula familiarised himself with local laws on such issues and decided to convince his mother on the need to fill up her yard with about 5 000 dirty and smelly bottles for a while. “Trust me it wasn’t easy but she finally said yes,” he boasts. The hard work came when this plan had to be put into action. “I convinced my cousin to collect trash around Windhoek with me – we collected 1 000 bottles in about two weeks but that wasn’t enough,” he says. Angula decided to go out of town to collect more plastic bottles, managing to collect more. “I got some help from the Shapers (Windhoek Hub Global Shapers) and my friends, the ones willing to play with sand for a few hours; some sent money to help buy the needed equipment,” he says.
In the midst of all of these, Angula started getting involved in associations geared towards changing the lives of people such as Windhoek Hub Global Shapers and began attending the Youth Leadership Development Programmes.
Angula is on his own in terms of funding his mission. “This is a self-funded project, the funds come from my training, where I offer training to people who wish to give medical assistance to the sick,” he explains. Other means of getting money to fund his project, Angula highlights, is selling hair and skin care Aloe Vera products, to mention but a few. “The vision is to improve living conditions and give a sense of pride to the average Namibian,” Angula emphasizes.