I was born in my grandmother’s kitchen, prematurely with no medical equipment to assist and no sterile environment for a new born baby. What had been a holiday visit for my midwife mother turned out to be an unexpected arrival of a baby girl who would survive against what seemed impossible.
After my birth, we proceeded to live in the village with no exposure to much technology let alone
television or any other media. We fetched water 2km away from our homestead, firewood some
4kmaway and school was 8 km away in one direction meaning we had to walk 16 km to and from. Our life growing up was the typical village life. Cattle rearing, farming and other activities.
Violence, prejudice and other social ills prevailed.
We saw young people get impregnated, married off too soon and gender based violence was part of the mix. The normal thing was for young people to grow up and go to neigh-bouring Botswana or South Africa after they finished their O’level to seek better opportunities. The select few became nurses or teachers, and never universities. Those who failed to get into those three categories ended up as maids around the village or as wives at that tender age.
This kind of life made me yearn more to break out and get out of the village as l grew older. The
amount of poverty that surrounded me and the exposure of it made me desire more and want
change for myself and for those around me. Certain patterns l had seen repeat themselves pushed me to pursue what l desired though l didn’t know what it looked like. The picture l had in mind was that of helping those in need, to extend whatever resource l have and mobilise women to come together for their good and the benefit of family and community at large.
I wasn’t sure how it would come together and at some point l gave up and got married for the wrong reasons. And when l married for the wrong reasons, it was a wrong person. It took me a failed marriage from the hands of an abusive husband to realise that the patterns l had desired to run away froml had somewhat run into them. And the moment l sought to leave, heal and grow past that was the moment my perception changed.
Healing looked like giving myself a second chance and forgiving myself for the poor choices I had made leading to me getting married. It looked like making peace with the past and forgiving that past. It looked like digging for courage from deep within and extending some grace towards myself.
And enrolling for a personal development course to bring me to a point of self mastery. From there learnt that I could draw something from what seemed gloomy. It’s from those experiences that l had to stop and identify the message deeply embedded in me. I had to look within to check who l am going serve and how. From there l built systems to cater for the vision, which was to start a women’s social enterprise which addresses issues which are shyed away from by society. I resolved to create a community that brought women around to heal together from whatever may have broken them in their past or current lives.
And teaching them on issues that empower them to become stronger and more resilient regardless of what their past spells. I drew my inspiration to write books that encourage and empower women to be the agents of the change they want to see. From those experiences l have started a social enterprise to help women become equipped with empowerment tools to help them break poverty lines through employment of knowledge and skills they have.
It’s resilience that taught me to be enterprising, and to be a help by bringing solutions in my society, because had l chosen to be content in my background and upbringing, I wouldn’t be sitting here with 12 books, a social enterprise and a publishing house. I took everything thrown at me by life, drew inspiration from it and used it to work for me, and for the benefit of those around me. I didn’t deter when challenge roared in my face, but l pushed forward towards the change l want to be and the change l desire to see around me.
When l appear on television or newspapers, l always hope that it inspires a little girl somewhere to desire more and not give up. When l look at the 12 books l have written to date, I always pray they transform someone’s life to never give up and encourage them to be resilient. I have learnt that it’s not in how we begin, but it’s in the choices we make that we can defy all odds and forge the paths we want for ourselves.We are not where we come from, but we are what we choose to become and pursue daily. It’s not easy to choose the unpopular route, but it’s worth it when we see it yield the results that we desire.
From my grandmother’s kitchen, today I sit here Amazon published and having travelled the world. It’s possible if we choose to be resilient and disciplined in our course. It has taken a lot of belief in myself. It has taken defying odds and paving away where no one else has. I have won a social entrepreneur award for being an inspiration, won one for being a publishing mentor as l mentor upcoming writers and l head one of the fast growing publishing house in Zimbabwe.
It is possible, only if we believe we can.
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