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Economic Empowerment Success Stories |
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| Partners | News | Success Stories | Links | Updated: 8/28/2006 |
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SME Program Spurs Economic Growth
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Introduction
A 72 year old Namibian small-scale cotton farmer says he feels like a millionaire because of a new USAID program. Tate Kamalanga lives in the Okavango area, about 70 miles from Rundu. For the first time in his life, he is planting cotton this season, and he is telling all of his neighbors to do the same. He will make the most money he has ever made from the cotton harvest.
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Joint Venture Agreement
A joint venture agreement, worth US$6 million, was signed early this year between the Namibian company, Jireh Ginning Namibia (Pty) Ltd. and its U.S. counterpart, Chihuahua Cotton & Cattle, Inc. The agreement will establish Namibia`s first cotton ginning operation, employ 55 people directly, and have the capacity to absorb four times the cotton currently grown in Namibia. Total employment at the cotton gin and on the farm is estimated at over 11,000 people by the year 2004. Employment figures will increase further as more cotton is grown to meet the new and increased demand. Rural, small-holder communal farmers will get hard cash that they can use to pay for their childrens school fees, buy foodstuffs and be economically independent.
In the past, all of Namibia`s cotton production was exported to South Africa, where it was ginned into cotton lint to be sold in South Africa and elsewhere. Namibian farmers then purchased their cottonseed for the next year`s crop from those cotton gins. This cost Namibia in two ways: first, the country lost out on the value added contribution by the ginning process; and, second, Namibia had no control over the quality of seed made available from South Africa.
To address the latter issue and, in a spin-off of the cotton ginning operation, the joint venture recently entered into a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) with a Spanish company, Original Seed, S.L. to establish an enterprise that will develop and market seed varieties unique to Namibia. This new deal is valued at US$300,000 and will create 10 full-time jobs.
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Global Trade & Technology Network
USAID`s Global Trade and Technology Technology Network (GTN), an electronic database and matchmaking service, aimed at establishing business linkages between U.S. and non-U.S. firms, facilitated the joint venture between the two partners. Sigma One, the new contractor under USAID`s Small and Medium Enterprise Competitiveness Enhancement Program, helped the joint venture prepare its loan applications. GTN and Sigma One also played critical roles in the realization of the subsequent MOU with the Spanish Company.
GTN is less than two years old in Namibia. Nevertheless, six other deals have been or are currently being negotiated between Namibian and U.S. companies, most of them to enable Namibian companies to acquire U.S. technology, either through licensing agreements or equipment purchases. The assistance provided by USAID through GTN and Sigma One will help make AGOA a success story and better position Namibians to take advantage of peace in Angola and other trade opportunities.
A new day is dawning for small-scale Namibian entrepreneurs. No wonder Tate Kamalanga feels like a millionaire!
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Advanced Training for Leadership and Skills
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What is ATLAS?
ATLAS (Advanced Training for Leadership and Skills) is a USAID-sponsored education and training program for young Africans demonstrating strong academic performance and leadership potential. ATLAS seeks to improve the ability of African institutions and organizations to plan and promote sustainable development. To further this goal, ATLAS strengthens the leadership and technical abilities, and enhances the professional excellence, of individuals employed in both the public and private sectors, so that they can better contribute to their countries development. Most ATLAS awards are at the graduate level. However, in countries without a national university, ATLAS may also provide undergraduate training.
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How does ATLAS work?
With the Africa-America Institute (AAI), which has implemented the program since its inception in 1963 as AFGRAD, and in partnership with the U.S. Council of Graduate Schools (CGS) and host country institutions, USAID has established linkages with a broad range of U.S. educational institutions for the placement of African students at U.S. colleges and universities. Under the auspices of the CGS, an Executive Committee of U.S. Graduate Deans advises ATLAS on program policy, participates actively in preliminary screening of Africans in their home countries, and recommends final selection of ATLAS Fellows.
The most innovative aspect of ATLAS is cost-sharing among U.S. and host country institutions:
· The receiving U.S. college or university provides tuition and fees. Tuition support may be in the form of institutional or departmental scholarships, tuition waivers, or graduate assistantships requiring recipients to undertake part-time teaching or research.
· Host country governments or private sector employers provide round trip air travel from the home country to U.S. universities, and generally continue participant salaries during the training period.
· AAI, with USAID funding, provides monthly allowances for board and lodging, allowances for books and educational materials, health and accident insurance, intensive English language training (if needed), internal U.S. travel, and other related program costs.
Since 1963, over 200 American universities have contributed tuition and fee waivers or equivalent scholarships to ATLAS and AFGRAD Fellows. The success of these programs derives from the generous support of the American university community, which has provided more than $25 million in tuition support to date.
ATLAS also offers follow-on activities for U.S.-trained alumni, including: conferences and workshops on development issues; grants to professional societies, alumni associations and volunteer organizations; distinguished alumni awards; publications, such as alumni directories and newsletters; and, finally, a resume database and website. ATLAS-sponsored follow-on activities have created a network of nearly 4,000 U.S.-trained African leaders, and provide a valuable resource to a variety of African institutions committed to professional, national and community development.
Each USAID Mission in Africa develops its own selection criteria for ATLAS students, depending on the needs of its assistance strategy for that country.
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ATLAS in Namibia
At independence, in March 1990, the new Government of the Republic of Namibia (GRN) inherited a legacy of apartheid policies under which virtually all of the countrys resources and most of its social services, particularly education, had been directed to the 5% white minority. Namibias history - as a German colony until the First World War, and later under South African administration - did not provide adequate education for the majority black population. At independence, only 40% of Namibians were literate, the result of years of apartheid when black schools were scarce and generally inferior.
USAIDs early programs in Namibia recognized that the countrys most pressing need was to develop indigenous human capital for all institutions and sectors. A new government, headed by leaders recently returned from years in exile, was attempting to implement a constitution of national reconciliation. Simultaneously, it had to consolidate the old multi-tiered, ethnically based public administration system into a unified structure of 20 ministries and related institutions. Many of the GRNs new leaders, educated in Soviet bloc countries, were unsure how best to implement the democratic market economy outlined in the constitution, or to create the conditions for political, economic and social empowerment of the majority population. At the same time, a new generation of Namibians, which had come of age during the struggle for independence, was eager to assume greater responsibility for the countrys future.
USAID targeted this latter group in its efforts to create a critical mass of highly skilled Namibian leaders and managers, capable not only of influencing their own organizations in a positive, enlightened manner, but also of influencing the society at large. In addition, recognizing that the earlier, paternalistic system had doubly disadvantaged Namibian women, USAID actively sought their participation in ATLAS. Beginning in 1992, ATLAS provided degree training for up to 20 Namibians annually. The target was 15 at the M.A./M.S. level and up to five women at the undergraduate level.
Since that time, a total of 89 Namibian students have been sent to the U.S. Sixty have returned and currently occupy key positions in the public and private sectors. Over the ten-year period, only three dropped out before completing a degree, and only one student has failed to return to Namibia after getting a degree in the U.S. 25 students are currently enrolled in U.S. universities.
In January 2001, USAID/Namibia invited a number of the earlier generation of ATLAS graduates to meet with USAID staff, and talk about what the ATLAS experience has meant in their lives. The personality sketches outlined in the following pages are drawn from that session. They depict a generation that, despite some tough beginnings, is already making its mark in Namibian development.
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Umbi Swartz-Karuaihe
Umbi Swartz-Karuaihe is one tough cookie, and it shows. It`s not just that she has a laugh that fills the room. And it`s not that she`s statuesque and attractive, although these certainly contribute to the image she projects.
No, it has a lot more to do with the challenges she`s met and overcome. Others might have given up, or found excuses for failure. Not Umbi. She`s always had a mind of her own.
Born in eastern Namibia, near the border with Botswana, in 1965, she got a dose of reality early. In those days, in that place, there were no schools for caf` au lait girls like Umbi. At six, her family told her it was time to go away to boarding school. But Umbi had other ideas. She curled up inside a giant pot-bellied stove, thinking that once the bus had gone, she would be forgotten. But they came back to look for her. Friends and relatives gently put the small girl with the big future on the bus that would take her far away from home.
When she got to school, there was an even ruder shock awaiting her. School was in Afrikaans, and Umbi spoke only Herrero. She knew she was smart; people in the village had always told her she was too clever for her own good. But she couldn`t understand anything - only that the other children teased her because she couldn`t follow the teacher`s directions. "I don`t want to be an outsider," she told herself. But she was.
One day that strange language began to make sense. Umbi was off. Within a year, shed won a prize as the best student of Afrikaans. She wasnt an outsider any more. And she did well in school. So well that people said she would grow up to be a teacher. Wasnt that what all smart little black Namibian girls wanted to be? Not Umbi. She had a mind of her own.
Umbi had always loved to read, and she enjoyed writing too. She decided to study journalism, and be a reporter for a local newspaper. But in that day, in that place, there were no journalism schools for black girls. Umbi despaired.
Through a strange and circuitous route, her sister had ended up in Detroit. She had found a journalism course, she wrote home. Could Umbi find a way to come? The family`s budget was squeezed, and squeezed again, but it wasn`t enough. Finally, someone thought to approach the UN, which by then was administering the "territory" of Namibia. Was there, by any chance, money available to educate students abroad? There was.
Within months, Umbi was on a plane for the U.S. In Detroit, she faced more hurdles. The journalism course was for television, not for print. Could she do it? Worse, could she do it in English, as the English skills she had been so proud of at home were not enough? Once again, Umbi was shaken. "Will I ever not be an outsider?" she cried to herself at night. But she already knew the answer.
Five years later, a self-possessed young woman stepped off the plane in Namibia. In her suitcase was her diploma from Wayne State University in broadcast journalism. It was an exciting time to be in Namibia. Independence was in the wind, and all around her things were changing. Within weeks, Umbi went to work for the Namibian Broadcasting Company as a television reporter. Within a year, she was a TV personality, covering the length and breadth of a huge country at its birth. What she saw and broadcasted during her five years as a reporter toughened her even more, and gave her a new dream.
Hearing about the USAID-financed ATLAS program from a friend, Umbi knew that she needed to leave home once more. The University of Tennessee at Knoxville offered a scholarship for a Master`s in Mass Communications. This time, it was easy. In Knoxville, she focused on how media coverage of specific issues shapes how we look at the world we live in. By then, she had children of her own. She knew that they, like other Namibian children, were missing a key part of their education.
Now the Director of Public Relations for the Namibian Broadcasting Company, Umbi knows just where she wants to go. She wants to re-write the Namibian school curriculum. Not just for better skills, but for the truth. So that all Namibian children learn their true history, and see a true picture of how far their country has come, and how far yet it must go.
Leaning back in her chair, Umbi smiles a broad smile. "So ATLAS made me a teacher after all," she says. And you know it will happen. No one should ever bet against this formidable woman. She has a mind of her own.
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Edwin Tjiramba
He warms up slowly, this elegantly dressed young man with the liquid brown eyes. The eyes take in every movement around him. But in the beginning his responses are muted. Later, you remember what they say about great performers always being shy offstage.
As the room fills with his friends and contemporaries, there`s a spark. People greet him, pat him on the back. He sits up straighter, face creasing with delight. They all know him, know where he came from, and what he is today.
Edwin Tjiramba is the Manager of Institutional Development and Fundraising for the Polytechnic of Namibia, a key institution in the countrys efforts to build a strong skills base, particularly for its disadvantaged black population.
It`s easy to understand why Edwin wants to make a good impression. Invited to talk about his experiences in the ATLAS program, he nevertheless knows that he`s on USAID turf. USAID could be a major donor for the Polytechnic. So Edwin is on his best behavior.
But as the conversation flows around him, Edwin relaxes. Someone in the group asks if Edwin still spends a lot of time at church. "That`s right," he nods, and grins. "That`s where I started, and that`s where I stay." The key is in the lock; Edwin is opening up.
He was born in Eastern Namibia in 1969, in the middle of a family of eight children. By the mid-1970s, his village had a primary school. So, unlike the older kids, Edwin spent his childhood at home. It wasn`t until later that he left the village, to attend a Lutheran high school. He must have done well, because Lutheran high school led in 1990 to a scholarship at Pacific Lutheran University in Tacoma, Washington. He graduated near the top of his class with a B.S. in Communications and Public Relations.
Back in Namibia, he went to work for NANASO, an umbrella organization of Namibian NGOs, doing public relations and fundraising. But the NGO sector wasn`t big enough for Edwin. He wanted to work where he could make an impact. With so much changing in Namibia at independence, Edwin decided he needed more education to contribute more to the process. Applying to ATLAS, he was selected for a graduate program in Corporate Communications at California State University at Fullerton.
Reminiscing about his time in the U.S., Edwin lets go. Within minutes, everyone in the room is wiping away tears of laughter, as he riffs on the clash of Namibian and American cultures, his first reaction to a white roommate, what it takes for an African to become a "brother" (frequent, expensive haircuts to maintain the proper "fade"). This guy is FUNNY. A clean Chris Rock. Keen social commentary, delivered with a polished sense of comedic timing. It`s not hard to see why Edwin Tjiramba was chosen as one of ATLAS` future Namibian leaders.
Growing serious, Edwin brings it all together. "I`m in the right place for me, right now," he says. "I`m where I can make a real contribution. The Polytechnic is an up and coming institution, and in this job I have a chance to help shape it. Who knows where I will be in five or ten years? But for now I`m in the right place, doing the kind of work that I learned to do because of ATLAS - how to build and fund important institutions. I could never have learned that here."
He smiles, and the liquid brown eyes are shy once more. "I hear USAID is designing a new program to help grow small and medium-sized black-owned enterprises," he says. "I hope you understand how important the Polytechnic is in that process." There, he`s made his pitch, firmly, but with dignity. ATLAS taught him well.
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Aletta Scott
Aletta Scott grew up in southern Namibia, not far from what is now the border with South Africa. In those days, South Africa administered Namibia as a backwater fifth province. The town Aletta grew up in was so small that the single traffic light was a source of comment. It hasn`t changed much since.
Still, Aletta was lucky. There was a school near home. So it wasn`t until her junior year that she left home to finish high school.
Older than the others, Aletta is one of those lucky women who are always calm, with never a hair out of place. Her complexion would be unremarkable in any Minnesota city. But to the creators of apartheid, Aletta Scott is black. And that meant all the difference in the way her life unfolded.
A good student, Aletta dreamed of becoming a doctor. You can see, even now, that she has the brains and the no-nonsense demeanor to be successful in medicine. But in the early `70s, when Aletta had to make choices about her future, becoming a doctor just wasn`t an option.
So, like many Namibian students, she went to the University of the Western Cape, in the heart of South Africa, to pursue a diploma in education. Aletta won`t tell you this, but everyone involved with AFGRAD and ATLAS knows that under apartheid, students of color there were always graded lower than their white counterparts. This was a reality that, in the early days of ATLAS in Namibia, made it difficult to place black graduates of the University of the Western Cape in U.S. colleges and universities. Their grade point averages were too low for admission to U.S. graduate schools. ATLAS worked hard to overcome this legacy of apartheid, arm-twisting individual U.S. universities to accept students demonstrating qualities of leadership and perseverance beyond those hinted at by their GPAs.
Aletta began her teaching career in 1976. She spent the first three years at a school in southern Namibia. In 1979, she moved to Windhoek, where she taught secondary school.
By the early 1980s, international pressure was mounting for South Africa to implement U.N. Security Council Resolution 435, and make way for Namibian independence. In small steps, Namibia began to change. Within a few years, black Namibians began to be nominated for a limited number of honors level positions in the black educational system. Aletta was selected, and joined the Namibian Academy for Tertiary Education as a teacher trainer, a move that would have been unheard of only a few years before. She honed her skills while the U.N. Transition Assistance Group took over administration of the territory of Namibia, followed 11 months later by Namibian independence.
When ATLAS began recruiting for Namibian participants in 1992, Aletta was in the right place at the right time. The newly established USAID office was not only seeking Namibian students for graduate programs; it was emphasizing the importance of building a new and better Namibian educational system, responsive to the needs of all Namibians, not just a favored few. As an experienced teacher trainer, Aletta was a perfect candidate. With two others, she received a scholarship to the University of Ohio at Athens, from which she later graduated with a Masters in Secondary Education.
By the time she returned to Namibia, the University of Namibia had been created, drawing together several institutions of higher education previously reserved for blacks. Aletta became a professor of education, a position she holds today, teaching classes in the history of education and education management.
She makes no bones about the importance ATLAS played in her life. "Because I had this opportunity at the right time," she smiles, "when change came, I was ready for it. I want to help the University to grow into one of the best in Africa, and to play a role in improving the quality of education in Namibia. Because of ATLAS, I am in the right place to do this."
Aletta is such a strong believer in the ATLAS experience that, in her spare time, shes now the ATLAS program representative for Namibia, seeking out young people who can benefit from the experience as she did, and mentoring them through the selection process, keeping a close watch on their progress in the U.S., and giving them someone to lean on when they return.
Aletta herself is one of the big reasons ATLAS has worked so well in Namibia. She gives no quarter in expecting ATLAS participants to squeeze everything they can out of the program, before, during and after their stay in the U.S. She did, and she expects no less from those who follow.
And its clear they love her for it.
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Perien Boer
Perien Boer is demure and ladylike, which makes it hard to see her as the "techhie" you know she is. In another place, she might be a yuppie dot-comer, raking in big bucks and driving a fancy BMW. Not here.
Born on the coast in Walvis Bay, this pastors daughter has already had an unusual career path. She attended school in Walvis Bay until her teenage years, when she was sent to high school in Capetown. By then, it was apparent that she had a scientific bent.
But at the University of the Western Cape, like so many other black women at that time, she was pushed into taking a teaching diploma with a specialty in science. Upon graduation, she went to teach in Katutura, the black township of Windhoek. She lasted all of two weeks. Teaching at that level, it seems, was not for her.
Soon, Perien was hired by the Ministry of Environment and Tourism to work on a satellite-mapping project financed by the Swedish Government. With her knowledge of botany and zoology, she was perfect for this inventory of Namibia`s plant and wildlife resources. But the project ended, and with it, her position. Before long, this woman from the coast had found a new calling: teaching at one of the agricultural colleges that comprised the bulk of the black higher education system in Namibia.
Over the next few years, in one of those twists of fate that determine the course of many peoples` lives, Perien found herself with yet another specialty. The computer science teacher at the college left, and Perien was asked to assume his duties. She agreed, thinking it would be a short diversion on the road to immersing herself once again in botany and zoology. But fate had other ideas.
The agricultural college had received a flyer for the ATLAS program, and nominated Perien for a Masters degree in Plant and Genetic Research. But who knows how these things happen? Maybe it was a because of her teaching diploma from the University of the Western Cape. Maybe it was just a bolt from the blue. She was offered a scholarship to the University of Arizona at Tempe. But the university had no graduate capacity in plant and genetic research. They offered her other topics to choose from, and somehow Educational Research and Technology caught her eye.
By the time she returned to Namibia with her M.S., things had changed dramatically. The Namibian government was well into the process of reorganizing the segregated educational system built under apartheid into one, comprehensive system for all Namibians. The agricultural college where Perien had taught, and where she had hoped to return, was closed, and its staff disbanded. Nevertheless, the Ministry of Agriculture, in fulfillment of its commitment under ATLAS, offered her a job in the Ministry, which she accepted.
But working in the headquarters bureaucracy stifled her. "I couldn`t see spending the rest of my life as a paper-pusher," she offers softly. So while she finished her commitment to the Ministry, she looked for something else. Everybody told her she was crazy to give up a secure government job for something she liked better.
She did it anyhow. For the last two years, she has been employed by Learn Link, a USAID-financed program working with the Namibian Ministry of Basic Education to provide teacher training via distance education. She lives on the project site in Okahandja so that she can spend as many hours as possible working to keep the program on schedule.
Perien isnt sure what she`ll do when her contract ends this fall. "Maybe the project will be extended," she says, "or maybe I can help sustain the distance education program in another capacity." Perien is a happy woman; shes in the field, doing work she likes and thinks is important.
"I never dreamed Id be doing what Im doing now," she emphasizes. "It`s been a long and complicated road. ATLAS changed my life forever."
Now she`s changing others` lives as well.
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Namibia`s Young Entrepreneurs
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Introduction
Although Namibia has been independent for thirteen years, the economy is still struggling to overcome the legacy of apartheid. Under South African rule, the disadvantaged majority was restricted in movement and was banned from engaging in meaningful economic activity. The transition to a more open economy following independence was not easy, as disadvantaged Namibians lacked the fundamental skills to move into the workforce, as well as the entrepreneurial spirit and confidence to start their own businesses.
Today 60 percent of the population is still either under- or unemployed. As such, a key goal of the Namibian government is to stimulate economic growth by creating a capable workforce through education and skills training. But as well, the vision for the economic role for previously disadvantaged Namibians is that it should not be limited to simply providing labor, but rather, they should also be empowered to become managers and owners of businesses.
USAID is assisting these objectives at various levels: through basic education support for Namibian youth, by supporting managerial and entrepreneurial skills development, through improved local capacity to deliver business support services, and by creating opportunity through new business linkages and markets.
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Junior Achievement Namibia
One of the key challenges is to build entrepreneurial business skills among young Namibians whose parents might view a career in government as the most practical and secure outcome of a secondary education. This is where the Junior Achievement Namibia (JAN) program, supported by USAID, is beginning to make its mark. JAN`s purpose is to "educate and inspire young people to value free enterprise, business and economics to improve the quality of their lives." JAN was established in 2002, and is linked to Junior Achievement International, a network of chapters in 113 member countries. Implementation began in 2002 in six schools in the capital city of Windhoek and three schools in northern Namibia. In 2003, the program is hoping to reach at total of 1000 students by expanding to several more schools nationwide. Eventually, the program should be financially self-sustaining.
JAN will implement several programs on different levels. Currently, the main activity is the Company Program, which is aimed at grade 8-12 youth. As part of this program, students establish a company, and appoint a board of directors, a managing director, a marketing director, a financial manager and any other important positions within the company. Students invest a modest amount as shareholders and over a period of 15 weeks, operate the company. At the end of the time period, the company is liquidated and shareholders divide the profits. Some of the companies established in Namibia so far have included beauty salons and snack shops.
Students gain numerous experiences and skills through this program. JAN ensures that students gain an understanding of market driven economies, the role of business in the global economy, the importance of education in the workplace, and the impact that economics can have on their future. Not only do students benefit from these broader concepts, but they also gain practical skills, including how to establish and operate businesses, do record keeping, work as teams, communicate effectively, and be managers.
Justina Frans, a 12th grader at Oshakati Secondary School in northern Namibia, is one of Namibia`s young entrepreneurs. Justina is studying business, accounting and economics in preparation for her matriculation exams at the end of this year. She was prompted to join the pilot JAN program last year through the encouragement of her teachers, and she felt it would be an opportunity to gain more experience in the business world.
Last year, Justina and other students established a company to sell sweets and fruit to fellow students. During the 15 week period, Justina acted as the financial manager, and company shareholders increased their initial investment by ten-fold. During the course of the program Justina performed her duties with excellence. Justina was recommended by the JA teacher at her school as an outstanding student, and she was then selected by JA International to be one of 100 participants worldwide to attend a June 2003 Global Trade Institute Conference in Chicago, Illinois. The conference broadened the JA experience for high achievers, with activities and lectures on international business, ethics, networking and management. It was also Justinas first first time on an airplane and her first trip outside Namibia.
JAN provided Justina with practical experience on starting a business and managing finances, and enhanced her communication and teamwork skills. Her experience also solidified her plans for the future - she hopes to study at the University of Namibia and major in accounting or economics.
At the official launch of JAN in April 2003, Justina was asked to address an impressive list of invitees. She encouraged JAN to spread its programs throughout the country. She said her experience with JAN has been positive and beneficial, and hoped that all young Namibians would someday have a chance to participate. This is certainly an ambitious goal, but with USAID support, JAN is opening programs in new schools. One day, perhaps Justina`s dream will be realized, and through the success of JAN, Namibia`s young entrepreneurs will become a new generation of national business leaders.
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