Living with my unemployed grandmother who supported me My mother was not part of my life and my Father past away in the early years when I was 6 years old. Life was tough for me…. Then my grandmother passed away after grade 6 and thus I had no support. I dropped out and found a job where I was working for other people just to earn money to buy food and clothes for myself and my cousins and sisters. I was out of school for 4 years. I then went back to school after four years to finish grade 6. I had no school clothes or shoes to wear for about 4 months. I could not sleep at night as this was so painful for me to bear. I was in a very dark emotional place of pain and sorrow. When I passed to grade 7 I decided to visit my mother who was living in town for the very first time. My mother was married but also unemployed. However, I could get some toiletries to use at school. Passed grade 7 with flying colors Grade 7 – 10 and passed grade 10 even though my marks were not so good. I then continued with my school career where I completed grade 12 despite all challenges. The principal would send all children back home without proper school uniform and proper shoes which caused me to miss about 3 weeks lessons. I then had to work in other people’s yards to get paid and buy school shoes. After I finished grade 12 I returned to the village and stayed for about one year. I then heard people talking about the San development program offered by the government so I inquired about the program as I could see hope in it. Eventually, I got assistance from the government and registered at Monotronics College where I completed my advanced diploma. Currently I am studying at IUM for my Bachelors Degree. What motivated you after 4 years to go back to school after you dropping out? • My friends whom I was schooling with motivated me: My biggest motivation was my friends that was in higher grades then me while I was stuck at the village. The same friends that I left in school when I dropped out pulled through and were in town and doing grade 10. I thought that if they can do it then so can I. I thought of my dream of becoming a teacher one day. • Teachers also motivated me to return to school: The teachers seeing me in the village were asking me why I am on the streets while I was the best learner in school. I had no answer to their question as it was shameful and too personal to talk about. The teachers were also helpful to support in anyway and advised me to revert back to them with any issues I would need them to help with. I was already 16 by the time I went back to school which was tough for me so I had the younger kids teasing and laughing at me all the time. But I never gave up as I had a dream to become someone in life.

My story get me so emotional to an extent to cry. 1996 – Grade 1 – Grade 7 ( Finished grade 7) San people in that region were called by diferent names to make spectacle – Some kind of bullying which cause learners to drop out from school. People in general do not understand what San learners are going through. I was one of the best learners in school – I was the 2nd best. My perseverance to complete school was twofold: Firstly the fact that I was one of the best learners in school and secondly teachers motivating me helped me not to dropout. My teacher’s words were: “Keep on, Keep on. You are doing great. One day you will become someone great”; “Look at your background where you are coming from and strive for better.” Imagine, my entire childhood I was walking barefoot and only wore new shoes in 2009 for the first time in my life. Others were teasing me about how ugly my feet looked and comparing it to an elephant and this would sometimes make me cry as it made me feel inferior. My high school years were not easy either as I had to walk about 7 km to school and back daily. Starvation was a problem…. My parents were not employed…… They had to plough to get food but no cattle at all. Sometimes you could stay a whole week without eating but just drinking water and had to walk the long distance to school without eating. However, something drastically happened to me while in grade 10 that changed my life. Pregnancy forced me to drop out of school. I stayed home in the village for about two years. It bothered me that my friends passed grade 10 while I am wasting time sitting at home and no friend to talk to. The situation just got worse because now there is an extra person – the baby to feed and clothe as well. That’s when I’ve decided to go back to school to complete grade 10 after which I passed with flying colors. In my own opinion, I think San learners are brilliant but dropout because they don’t know it. Going to boarding school far from my parents was not easy and being bullied by others and feeling inferior was the usual for me. The financial struggles were so immense that the fellow learners would tease you about how poor you are. However, I persevered and passed grade 12. I then went to the city for tertiary education with the help of the government’s support program. We do appreciate what the government is doing by paying for our tuition fees.

I started my school career in 2002 Grade 1 to 4 We attended class under a tree 2005 I moved to a school 12 km away from my house where I walked about 24km daily. We were faced by challenges especially during winter time as our parents couldn’t afford to buy us warm clothes to wear. We had to get up early in the morning and start to walk to school to get there in time. Sometimes we had to walk halfway and make a fire to warm up a bit before proceeding. We had to face the harsh cold weather condition barefoot or only wearing sandals. One great motivation was the school management who availed two of the classrooms for us to rather stay at school to avoid the lengthy walking distance. Hunger was another problem we were faced with …The school feeding program provided some maize-meal for us which was also not always available which forced us to sometimes hunt for birds or wild vegetables or fruits. Though, I never give up on myself but rather pushed through. The most exciting part was the fact that I was one of the best learners in school. I was fortunate to have been send to an urban school for grade 8 until I completed my grade 12. However, I was faced by another challenge where other fellow learners from wealthy families made fun of me not wearing nice clothes. Though what I kept on reminding myself is that education is the reason why I am in school. So I made a conscious decision to ignore them all. San are seen inferior to others in general in life and if you don’t have a heart like mine to ignore such you might fail. The government is giving support in terms of paying of studies, food and transport allowances but could be delayed in such a way to discourage you. My Parents, my motivation: My parents reminded me by referring back to their own life of suffering they had to endure because they did not have any education. They advise to me was to develop myself through education to have a better life just like any other individual out there. Furthermore, going to urban areas was a dream come true to any San child so the fact that my elder brother finished his secondary education in an urban school inspired me as this was one of my biggest dreams to also get to the urban towns to finish my studies. My perception of a town kept pushing me to go get my dream to one day live in a big town. This was the motivating factor to my school career success.

The school where I started my grade 1 only had up to grade 4 so I had to move to another school. Therefore, I had to move to another from grade 5 to grade 10 where we had to wake up early to walk a far distance as the school was quite far. This caused you to get to school a bit late and then you would be punished for late coming. Although we were punished, it never discouraged us to dropout of school. Punishment could be in the form of cleaning the school while others are attending classes which cause you to miss out on school work. Proper clothing and shoes was another challenge I had to face. I had to walk to school without waring any shoes while the sun was extremely hot. When I was in grade 10 one of the teachers from the lower grades offered to take me into her house and care to support me. This teacher was a big motivation as she kept on encouraging me to study on top of providing for my needs. She also advised my mother not to give up but to keep on encouraging me to complete school. Thanks to this teacher, I never gave up even when I failed grade 10 I went back to school and repeated grade 10. I then changed schools to do grade 11 and 12 and repeated grade 12 after failing the first time. Because of the move I did not have anyone like the teacher who used to support me which made it even harder for me to cope. Another good teacher felt sorry for me when he realized I am from the san community and offered his support with transport money back home. He further encouraged me not to give up. He told me his own life story about his educational career and how he also suffered but got success by becoming a teacher. He motivated me not to give up as I will get good opportunities when I finish my grade 12. After finishing grade 12 my brother told me about a program by the government that give support to further studies. With this assistance I enrolled at Lingua College where I completed my diploma and moved on the IUM for my degree.

I had no interest in school but rather loved music but had no other choice to go to school. However, I had a rough school life as I was a very naughty kid. I was still fighting with the urge to leave school and go do music as I had a dream to become an artist just like Lil Wayne the American Artist. I got involved in fights frequently and I later got myself expelled from school as a result. My parents later gave up on me, as they too were tired of keeping up with me as a troubled kid. Later when I got to high school, I realized that music alone in Namibia is not going to take you far. I started to focus more on my schoolwork and developed more disciple in my life. When I reached grade 10 I started to lose focus again and was involved in substance abuse. However, I never gave up on myself while going through all the teenager moods and confusion. I never imagined myself going to a university but thank God I am enrolled at the university. Role model: My uncle who was a police officer always inspired me to finish school. I always thought that one day when I grow up I want to be like him. Many of my friends dropped out and are now forced to do unskilled work.

I was raised by another lady not related to me and not my own mother which later took me back to my uncle where I was looking after my uncle’s cattle. My uncle only enrolled me in school when I was about 9 years old which was not a pleasant feeling to me as I was used to farming and was concerned about the cattle. So I started grade 1 eventually when I was 10 years of age and I was the taller than all other kids in my class. After completing grade 1, I was transferred to grade 6 as I was too mature for the class I was in. When I completed primary school and joined high school my life changed when I was introduced to alcohol and ladies which caused me to fail grade 8. I had to repeat grade 8 but could still not control my bad behavior and as a result got myself frequently expelled from school. In the meantime, the cattle I left at the farm also died so I realized that I do not have anything to fall back to if I had to lose my place in school. I had to take action and make a decision to part ways with my friends, which were a bad influence in my life. I started to focus more on my school career, passed grade 8 and 9, and unfortunately failed grade 10 due to emotional stress I was going through. This is the time I gave my life to God and became born again Christian. I then decided to look for a college where I can improve my points. I then approached the san counsel for assistance for my studies. A teacher from my previous school advised me how to repeat and keep on studying and keep myself busy daily and gave me a timetable to help me study. I tried to look for opportunities for work after failing grade 10 but it did not succeed. Back home in the village the san counsel advised me to make use of the program the government is providing for the san youth. I visited the office of NTA to see which college is authorized for me to approach to further my studies. I then got accepted at VTC to do auto mechanics even though my dream was to study ICT. The government paid for all fees and provided accommodation for us even though it was far and transportation was a challenge, which caused me to miss exams. I then changed to another college whereby I was accepted but had to write a general test for final acceptance. I failed the test about five times before I eventually got through, as I knew this is my dream. I passed my two-certification exams for A+ and N+ with flying colors and am currently doing PC engineering course with only one module before I will graduate. This makes me so happy to look back how I suffered with school and where I am now currently having achieved so much. Never give up in yourself but rather focus on who you are and where you see yourself in the future.

I had a tough time during my school career, as my parents were often changing jobs frequently and had to move from one town to another. My physical health was another challenge that I had to face during my school lifecycle, as I could not always attend school due to illness. My parents later decided to keep me home ….. The owner of the farm where my parents worked was actually a medical doctor and advised them to send me to school, as I will be fine. I was then enrolled for grade 1 but had to move to another town after grade 5 again which was a challenge for to adapt and concentrate as some of my fellow learners started to bully me. Bully went to such an extent that my fellow learners were calling me names and discriminating me as a san but I finished grade 7 despite it all. I could not continue to grade eight due to financial challenges my parents faced that year. I eventually was enrolled in high school the following year and did very well until I got to grade 10 and met some friends with bad influence. I started to waste my time with girls and bad friends, which caused me to fail grade 10. Therefore, I dropped out and stayed home for about 3 year doing odd jobs just to survive. What motivated me to keep on was the way my parents were suffering scared me and I would not want to go live like them one day. That’s when I made up my mind to do something that will support me, which brought studies to my mind. I then heard about an opportunity to study in Windhoek so I made my way to the regional counsel for more clarity. I was then given the opportunity to go study in Windhoek but found it hard to get into a college as I failed grade 10. Eventually I got a college where I attended classes and successfully completed my diploma. I furthered my studies by doing Professional Web Design certificate after which I found a job and still in the process to further my studies.

Being a san child was very difficult for me especially my primary school career. Our problems were economical poor. …………………

Don not wory what others are saying to you because those things that they are talking about you will just make you leave school. So please just focuse on your education and never mind what they saying to you because the road is long

According to out feelings and our understandings from what we have had, it encourage us to not drop out of school even though you facing problems we don't need mind on those things we must continue with our school until we succeed