WINDHOEK - The inaugural Afrox Leadership Academy programme culminated in a gala dinner attended by First Lady Monica Geingos, in Windhoek on Friday, November 9, at Safari Hotel. The Afrox Leadership Academy was birthed out of the desire by the management of Afrox Namibia to identify the best possible method for intervention in skills development and poverty eradication in Namibia.
Afrox Namibia embarked on this audacious programme to equip the youth with the necessary soft skills to make a tangible impact in their communities and consequently play a part in the realisation of our national development goals.
Speaking at the gala dinner, the managing director of Afrox Namibia, Eckhardt Voster, said: “We have never been here before, but we have become who we needed to be to find ourselves here this evening. Well done! Looking back, it’s been a fantastic journey, many of us were challenged to ‘undoubt’ ourselves, challenged to be more and do more.”
“When we started dreaming about a value adding programme a couple of years ago, and eventually settling on this Leadership Academy programme, I believed that we were onto something valuable. We saw how the future of this country could be impacted by investing in the lives of our young people. Today, having been involved in the process of the academy, listening to the stories of strength and the dreams that these young people have, witnessing their growth and development as the programme progressed, I am convinced, without a doubt that we did the right thing,” he said.
This initiative which was launched in April 2018 in Windhoek, ran as a pilot programme involving 16 Grade 10 learners chosen from the top three academically performing, public schools in the Khomas Region in 2017. It covered a one-week leadership training camp facilitated by the Africa Leadership Institute at Rock Lodge, focusing on a range of topics such as career guidance, performance and results, service delivery, basic etiquette, project management and many more. It was also followed by active engagement in various community projects. The community projects initiated by the students ranged from offering learner-to-learner-based remedial classes at school, soup kitchen feeding schemes, after-school kindergarten care and after-school learn-to-read programmes for lower primary learners in identified communities. Giving the keynote address and offering some sage advice to the “ALA Class of 2018 Alumni”, the First Lady Monica Geingos, firstly, commended Afrox Namibia and all its partners for envisioning and actualising the ALA programme, saying: “No matter how hard it is you need to show up! Afrox Namibia with its partners did just that. They showed up,” and expressed support for the programme:
“Education is indeed the greatest equalizer, but more than just academics, it is character development, it is integrity. It is more than just giving or offering money. It is about ensuring that ALA alumni have a holistic spectrum of support, and this ALA programme is doing just that.” She then proceeded to challenge the ALA alumni to maintain the spirit of volunteerism expressed in their community projects. “There comes a time in life where money becomes secondary, and the search for significance and real value becomes your driving force. When you are focused on the right things, you’ll find a way of using what you have and make it work for others. At this point, the question you’ll have to answer is – am I doing enough to make a difference in the lives of others?” she quipped.