Having a heart for the youth

Michelline Nawatises Ester Simon is a 24-year-old student leader, who believes in strengthening bonds of solidarity between Namibia youth and Africa as a whole.Simon is a firmly rooted youth activist who believes in Pan-Africanism and the spirit of Ubuntu. She was born and raised in the beautiful coastal town of Swakopmund and attended Swakopmund Secondary School. She hold a bachelor’s degree in English and literature, as well as an honours degree in communication from Nust.Simon currently serves as the president of the Namibia National Students Organisation (Nanso) and regionally as the communication and publicity officer for the Southern African Students Union (SASU). In addition, she serves as the president of the African Union Youth Club.Simon fulfils the responsibilities entrusted in her by Nanso and is currently working on three major projects - the Nanso Student Voice Magazine and establishing the Free Education Committee and the Fund A Student Scheme.The Free Education Committee will include professionals from different educational backgrounds, who will conduct a study that looks into the feasibility of free tertiary education in Namibia.It will also suggest ways in which to turn this vision into a reality. The funding scheme aims to raise funds to assist needy students, since many have been rejected by the Namibia Students Financial Assistance Fund (NSFAF).Simon served as Nanso’s national secretary for gender and social welfare before becoming its president. “I felt there was so much more I could still do to assist others when my tenure as the secretary for gender was coming to an end. I generally wanted to be the voice of the voiceless and just champion the mandate of the organisation further,” she says.Her leadership roles stretch back to when she was 16 years old in grade 10 at Swakopmund Secondary School, where she was firstly elected gender and social welfare secretary of her school branch in 2010 to 2011. In 2012, she was elected to serve as the regional secretary for political and internal affairs for the Erongo Region, and from 2013 to 2014 she served as the Nanso branch secretary for Nust.At the 2015 Nanso congress she was elected as the national secretary for gender and social welfare and in 2017.She was also elected to serve as the communication and publicity officer for SASU, which is the mother body for SADC students.“Leading a group of dynamic young people requires one to be driven by indiscrimination and democracy and always be open to a free contestation of ideas. Fairness, integrity, accountability and having an open door policy are the principals that govern my leadership,” Simon explains.This then makes it more comfortable and easier to create an innovative environment. “It mostly comes with encouragement; making sure that I give the team a word of encouragement to continue pushing, listening to each members ideas, empowering them to make decisions and finally acknowledging achievements. And also creating an atmosphere where we socialise and get to know each other on a more personal level, which enhances our day to day interactions and how we work together,” Simon says.When asked how she feels about being listed among the 100 most influential African leaders, Simon said it is an honour. “It is humbling, especially when I am chosen among very influential people that I have been looking up to; the likes of the youngest minister of Botswana, and that Africa sees me being able to sit at the same table with people like her.” She tells The Zone how pleasing it is that she can represent not only young people, but the entire country as a whole. She describes it as victory for all Namibian young people. “This continental achievement generally does not mean that we have arrived, it motivates us as the youth to go forward, to continue fighting, to continue representing our people and to continue setting the bar high.“In order to address generational challenges, we are thus being inspired by the three pillars of rebuilding, realigning and reuniting our student movement.” As Nanso president her greatest responsibility is to provide political direction.“This is the political direction in which the organisation must trudge in order to deliver on our mandate and on our generational mission of free quality education, in order to achieve socio-economic freedom for students in particular and youth in general. “This will be achieved by constant engagement and involvement at national education policy level, partnerships with stakeholders and finally being involved and keeping alive community work and international programmes for our students, in particular.”

Having a heart for the youth

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Namibian Sun 2025-05-12

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Having a heart for the youth

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Namibian Sun 2025-05-12

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