Windhoek
A Windhoek-based artisan, Johannes Nuugonya, plans to present President Hage Geingob with model planes as a New Year’s gift and to wish the president the best in his endeavours in 2016.
Nuugonya, aged 33, is from Onyanya village in the Oshikoto Region and says the present would also showcase his unrecognised talent.
He has so far designed more than 100 model radios, aeroplanes and cars. The models are made from wood and glass. He says he uses these materials because they are durable and can withstand changing weather conditions.
Nuugonya believes his artistic skill is a natural talent. “I started doing artisan work when I was in Grade 8 and I did it for fun. As the years went by I started to realise my talent, but I lacked support so that I could take it to greater heights,” he says.
His dream is to start an arts academy, where he can transmit his knowledge to others who are finding it difficult to make progress in the academic world. He is currently employed at a local shop in Windhoek and does his artisan work in his spare time.
He works on his projects in the yard at the back of his room in Katutura and says this has helped him pull through some rough patches in life. He gets paid reasonably well when he has good customers, which is only occasionally.
Despite the strides he has made, he still finds it difficult to make the business sustainable due to lack of customers and suitable materials, as certain types of wood can only be found in the northern parts of the country. Nuugonya appealed to sympathetic financiers to assist him with funds to grow his small business and thus enable him to produce more products and at the same time create employment.