LÜDERITZ - Born at Ekamba village in Oshigambo in Oshikoto Region, Theopolina Anna Ndahekelekwa Mushelenga - Negumbo was raised by her paternal grandmother’s sister “kuku Nakambale” at Omundingilo village in Oshigambo. Despite her humble beginnings, she did not give up her dream to acquire a doctoral degree.
At the age of nine, Theopolina moved back to her parents’ house at Ekamba.
At the age of 46, she managed to acquire a doctorate in education.
In terms of basic education she attended Oshigambo parochial kindergarten, Oshigambo Primary, Omukwiyugwemanya Combined School and Oluno Senior Secondary School now christened Andimba Toivo ya Toivo Secondary School.
“For my tertiary education, I attended the former Ongwediva College of Education where I obtained a Basic Education Teacher Diploma (BETD) and furthered my studies via distance at the University of Namibia, where I obtained a Diploma in Education African languages [DEAL] and Management in Education and Leadership. After a long break of seven years, I furthered my studies at the University of Stellenbosch where I obtained my Honors degree in 2014, my Masters 2016 and my PhD last year. It took me two years to complete my doctorate in education curriculum studies (Social science). I am happy to mention that I published an article in the journal “Yesterday and Today “in 2017,” she said with pride.
She further stated that during her studies, she sometimes went through financial challenges since she was on unpaid leave and she was a married mother of four, but by the grace of God she managed to overcome those challenges and achieved her goal.
“My accomplishments are being given an opportunity to contribute to the education sector through teaching. I am currently teaching Social studies and Religious and moral education at Diaz Primary School in Lüderitz,” reflected the soft-spoken Dr Negumbo.
A word of inspiration from Dr Negumbo to the youth is that everything in this life is not just a given but should be earned through hard work. “Young people should learn to be themselves and have positive attitudes towards their lives. They should set goals and be determined on what they want to achieve in life. “If I have to expand on this using myself as an example. I am a happily married woman with a lot of responsibilities but I decided to leave my house and my husband behind to go further my studies. Young people should jump to the opportunities, while they do not have responsibilities. The Namibian youth should wake up and work extremely hard to build our country,” concluded Dr Negumbo.