 African needs to be built by African. We need to believe in our natural assets that we have, which is the landscape, the minerals, the rich culture. A lot of non-Africans are profiting from African resources, but us, we are not because we don't believe in Africa is African. Good morning. Still on November land. Believe me or not, this has been one of the best experience ever. And I just want to tell you all that, if you ever come to Namibia, please try and explore the northern part of Namibia. You know, the last time I was here, I loved it, but it was just a day, but this time I ended up spending like almost 10 days in here. Oh my goodness. This is a Angola homestead. This is how the Vambo people used to live and one person decided to, I mean, transform the homestead into a lodge. It's crazy. I mean, people who do something like this are super crazy because there is no tourist attraction in here, but she felt like doing something like this to celebrate its own people so that other people will come and experience their own culture. This is not a show. This is a live homestead where I was born. When you come to Angola homestead, that is how we live. It's not a show set up for the tourists. This is an authentic. It's the first lodge in November land located in the middle of a village in the homestead. And the idea is to offer authentic village homestead experience and to promote and preserve our culture. A lot of youngsters and our kids are growing up in town, but they are missing out on our culture. I think the person behind this deserves a round of applause. This is where I slept. You might think that, oh, that's a madhouse. Now, if I take you in there, you will definitely be shocked. Dimey. Good morning, ma'am. Ah, I thought you would be sleeping. No, I'm in the early bed. Early bed. Oh, wow. Actually, you're not lying to me. I'm not lying. So I came here with timing to get out with the rest of the team. Yeah. And how has the notice been? We experienced the different cultural activities. I think for me, it was the authenticity. It was so authentic. It was very real. I'm a bamboo myself. I belong to the bamboo culture, but I've never seen this type of activities in depth like that. Wow. So yeah, this was insightful for me. Very insightful. And I think I encourage everybody to have experienced this, even just once in a lifetime. Even once in a lifetime. Yeah. I just read on the internet that the person who owns this is a woman. Yes, it is. Can you believe it? I'm so proud of her. She's empowering the youth. I've seen so many people walking around this place. She employs all those people. I'm proud of her. And one thing that really shocks me is the fact that even this is, yeah, this is a lodge, right? Yeah. But in the day, her house is just right behind her. Yeah. Right. So she built the lodge behind her house. Her parent's house. That's her parent's house. Yeah. And the house is still in its authentic form. Yeah. Which I think it's incredible. And one thing that really surprised me, the fact that when she established this lodge, she felt like she knew to educate or empower the youth in this community. With the academia, of course. And that's when she set up an academy. Yeah. The only economy in the rural area is the shebeens. Shebeens is the only thing that was there to do nothing else. Then we thought, let's start an academy called Shebeenscape so that the youth escape shebeens, come to a safe hub, learn skills. When they go back, they must start running their dressmaking shop or catering businesses, but in a more professional and hygienic way. And I think I'm so, I'm so happy that she, she also allows the guests to, you know, perusal through her parents' house. I mean, it's private space, but she said, you know, guys, I want you to have the full on experience so you can definitely go through and have an actual village tour. The one running. It's amazing, man. I've never seen anything like this before. But to be honest, for me, I feel like this is one of the best places I've ever been because I've been able to enjoy myself in my own authentic way. Listen, I mean, this is my kind of place. So if you're a village boy and you find yourself in the city and you're thinking that you're losing it, please, my brother, my sister, choose. I think even yesterday, the conversation we were having about, it's so cool how we were in our element. Yes, we were creating, but we were having so much fun and it felt so free. It just felt like, you know, so peaceful. We were really in that element. Exactly. Yeah. So I'm just going to tell you, choose Angula. Village Homestead. See, it's a village, you know, and it takes a village to raise a child. But when I was growing up, I never knew that in the evening you have to, like, sit somewhere and then have meetings. You know, when we came here, we have two people in our team that loves having a meeting in here and they have a meeting in here with alcohol. So if you love alcohol, my brother, this is actually the best place for you. Imagine sitting in here drinking alcohol, fire is on. Whoa. Believe me or not, this is the best experience ever. Many times I have to say this on this channel and I don't know how many times people have been trying to discourage me from putting Africa on the map. I don't know how hard you're going to try to stop me from telling the positive stories about Africa because anytime I try to preach about the positives of Africa, so many of you come at me, especially Africans, telling me that, yo, Africa is not perfect. And I don't remember the last time I stood in here to say that Africa is perfect. What inspires me to do more of what I do is the fact that Africa got its own challenges, but few Africans are carrying Africa on their back, taking control of their own narrative, just to change the Africa that we all know. And this is why I am here to celebrate them. I am here to let you know that people like this exist despite their challenges. The woman that I'm going to celebrate today deserves a round of applause from all of us. Good morning, Madam Thilia. Good morning, Namibia. Left this country, came back, saw the problems that most of us have been seeing, but she decided to solve the problem in her own way. This is what I stand for and the best way to clap for her is to hit the like button. Subscribe for more stories like this. Thank you. Oh, wow. You know, I guess you have many Ghanaian friends then. Yes, I grew up, I did my high school with Ghanaian. Wow. Were you born and raised in Namibia? Yes, born and bred in Namibia, but I did part of my high school in Cuba, and we were sharing one high school with students from Ghana. How did you end up in Cuba then? Long story, I, with a group of young girls in 1988, we decided to live in Namibia without the knowledge of our parents. We went to Angola and we were fortunate to be the group of students that were sent to Cuba to complete the high school. Hmm. You left just like that or you left because of a particular reason? At the age of 15, that particular year, 1988, most of the schools in northern part of the country were being closed in protesting against or in favor of the implementation of the resolution, UN Resolution 435. We wanted as a country to be given an opportunity to conduct a democratic election. And because that was not granted, a lot of youth in the country started demonstrating and closing schools. And I read in the church newsletters that all the kids that are crossing into Angola, they are in safe hand and they are being sent to school. And a best friend of mine left earlier and I thought there's no way Monika is going to complete grade 10 earlier than me. I'm also going to join the reparation movement. So we ran away from our parents at the age of 15 and I ended up being sent to Cuba. How because you want to be educated? Yeah. Yeah. That's amazing. But you know, I just came in here for the first time and I just want to commend you for the great job that you've done in here. This is incredible and someone coming from Ghana, I never knew something like this actually existed here. And I know and believe that there are so many Namibians who are going to see this video that don't even know that something like this exists in the northern part of Namibia. In the beginning it was difficult because they were in the north central region which used to be called Avambolene. It was a war zone. There's no animals. So tourists exited Tosha using Avambolene as a drive-through to Pune or vice versa. So we started and every tour operator that brings tourists there, they never stop booking us. And in the first year when we started, maybe we'll get a guest one in three months, the whole village is running. They can't start there, they can't start there. The road that we have used now, it was in there, we used to use a feeder road and we put arrows to say this direction, on Gula this direction. And the kettlehead that will come and turn the arrow on the other side and then it will get lost in the village. But everybody was so helpful in the village. The moment they see the tourists, then they say, no, these are looking for the lodge. Then they say, Gula is that side, Homestead is that side. So that's how we started. When I grew up, when I started in London, I had a lot of friends from West Africa. What good thing that I like from West African is the culture. They even send their kids to finish high school first in Ghana or Nigeria and then they come back for the university. Why? Because they don't want them to lose out on the character. But at Namibia, we're losing out on the character because we're growing up in the urban area. Our kids don't come to the village because there's nothing, there's nothing. So Gula Village Homestead is suitable for the international guests, but also to the Namibian boys and girls that are growing up in town. But when they come back home in December, they are bought, they can come to us and learn how to cook the traditional food, mulled in pots, raiting donkey. I swear this is faster than Mercedes Benz. So this area was big under the war area. So this is where they grew and then the villages started developing from here. Oh wow. So that's what we do there. So tourists coming to Angola, they are making such a huge difference to the young boys and girls in rural area, township, and those living in the outskirts of major national parks. And that's how we, when we started, there were no skills. And we thought why don't we also start a center so that the young boys and girls that are just sitting in the shebin because the only economy in the rural area is the shebeens. Shebin is the only thing that was there at Angola, nothing else. Then we thought let's start an academy called Shebin Escape so that the youth escape shebeens, come to a safe hub, learn a skill. We're not saying they shouldn't go back to the shebin, but when they go back, they must start running their dressmaking shop or catering to businesses, but in a more professional and hygienic way. So Angola Academy started with two programs, Hospitality and Swing. So tell me more about this academy. Okay, Homestead Academy, it was established in 2019. So now as it's growing, it's also to improve the rural areas people. So they tend to know that okay, if I go out of school, there's a second chance for me. Yes, I want to improve my people's life of living whereby we have that belief of people saying I know if I'm to go to school, I want to work in the government. For me, it does not work like that. For me is I want to teach them to do something better for themselves and for the next generation to come. Yes. So definitely for me what I tell them, don't come here to study and pass and go home and tell me you want government job, create job for others. Yes. A big round of applause man. Okay, thank you. That's so beautiful man. How do you feel when your students graduate and they start having their own farms? It's like I created the world for them. I'll be feeling proud. I can't wait even to go to their farm, visiting their farm and here comes with a plate of tomato or something like that. So definitely that's what I want. In the next two years that's what I want to see. I'm even planning in case one of them will not even have maybe starting capital because in agriculture you don't expect to, people think you need a lot of capital for you to start, but then it's not like that. You can start with a single chicken, but then in the next two months it can give you more than what you expect. Where we are right now is the clothing production of Homestead Schools and Technical Institute, right? Isn't it an institute, an academy? Yes. It's an academy. And who are you and what you're doing here? Labrinha Kanana, I'm doing clothing production at Homestead Schools and Technical Education Academy. The training is according to NTA curriculum, but our training is not limited. We are being trained extra mile. They look for us visiting instructors, not only the ones that are from our country. Visiting instructors like from SA, Philippine, then they train us more. It's not limited. If it's about fashion, we can do anything. I heard you guys are designing what you call the reusable sanitary pad. Are you the one in charge? I'm the one in charge of the group from the construction of the patent for the sanitary pad until the whole process of sewing, I can do all the tasks with the help of the other trainees and our instructors. There is this project that you're working on, which is under the team, Restoring Girls Dignity. Yes. Can you tell me more about that? Because our center is so well equipped and in the evening the machines are underutilized. We thought less start producing things that are needed by the community in our surrounding. And then we also started doing washable sanitary pads because the number of young girls in Africa missing school days due to menstruation because they don't have anything. I grew up in Cuba and in Cuba we used to use cotton and newspaper. So I know, I know it's a problem and more so in the rural area where predominantly the majority of the people are dependent on social grant or income and from running a shipping and selling alcohol. So a number of them are going to miss school days because they don't have the sanitary pads. The project you are talking about of sanitary pad, I was part of the patent making for the sanitary pad from the scratch. All the sizes, we have small, medium and large. I'm part of the everything that is happening here in the home state. You are once a student. I have been a student but I'm also an apprentice. Apprentice means you are you are learning and working at the center. I have been working in the production hub and also attending classes. After attending classes, I come and join the production hub. And later we realized the students that are coming to our center are hungry because some are walking 10 kilometers. Then we thought let's start a garden so that we can give them maybe a vegetable soup or salad. Later we realized this garden is growing and the community are now coming to buy things and then we started offering agriculture. Do I teach her? Yes, definitely. What do you teach in here? So here I teach agriculture. This echoes in the school but now this one is under production hub. So whenever you are teaching people, so there should be something on the ground to show an example that this will what you are doing. More like a practical. Definitely. Doesn't mean that you have the theory aspect too. You go to the class to teach. Yes, we go in the class, we teach, we come out, we do practical outside, then we show them how things are being done. For example, like yesterday we did transplanting there. So after now having the theory, so we come in the field, then we demonstrate how do we transplant. So which one is suitable for transplanting and which one does not suit for transplanting. Why is this course so important? This course is very much important because in Namibia, so we are not self-reliance when it comes to food security. So now we want to teach everybody so that everyone can able to have its own food. So we don't normally train for to work in the industry, but we train so that everyone should stand on their own because now currently now we don't have a lot of work in Namibia. So for example now, if you have your own land, you can grow your own tomato, own green paper so you can make a business out of it. Are you a student here? Yes, I'm a student here. What are you studying? I'm studying agriculture, hot culture. Only hot culture? Yes. You're not a big fan of poultry? Also poultry is additional. It's additional? Additional. Oh okay. But how long have you been in this school? I have been here one year, two months now. Oh, but how long is the course? The course is one year, six months. One year, six months? Yes. So you're not done? Not yet. Three more months to go? Yes. And after three months, what are you going to do? I just want to have my own farm, plant my own vegetables and provide my own food and help my family make my own money. Wow. Before coming to this school, what were you doing? I was just home doing nothing, but then I came up with the idea of having my own business and the head of this school that there is also agriculture and agriculture is very good in our country. You can make plants, plant anything and sell to the nation. Wow. You want to feed your family or you want to feed the nation? The nation and my family. But myself first. When the tourists want to go in the village, they want to be guided and then we thought, why can't we also offer tour guiding program? So now we offer for discipline, hospitality, clothing, agriculture and tourist guiding. What drives you? It's the passion to support. Everybody is saying, you know, the government is saying we want to create 121 youth rural enterprises. Where will these enterprises are coming from if all of us are just building businesses in urban center? It's fulfilling for me. Everybody's coming to Ongola ask me, you don't make money, but what drives you? I'm busy 24 seven, but that is fulfilling for me to see a young boy or a girl that come to our center with absolutely no hope or nothing. And they work out of our center to become one of the most sought after employees in the industry. So that gives me the drive. It makes me excited to wake up every morning to do what I'm doing. If you're not making more money, or if you're not making a lot of money, or the vision of the company is not to make money, how do you find a project? We it's not to make money, but is to make sure that we run it sustainably. We run it sustainably. If you ask me during COVID, if we were not in rural area, I would have sold Ongola. I would have sold Ongola because it was tough. It was tough, but I met one of the successful tour guide in Uganda and he said, Ilya, don't give up. I have four lodges in national parks in Uganda and I'm happy. Even up to now we are thinking, can we also not maybe get a partner overseas who will be marketing our lodge and send the traffic to us because we're not making it. We're not making it. But yeah, I spend almost my whole time looking for opportunity for the center to be sustainable because the tuition fee alone from the college side of the business will not make us break even. I'm also working on a concept to make Ongola a deep place. If you come to Namibia, any tourists coming to Namibia looking for African cuisine, you don't need to go to Ghana to to have shiitou. You have to come to Ongola. So if you come to Namibia and you are looking for real African cuisine, so we want Ongola to be a place known for the African cuisine. What has been the biggest challenge since you started this? Okay, you also supported the project because the courier shop is supporting the project for the sanitary place. Tourism side of things being located in an area which is not among the classic Namibia tour. I don't understand who came up with classic Namibia tour or I don't know who came up with the 10 top destinations of Namibia. Who said if you don't have animals, you don't have the sea, you don't have the landscape, that's not tourism. That is my biggest challenge that the government is still stuck in the colonial ways of marketing a destination. So being located in off the beaten track is a challenge. So that to me is one of the biggest challenge that the government, we are not in a conservancy, you are not in the classic Namibia tour, you are not in the to me that is a challenge and it keeps me awake every day of my life. And to you, the new dawn of tourism is beyond wildlife and dunes. Yes. That's incredible and I hope and believe that this video will change so many minds for them to choose this destination as a place to sleep. I think I've been here and I know that I will tell the story better than anyone else. If you had a chance to change one thing in Namibia, what would it be? Is to inform the world out there that Namibia is not only about animals and sea, but Namibia is about people. And when you come to Namibia, you need to come and meet people and one of the places to meet people is a mullah of St George. I want to say thank you so much for talking to me and I really appreciate your time. Thank you. Thank you.