Frieda’s Story – NELGA Success Story

Frieda Nangolo is a 2020 NELGA-DAAD scholarship holder at Namibian University of Science and Technology (NUST) Department of Land and Property Sciences (DLPS).  She shares her story on the impact of the NELGA experience post-graduation.

In 2017, Frieda Nangolo was granted the opportunity to further her studies with a scholarship from the German Academic Exchange Service (DAAD), a financial support through the Network of Excellence on Land Governance in Africa (NELGA). An optimist by nature, Frieda believed that hard work and a positive attitude were the keys to getting the scholarship and excelling as the first graduate within her scholarship group in 2020.

“I grew up in Onkani village in the northern parts of Namibia. After High School, I moved to Windhoek, where I enrolled for an undergraduate degree in Property Studies at Namibia University of Science & Technology (NUST). I completed my degree in 2014 and graduated in 2015. I started working as an intern at Windhoek Municipality, where I gained working experience in the land industry. However, I felt there was more I needed to learn. In 2017, I got a golden opportunity to further my studies with a scholarship from DAAD for a Masters in Spatial Sciences,” said Frieda.

The scholarship covered Frieda’s tuition, personal needs, and study materials. This came in handy, as she balanced her studies while having a full-time job, running an online masters degree concurrently and her family life. Excelling at her graduation, Frieda opined that, “My experience studying with DAAD was a good one. It  challenged me at some points as it brought out a different side of me which I never thought I have.”

Frieda was fortunate enough to complete her studies in 2020 before the Covid-19 pandemic hit Namibia.