Madam Boss of construction sites

Michelline Nawatises

Sara Iyaloo Ekondo is the youngest of eight children. Her schooling career started in Omhakoya, a village in northern Namibia where she commenced her primary education before parents sent her to Windhoek at the age of eight.

The changing of schools taught her adaptability and cemented the understanding that change is a constant that needs to be embraced as it brings growth. Her passion for service saw her taking up many leadership roles at school, excelling and receiving several accolades.

After matriculating from Jan Mohr Secondary School, she was admitted to the University of Cape Town to pursue her first degree in construction studies and was fortunate to obtain a bursary from the National Housing Enterprise which lifted the financial burden and made it easier to focus on studies. Thereafter, she went on to do a BSc (Hons) in quantity surveying at the same institution.

Ekondo currently works as a site agent at NHE and her role entails regular visits to construction sites, monitoring project budgets regularly, obtaining all extras and variations on time to get them approved, preparing payment certificates timeously and accurately under contract terms, preparing project reports, interacting with local authorities and ensuring that their regulations are adhered to during construction.

One of the greatest highlights for her is having the privilege to work on large housing projects in most of the major towns in the north, seeing the value these properties add to these micro-economies (through the local authorities and increasing populations) and improved living standards through the provision of decent shelter.

“I am optimistic about my career advancement within the built environment as well as branching out to other sectors to add value to society,” she says.

Ekondo and her siblings also run a commercial venture focusing on the production of horticultural crops. She adds that although we are faced with a pandemic, Stephen Covey put it well in saying, “In the absence of wake-up calls, many of us never really confront the critical issues of life”.

“I am convinced that the current crisis will inspire creativity amongst Africans. There’ll be a rise in sustainable innovation which will see Africa relinquish some of its dependence on other states and it excites me to be a part of this move,” she says boldly.

Ekondo would like to urge young people to realise that change will not come if they wait for some other person or some other time.

“We are the ones we have been waiting for; we are the change we seek. Although I am still a work in progress, I credit all of my achievements thus far to Almighty God and the great support system with which He has blessed me in the form of my loving family, great friends and inspiring mentors,” she says.