Taking your own dream to task

Nelson Daniel Weyulu Haihambo is a 28-year-old founder of the soon to be hosted Harambee Youth awards that celebrate commitment and hard work in various disciplines delivered by the youth. The awards founder grew up in a village called Okongo in the Ohangwena region. “Back in the days there was not electricity in my village, and that really shaped my experience growing up there. I arrived in the capital city many years later and experienced things that I had never seen before,” he shared. Nelson says he had to decide very early that he wasn’t going to stay in the village and waste his life but “rather go to big city and do it big there.”He describes himself as leader, mentor, husband, preacher and philanthropist, someone that is in the business of being a “life style architect.”He says that entrepreneurship, as much as life, is about “assuming your present conditions and envisioning a better future, regardless of how things are now.”Nelson shares that he is fundamentally inspired by coming up with solutions for communities that are plagued with socio-economic problems, stating that “creating solutions in society is what keeps me moving forward, with the idea in mind that one day I will be a solution supplier in this country.”Nelson has no formal education beyond high school, something he says he is looking to change in the coming years. He generally stays apolitical, but says that he is passionate about transforming the lives of young Namibian. “I want to help take people from nothing to something, as we bring out the best in that particular individual,” he shared. Nelson says that his dream is for young people to function at maximum ability and further says he loves the feeling of someone coming back to him saying “I am who I am today because of you,” to which he adds; “this isn’t about pride, it is simply about gauging empowerment.”On the quirkier side, Nelson shared with The Zone that most people don’t know that he is a twin, and that his brother, Desmond Haihambo, was named after South Africa’s Desmond Tutu, and he, Nelson, named after South African struggle hero, Nelson Mandela. He also shared that most people think he is either Zimbabwean or Nigerian, derived from his appearance, adding that maybe people don’t know that he is also a pastor. “Most people also think that I am a university graduate, but I only have Grade 12 with 15 points, and still I thought something of myself, and that is an important part of making it,” he declared. When The Zone asked Nelson about people that have motivated him during his journey to self-actualisation, he shared that Uebert Angel from the United Kingdom has been a great force of influence in his life. “What I see in that man is wisdom, knowledge that I believe cannot be found anywhere else. I am where I am today because of him,” he said in great appreciation. He says that the defining moment in his life that made him ultimately take the course that he has in life, was formed by a life riddled with poverty and strife back in the village. “I had to walk several kilometres every day to get to school, only with a bottle of Oshikundu as the meal for the day,” he remembered. “Sometimes there wasn’t any food at all but still through all of the challenges, I started realising that I had to take up the duty and responsibility of changing my own life for the better. I knew that I had to work harder and risk a lot more to be where I am today,” he said.Nelson said that he also realised that life was a risk in itself but that “if you don’t take the risk you are risking your life.”On the business front, he says another one of his growing pains has been trying to start projects or a business without any capital resources. “The banks ask for security yet you are just a young entrepreneur and your parents also have no such assets that are equal to the funds being requested,” he said. “My life depends on my business ventures taken that I don’t have formal employment to cater for my household needs,” Nelson shared. To other young people like him, who are trying to make it under difficult circumstances, Nelson advices that “there is no gain without pain,” and adds that “if you want to be an entrepreneur, you should be single minded in your endeavours,” saying that’s the only way you get to achieve your set goals, in business and in life. In the future, he says that he would like to build houses, have his own university and hotel, as well as venture into real estate and foreign exchange services. “I would also like to have the biggest charity in the country that can feed 10 000 people at a time” he said. His family he says, has been of great assistance to him in the past and present, with his wife, Loide Weyulu Haihambo, taking him to another level of success, something he says he could not have done without her. To the Namibian youth Nelson says: “Success is waiting for those that are planned and ready for it,” with those that dedicate themselves to their mission, always arriving at the end because of the sheer determination and dedicated invested into making that dream a reality. “Believe in yourself, and follow your instincts and find what you can do best and bring it to accomplishment before you go to the next thing” he said in conclusion.Keith Vries

Taking your own dream to task

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Namibian Sun 2025-07-04

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Taking your own dream to task

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Namibian Sun 2025-07-04

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