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Leadership at core

She is passionate about mentoring and grooming young girls

Enzo Amuele





Gift Dapewa Amwaalwa (26) is an aspiring young leader who believes in improving the lives of those around her and in the community as a whole.

She spends most of her time touching lives and uplifting and investing in the young people of the Ongwediva constituency.

A Community Development Committee (CDC) member of the constituency, she said her constituency councillor Andreas Uutoni gives her so much hope and fuels her to work hard.

“He is uplifting the Ongwediva inhabitants by giving youth projects in rural villages in Ongwediva constituency, like bakeries, fixing workshops and many others in line to be awarded and around everywhere in the community,” Amwaalwa said.

She is currently the vice chairperson of the Ongwediva Constituency Youth Forum and the Oshana branch of the Namibia National Students Organisation’s (NANSO) executive committee and is currently working on a project to teach young mothers in her community how to be the best parent at a young age.

Over weekends, she arranges for social workers to talk to the high school learners about peer pressure and career guidance and to encourage them to study hard.

During her free time, she writes letters to learners to cheer them up and encourage them.

She is passionate about mentoring young girls around her and grooming them to be better people.

Under the young mothers training programme, she shares her experiences of parenting at a young age and encourages those who are thinking of giving up and depending on other people to stand up for their kids and be strong for them.

She believes leadership is the practice of growing others and bringing change that benefits everybody.

Amwaalwa is a graduate of the University of Namibia and she’s pursuing another degree in secondary education, majoring in accounting and economics at the same institution.

She further added that as a young leader and a young mother, she feels she has the responsibility to help those in need and to grow younger ones.

Volunteering provides a natural sense of accomplishment for her and her engagement in community service provides students and other young leaders with the opportunities to become active in their communities as well and to have a lasting positive impact on society at large, further volunteering to enhance personal growth and knowledge. This also creates special bonds with the people being served and increases social awareness and responsibility.

She has attended a leadership programme with the youth ministry in collaboration with the Friedrich Ebert Foundation and the National Youth Council.

Encouragement

Participating in community service not only makes a difference to the organisation and the people being served, but also makes difference to every career prospectus.

“I encourage my other aspiring student leaders and young leaders at large that community service enhances student resumes by allowing them to obtain work-related skills before graduation. It builds good references for employers in regards to community involvement and provides a forum to network with future potentials,” she said.