Anna exposed

WindhoekGordon Joseph Anna Nicodemus has worked herself up from a trainee to a senior producer and assistant news editor at the Namibian Broadcasting Corporation (NBC). Born in the heart of Windhoek, Anna never imagined as a youngster that she would be at the forefront of television journalism. However, her life has been a bit of a miracle from the start. The youngest of six children, Anna's mother gave birth to her while she was in her forties and there were some complications. After Anna's birth at Katutura State Hospital, her mother had to remain there a little longer. She went home with her father, while her mother recuperated in hospital. “I think because I bonded with my daddy from start, I eventually became a daddy's girl,” she says. She tells us she loves her mother to bits, but Anna and her father have always had a special, indescribable bond. In 2007, tragedy struck and Anna's comfort and pillar of strength passed away. She describes the day her dad died as by far the darkest day in her life. “I was numb, I couldn't move. I just kept thinking that I would never hear his voice again. It was horrible,” she says. Anna tells us she was always one of those special children who excelled in languages, both in writing and speaking them. Initially the thought of studying journalism never crossed her mind and she was adamant that she wanted to become a nurse or a lawyer. After high school, however, she felt lost. Although she did well in matric, Anna didn't apply to any tertiary institution and was stuck at home. During this time she joined a computer company as a junior programmer and although she has always been able to do anything she puts her mind to, Anna and computers just didn't gel. They were like oil and water, she says. She then applied to become part of an NBC training programme. Anna became a cadet reporter for radio news. She didn't find this too fulfilling and was thrilled when she was given a chance to move to the television current affairs department. This allowed her to harness her skills in feature writing and she began to work with people - something she has always loved doing. While working the current affairs program, Open File, Anna got a chance to change lives and bring an entire nation to tears. She slowly became known as the miracle journalist, who broke the stories that most Namibians didn't even know existed. Still, the fact that she only had Grade 12 bothered her. She enrolled for journalism studies at the Cape Peninsula University of Technology (CPUT), which she completed. She then returned to NBC in 2003, where she continued working on programmes such as Open File. Her hard work, commitment charm and warmth slowly propelled her up the ranks. She went from assistant producer to producer and eventually became a senior producer at the national broadcaster. Anna also reveals that she is single after a painful break-up. She describes breaking the story on leprosy in the Okavango Region has her most moving piece of journalism during her time at Open File. “We went to the village after we received a call that there is a village of people with leprosy in Namibia. Myself and the camera man went there, but we first had to go back to the car and compose ourselves after we saw the people,” she says. The bubbly presenter says that sadly many people these days think journalism is all about glamour and being known. Anna encourages her peers to be passionate about helping others. “It's a selfless career choice,” she says.