Miss Namibia

Adele Basson

Where did you grow up? Tell us a little about your home town/city, and family.
I grew up in the Capital of Namibia, Windhoek. Even though it is the capital, and our city, it will definitely be seen as a town in many countries around the world. The infrastructure is one to compare with major cities in the world, but due to the small population we are all still on first name bases with each other. The population of Windhoek is about 400,000. I love this town, and its people. We have a very close community with a rich and proud cultural diversity.I am the eldest of 2 children. My “little” brother, Eddie, is 6 years younger than I am, and 2 metres tall. My parents, dad, Jonathan and mum, Loretta, raised us. They both grew up in Namibia too and work as Estate Agents (realtors). Even though my brother and I differ quite a few years in age, we get along very well and share a lot. My parents have always been very supportive and encouraged us to always do our best no matter what challenges we might face in life.

What Jobs have you done? What was the most interesting/bizarre?
When I was still in high school, I worked as a waitress in a restaurant. I heard that I had the opportunity to go to Germany as an exchange student. I started looking for a job, which paid a little more, as I had to save as much pocket money as possible. I found a job at a pizza place, which I enjoyed a lot. We made pizzas and served customers. This job helped me to save enough money to also go to the USA as an exchange student.At university I worked on our Carnival committee but that was all charity work. This made me realize the joy of work, even though it does not generate an income, but serving people in need. During the university holidays I worked as an Estate Agent at my parents business, but in my final year of my law studies I worked for a law firm to gain some experience. To me working as an Estate Agent was most interesting as you deal with people form all walks of life everyday, you develop your skills as a negotiator, valuator and salesman. You also deal with contracts and all the legal facts.

What are your career ambitions, how do you plan to realise them?
I graduated with a law degree at the end of last year and did a 6-month practical legal training course this year where I finished top of my class. I love law, especially family law, and my ultimate goal is to become a family advocate.As family law is not yet well established in Namibia, I see it as a great personal challenge to first establish my self as a successful general legal practitioner, and then go on to making a meaningful contribution towards the development of family law in my country. Our legal system is based on Roman Dutch law, as is the case in our neighbouring country, South Africa, which has a well developed family law system from which we as Namibians can learn a lot.

What is the proudest moment of your life? (Not including winning your National Title)
To me the proudest moment is most definitely the day I graduated with my law degree.

What was the funniest/most embarrassing moment of your life?
At the very young and tender age of 6 I was chosen to partake in a national literacy talent competition. My teacher told me that as the curtains open I must take one step forward before starting with my poem. Needless to say that when I finished the poem I forgot to take that step back again and the curtains closed behind me. This left me red faced because everyone there was laughing at me.

How has your life changed since winning your National Title?
You become a national symbol and one everybody is very proud of. To some extend you become an icon to many people. It is definitely an honour to be representing our proud young nation, being a patriotic Namibian dedicated to the nation building process. Many doors have opened for me since holding the title. This has given me a platform to lend a more helping hand. It takes a lot of dedication but it is wonderful to be the “people’s princess”.

Tell us about an interesting event you have attended, or a person that you have met.
To me it was a great privilege to meet the honourable Prime Minister Theo-Ben Gurrirab. It was amazing to hear some of his stories about the development of our country and all the things that go with being part of the ruler of the nation.

What would you like to do, if you became Miss World 2004?
It would be my ideal to be even more dedicated and involved in making a positive contribution toward the development and advertising our young nation and breathtaking country.I would live up to the glorious and wonderful title to the best of my ability and to never forget that I am a proud patriotic Namibian.

If you had a personal motto what would it be?
To appreciate a sense of humour and to never have any regrets about things you have done in life.Through every event or situation we have a chance to learn something and add to the values of life. By regretting something you indirectly say you did not want to learn that valuable lesson life had to teach you.

Give details of any charitable work undertaken?
During my university years I served on the varsity Carnival Committee. We were a student committee that organised all the rag events for the residences and the first years. Through different projects we raised N$350,000.00 during the year. This money was donated to Matie Community Service. We also ran a “build-a-brick” for your community project through which we built a pre-school for underprivileged township children.I am also part of round table international. We do various projects and are very involved in the development of the community.Since I have been crowned as Miss Namibia I have worked in association with the Michelle McLean Children Trust. We are currently busy with project snowball. We go across Namibia and hand out winter packs, with blankets and winter goodies in it. I have just completed one of my own projects where we donated meat and vegetables to a soup kitchen in the township. There are currently over 200 children between the age of 6 months and 17 years old who are fed by this kitchen. Here the kids are taught what basic hygiene is and some life skills. I am also busy negotiating with the government about building a clinic early next year.

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