“Hi, my name is Nam.”
“Hi Nam, I’m Mildred. What’s Nam short for?”
“No, that’s it. That’s my full name, Nam.”
“Oh! What does the name Nam mean?”
“It means ‘me too’, in Xhosa.”
That’s how my conversation started with the bubbly Nam Madokwe, Flow Communications’ new staff member.
Originally from Mthatha and the fourth of five children, Nam moved to Port Elizabeth for a few years before coming to Johannesburg. “I still miss the sea,” says Nam when I ask her about her new surroundings.
Nam joins Flow as a bookkeeper/junior accountant. I tell her I don’t like accounting, and she tells me she knows. “Most people don’t like accounting,” she adds.
Having only been at Flow for about four hours when I interview her, Nam seems to be taking everything in her stride. Beverley Strimer, financial manager at Flow, says: “Nam is a lovely person. I think she’s very sweet.”
Nam loves the outdoors. On weekends, you’ll find her bowling, go-karting or horse-riding. She recently took her first trip to Soweto and says: “I loved it, but I was too scared to bungee jump. I’m not ready to die yet.”
I tell her she should take the leap at least once and she laughs at me while shaking her head – I think she’s considering it, though.