Hilja Eelu is an enthusiast of most things human. That said, she is highly passionate about people and potential. As of December 2016 she completed a BSc Honours in Molecular and Cell Biology at the University of Cape Town, South Africa. She also holds a BSc Human Genetics at the University of Pretoria. During this time she led the Namibian Students’ Society at UP from 2014-2015 and alongside fellow students Roanne Moodley and Gemma Annear co-founded a mental health awareness campaign called “how are you”, that aims to take back “how are you” as a genuine question about one’s well-being as opposed to a brief greeting. As a scientist-in-the-making her interests lie in infectious diseases; public health and science education. She is also keen to do work in videography and film editing, professional communication and development, and active citizenship: thinking critically about our problems and taking action to solve them.

Hilja is an Allan Gray Orbis Foundation Fellow, a Brightest Young Minds 2016 alumnus and the sole representative of Namibia at the 2017 International Student Festival in Trondheim, Norway. She is also a member of the Golden Key International Honours Society. In 2017 she participated in the Young African Leaders Initiative (YALI) Southern Africa Regional Leadership Center seventh cohort, and the 10x Academy in Berekuso, Ghana.Presently Hilja is a volunteer at Physically Active Youth (PAY) Namibia, serves on the communications subcommittee for Brightest Young Minds and works as a Staff Development Fellow at the UNAM School of Medicine.

It’s tough being human, but I do it anyway.

– Hilja Eelu

For mentorship, guidance and assistance, you can contact Hilja by email

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