A veteran of the liberation struggle, Theophilus Kamberuka, says it was the Founding President's constant encouragement that kept a lot of young people motivated in exile.
Kamberuka went into exile at the age of 15 in 1975 and was one of the many Namibians who were encouraged to study abroad by the Founding President.
After military training and attending school at Nyango, Kamberuka and others were sent to Sierra Leone for secondary education.
"I left Sierra Leone; I came back as a teacher in Kwanza Sul, and then from there I went to Cuba for further education from 1981 until 1984. It was a routine. You go to school and come disseminate the info. That's how our Founding Father was teaching us what to do. Go there, get the knowledge, and bring the knowledge to others."
After Cuba, Kamberuka went to Egypt, where he studied marine engineering for 8 years, and even after Independence, he still had to continue with the training process.
"We embarked on the programme, which we call training and recruitment. During that time, we trained about 79 Namibian officers and engineers. When we came, we found that there were no people trained as officers, and we used to hire from abroad. We started it in 1992 and by 2004, Walvisbay was fully occupied with Namibian officers on our patrol vessels."
The veteran talked about how he was involved in constructing Namibia's first vessels.
"The first vessel was in Norway, that is Nathaniel Maxuilili, and the second vessel was constructed in Spain; we call it Anna "Kakurukaze" Mungunda, I was there too. And the last one, I call it a piece of art because it was one of the modern and sophisticated vessels. It was a research vessel, which we call Mirabilis. Those are the products I have overseen and supervised the construction of; they are still existing, and they are working. All this I give thanks to the founding father who had that vision that we should. Education is part of his passion."
Kamberuka says the late Founding President always made it a point to visit Namibians who were studying abroad.