Women from Zimbabwe

"“Let us position ourselves strategically where our strengths lie along the value chain and we will be sure to reap the benefits of our endeavours.""

"The Chamber in the due course must operate an up-to-date resource centre that elimmintaes the "black box" mentality where information becomes available after a crash, adding that members should be able to access information at the click of a button. Focus in most advanced economies has thus been on ensuring availability of quality information that is relevant to its users."

"Remember, the most meaningful victory we win is over ourselves. Above all be disciplined. Be focused. Be committed and take responsibility."

"A fact is that in mining, men have been the most dominant. But when it comes to competence from both sides (male and female), there must be a de-emphasis on gender and an increased weighting on competence. It must be understood that in some cases what men can do women can also do. Fortunately, in my career within the mining industry, I have also been given the honour to lead the Chamber of Mines of Zimbabwe, as president, an honour that was given to me as a woman for the first time"

"I believe there is a need for a deliberate policy to ensure that there is a greater representation of women in mining but that must not be at the expense of competence which also means that even men within the mining sector must come to an understanding that women too are equally good. For instance, at Mimosa, we now have female geologists, female metallurgists, and female surveyors. So sometimes it’s about how you move out from stereotypes. It is important to have essential guiding principles. In all one does, stay diligent, stay accountable and alert to your surroundings. Opportunity favours the prepared mind. Your future is hidden in your daily routine"

"Working in an industry that is mostly dominated by men has its own challenges. I realised I needed to make certain adjustments. I had to work on managing all the dynamics of gaining entry and acceptance into the big boys’ club. The pressure was real and sometimes the fear of failure could be all-consuming"

"In the end, however, I realised that we are not meant to compete with our male counterparts but complement each other. The workplace does not need more women trying to be men, it just needs more women. It is undeniable that women generally bring a humane feel to work, a feeling which cannot be underestimated in ensuring psychosocial well-being in the workplace and a value that has an immeasurable impact on long-term sustainability"

"As in any profession, your competence must speak for itself. De-emphasise gender, and over-emphasise competence, capability, result and productivity. Let not people see you as a woman but as a competent professional. One of my guiding principles is to learn as much as possible as you go along with every position. Value the process of learning rather than being the best. You need to intentionally plan your growth – you cannot meaningfully be part of what you are not fully knowledgeable about. I can safely say I am now a miner – in between I have been doing short courses on mining to arm myself. Zimbabwe School of Mines has very good courses. Success leaves clues. Find mentors and role models who have already achieved what you want to achieve"

"It’s not about women, it’s about the industry that accepts women as co-part of the industry. The focus must be on understanding that women can do it too in the industry. De-emphasise competency either way. We must move away from strait jacketing women and say simply because we are women therefore our competence must be put to us to say somehow your gender defines your competency. No, we are humans. So, competence must be understood by both sets of gender"

"Elizabeth has been a champion in community development by mining companies and this saw Mimosa transforming the face of Zvishavane through various community projects and empowerment projects. As part of that vision Mimosa has one of the best football clubs in Zimbabwe, FC Platnum."

""Ms Liz" as she is popularly known takes mentoring other women seriously."I am a living testimony of Liz's mentorship - you cannot be around her and remain the same."

"In one of her interviews she made the point that women have really never clamoured for special treatment in the workplace but rather for recognition for their strengths and expertise."

"Ms Nerwande, for instance, demonstrated her dynamism by ascending to the top echelons of both the Chamber of Mines of Zimbabwe(CoMZ) and Mimosa Mining Company – where she is the Head of Corporate Affairs – despite the fact that she didn’t have the technical background when she switched to mining a few years ago, she had learnt quite a lot about the extractive sector while consulting for some of the country’s leading mining houses. She has since transformed herself into an expert of note in mining matters. “The Iron Lady of mining”, has also passionately worked towards the economic prosperity of all Zimbabweans, regardless of their gender, while also uplifting women who are still burdened by the disproportionate costs of mining, through various corporate social responsibility initiatives."

"Masvingo Mirror, Breaking the glass ceilingː the case of Liz Nerwande. 21 March 2021."

"When we are promoting a virtue such as respecting equality and the full recognition of everyone`s rights, what a better way to spread the message than through this universal language - music."

"All women of the world, lets normalise being content with how God created us, proudly and loudly so enhancing our beauty is perfectly fine except when it’s to the detriment of our health, be it physically or emotionally."

"To the black woman in particular, your dark skin is very beautiful just as is. Be you, beautifully so. You are wonderfully made."

"I hope Zimbabweans will write and tell our own stories, us musicians, poets, historians, all of us – we need to capture the true story of Zimbabwe and tell that to the world."

"I did these poems in a very ‘open-minded’ effort to find an often silent/silenced voice. There are things we do not ever say. There are things we don’t know how to say. There are things that have never been said."

"Gender imbalance. I was in Norway sometime and the only difference between males and females there is their biological make up. Otherwise they have equal opportunities and the women are just as aggressive as the men. You have a dream you go for it. There are no restrictions, on married women as they get as much support as that they give to their spouses. There are also equal opportunities at university where all sexes are admitted on equal merit. If I were to get a billion, I would like to empower women starting with the very young girls, who need a good education to build a better foundation for their lives."

"Song of Solomon itself was the main inspiration. I read it properly for the first time and fell in love with it immediately. The poetry, the beautiful manner in which love and its complexities are expressed, and the mere belief in love that it’s based on, were all very inspirational to me"

"And so I found myself imagining such love and how beautifully we could all use the book’s words as a template for how to love"

"There is a lovely story there. I believe this book was given to me as a very special gift because I wrote it in one sitting, in one day. It was a literal natural flow from my head to paper"

"May we all see the value in investing in love and our other halves; being respectful of love by holding it in high and sacred reverence; treasuring it, protecting it, and nurturing it"

"It also has to do with how you package your act, and I believe from day one the audience liked it, so the reception was good"

"And that always put me under a lot of pressure to do much better every time when I am on stage"

"It’s not bad being a backing vocalist, but it takes a lot of commitment to lead a band, hard work and the will to reach the greatness"

"We have quite a number of female musicians that have led bands in the country and sometimes it’s better to make a date with them and share their experiences"

"But some may have stopped singing for one or two reasons but like any other sectors it needs commitment and the will to reach the sky"

"Quite a lot of female musicians are talented and can write and sing their own songs, but some usually want to do so after fall­out with their employers. That is like using more emotions than your talent"

"We are a mere reflection of the society and the only difference is we are always on the spotlight and what we do comes out more than what any other ordinary person does"

"If you say female musicians are drunkards, society is full of drunkards. But that perception in my view is changing"

"Hope Masike is a Zimbabwean vocalist, mbira player, percussionist, songwriter, fashion designer, painter and dancer. She is known as The Princess of Mbira and her music has its roots both in traditional and modern African culture. She is also the lead singer for transnational band Monoswezi."

"One of its most talented and famous performers and teachers is Hope Masike, a 35-year-old woman from Harare, the country’s capital. Born into a large family of eight children, Hope devoted herself to studying the culture of her people, diving into a wide range of subjects from anthropology and ethnology to jurisprudence, never losing the love for her roots and the dream of an emancipated and peaceful Africa."

"Hope speaks out about the issues of womanhood in the rapidly changing Zimbabwean culture."

"By her own admission in the author’s note, the poems are designed to affirm, to confront the silence we so often feel comfortable with and to give voice to those things that have remained unspoken."

"How my imagination soared — the moon seemed so close that I felt I could reach out and touch it. And then my mind wandered: what are those noises outside?"

"The writing seemed to just spiral out of me, and if I had to pick a time when I really started this journey it would be that wonderful quiet morning on a verandah so many years ago in the Colombian countryside..."

"I think that literature, when it’s good, as opposed to journalism, gives you the freedom to be the characters, to enter into their lives, their psyche and so their experiences become, in a way, yours."

"But that’s what’s great about books- they carry you up, out and away, lifting you away from the mundane to the extra ordinary."

"Allow this book to take you on a journey that will capture both your head and your heart."

"...Irene Sabatini created two unforgettable fictional characters who leapt off the page.—Bernardine Evaristo"

"Women entrepreneurs have to work twice as hard to succeed... the best thing to do is to remain resolute, focused, ethical and preserve your integrity."

"My advice to women all the time is:"If you want a certain future, go out and create it. Conquer your fears as that is what enslaves most women. Opportunities are now galore. We just need to roll up our sleeves, lift our feet, and walk through the door as no one will carry us.""

"My greatest satisfaction is championing women economic empowerment initiatives in mentorship, linking women businesses to corporate supply chains for their growth."

"“Success depends on employees. For me knowing and connecting with my employees is very important.”"

"Conquer your fears as that is what enslaves most women"

"“Most of the women that we employ here are single mothers, we targeted them primarily because we knew that they were not going to get an opportunity from anybody and they would not be able to look after their children. So this is an opportunity for them to have a livelihood and to educate their children. We employ close to a thousand women now, about 900+ and to me that’s one of the happiest things I’ve done in my life as a person because I have impacted very positively on women who would have not have had an opportunity, who would be eking out a living and possibly even going out to sell their bodies to make a living.”"

"“never tire in well doing, because, in due season, you shall reap if you faint not”. “I believe that every good deed is a door opener hence I always try to be as good as I can to others, my word being my bond, as the key to my success is loving and connecting with people which are always the seeds of great things to come. I believe in playing by the rules all the time and most importantly upholding my personal integrity as this gives me good night sleep.”"

"“My advice to aspiring entrepreneurs is start with an end in mind, know exactly what you want to achieve and start to work systematically towards the goal, exercising some patience. Know the industry you want to get into, its internal and external environment."

"“If you want a certain future, go out and create it. Conquer your fears as that is what enslaves most women. Opportunities are now galore. We just need to roll up our sleeves, lift our feet, and walk through the door as no one will carry us."

"Have a game plan and execute it with passion, determination and focus. Never mind that you are a woman. Do not think about that except as a competitive advantage. No one is going to give you anything on a silver platter. You have to work twice, thrice, five times as hard and do not lose focus. Work with your passion, it will keep you going and once you have a footing in your business, make the most of it and create the momentum and that will get rid of all the little challenges that may bog you down. Lastly, choose your team carefully and get rid of non-performers soon enough.”"

"The business idea was after the realization of a gap that I had noted in the market for a service and quality-oriented security services provider"

"Let me say that right from a tender age, I had always told myself and everyone that I was going to start and run my own business, which I always envisioned as a large business. I enrolled in an entrepreneurial development program in 1995 and this sharpened my entrepreneurial competencies. I learned elements like opportunity seeking, goal setting, business planning, networking, and more"

"I thought there was a gap in the industry. Companies that were there were not living up to the needs of the clients. The industry was renowned for wild cat strikes and guards generally were perceived as the lowly-paid in any sector. I wanted to change the perceptions and create a niche in which people could carve out a career and I knew I needed to go in with a different approach and that approach was going to make the difference, the people had to be key or central feature of the vision"

"I always knew that treating the customer as the boss was the key thing"

"And creating value, giving the best value… is the way we built loyalty"

"Success depends on employees. For me knowing and connecting with my employees is very important. I have done that very well"

"I have ensured that I aligned their personal goals with their business goals and that makes everybody go in tandem with each other. I try to know almost all my 4,000 employees: their families, their aspirations, their worst fears and so on"

"I have learnt that earning by working hard is the way to go"

"One of the key features in any business leader is execution… and it is a critical block in building a successful enterprise"

"Pay it off, don’t pay it forward. Or put simply: be frugal"

"The seventh lesson that I learnt is to always keep on learning. I believe in learning all the time, I’m a life-long learner… I also believe in re-learning, because there are always new things coming out. My kids are teaching me things today"

"In our company we believe in celebrating success because it creates, and maintains, momentum,” she noted. “Everyone celebrates even the little things that we succeed in doing, and we have a jolly good time. That is how people look forward to winning and being successful. Because they know there are rewards of celebration"

"For me, failure teaches self-confidence and tenacity"

"One of the things I noted in my country was that women were not getting the opportunity to get formal employment, in particular the many widows and the single mothers due to HIV/Aids. Today our company is arguably the largest employer of permanently employed women. We employ over 1,000 women, contributing at least 25% of our workforce"

"And though he beat the boy, it wasn’t really the boy he wanted to beat, but, it seemed to me, himself…"

"And now, the valour of our people and the glory of the Mthwakazi Nation lives on not in any history book, or in any official account, where we are nothing but savages without culture, without history or glory or anything worth mentioning or passing on"

"I heard the stories from my father, passed down to him by his father, my grandfather, and which I shall one day pass down to my children."

"Even though there was no petrol, people were driving. Even though the country was experiencing hyperinflation, my mother was able to secure chicken portions with her whole salary, without doing anything illegal"

"Relaying ordinary narratives was a way to reclaim that space in the national identity for ordinary citizens and born-frees. If I’m going to do Zimbabwean history some justice, I need as many perspectives as possible"

"Fiction allows me to make up events that happened but feel emotionally true…House of Stone took me six years to write, about 17 drafts. My aim was to fail spectacularly rather than succeed safely"

"Zimbabweans and Nigerians are famous for just having PhDs PhDs, but that really opened my eyes to the importance of teaching, right, and not just teaching fiction, the craft of fiction but art is also a way to think together to build empathy, diversity, right? I think the humanities are really good at that and cultivating stewardship, citizenship, and that’s really what I’m interested in in the classroom"

"The massacres are horrible when you read the transcripts. They speak of torture, starvation, families being forced to kill their family members, bury them, dance on their graves, it’s really atrocious. What’s really horrible is that there’s been no reckoning with that. The victims have gone unacknowledged. They did not receive any help, any social… and I’m thinking of the Truth and Reconciliation Commission in South Africa as a comparison. So we have a lot of wounds. So that’s really what I wanted to sit with. And make sense of and try and understand"

"I remember during my writing of House of Stone, I went to therapy, and I took the book for therapy, I needed to also make sense and work through what excavation this issue was doing to me, to my psyche, to my body, my emotions"

"I think we also underestimate just how difficult it is to talk about this history and work through it. We need structures, we need state support. It cannot just be people looking through history. We need help as to how to look at that history and how to heal from that history"

"You know you will disappear. Like you’re causing trouble. You can’t go to the village and start asking these sorts of questions without causing trouble. Many activists in Zimbabwe have, you know, disappeared or paid the price. But for me the structure of House of Stone mirrors exactly what you’re talking about… the difficulty of excavating history"

"They really need discipline, to be objective, to know what they really want in life. If you train with the mind of winning you always win, if you train with a weak mind, no I am just doing it for the sake of running then something is wrong somewhere."

"The future of Zimbabwean athletics lies in the hands of junior athletes, but if they are not promoted then who will lift up the sport in the coming years? We are growing old and as we retire who would come next?"

"To me running is about healing my body, it’s a process that keeps me fit. I have got no plans to retire anytime soon, I can even hit 50 years"

"When I look back at my career, the 1998 Commonwealth Games are one of the high points"

"Of course, in any profession there are ups and downs but I am grateful I have done my part"

"It’s difficult to achieve what you really want to achieve in terms of properties because of the economy but I have tried"

"I train in Bulawayo but I have my own house in Gweru, I have a number of cars but I don’t prefer to call them property (with a chuckle) and I also do not want to drive. I prefer to be driven by others"

"You won’t believe it, I know, but that has been my routine ever since I turned professional. I do not have any spare time. When I am not running I am sleeping or I am at church"

"Most of the times I train with Tabitha Tsatsa, a veteran I regard as the best ever female long distance runner in the country"

"Tabitha is turning 46 but you will amazed at how she is still doing it on the road. Remember this is the lady who ran 2 hours 29 minute in the 42km distance some time back and represented Zimbabwe at the 2008 Beijing Olympics. To me, Tabitha is the best ever"

"I am training plus you know am ageing, am getting old, so am doing something that I will fall on when I retire. And you know you don’t eat everything, even uprooting the tree, you have to eat the fruits, then leave the tree so that when you grow old, you will be just getting something from what you have been doing rather than just become redundant"

"I have a small project of mine I’m doing. I’m building a big house somewhere, the completion of which will see me end up as being a sponsor of a marathon. We don’t know what God has for us in front there, one day I might wake up and say here is a race I am sponsoring"

"I am the vice-chairperson of the Athletics Commission. We are representing athletes the wrong or right way, we are their ambassadors. We want to see the sport grow in Zimbabwe"

"It’s about training and discipline, right now I am from training, I went around five o’clock, I did two hours 17 minutes, almost closer to 30 kilometres, it’s pretty slow, at two hours I should have covered 30km, I haven’t got a lot of speed but a combination of speed and endurance, it will make things work"

"I train every day, twice a day, it honestly depends on what are you doing, it’s not about covering more kilometres everyday, it’s about what you are doing per day because yesterday we did track, the day before we did track we are going to have the jogging almost one hour thirty, almost two hours, so for one hour thirty at times you would have covered 20 kilometres, then plus or minus the track that you did in the morning"

"The race was challenging and it was tough on its own besides those three girls who were running so fast, the race was tough and the course itself, we were climbing the steps, getting into water, coming back again, repeatedly five times, I really knew that if I stayed there, I was going to keep my pace and maintain it, not to chase anybody because in running you don’t copy somebody but you run according to how you trained. If the pace is too high you need to go back to your own pace, you really need to keep shuffling the cards where you are calculating, after that you feel how tough the course, if they are too fast you let them go, if they are too slow you carry on"

"It’s a long time since I last ran the cross country, I can’t remember the exact year but it was in Portugal. That route that we did the other day we ran it once some time ago. I wasn’t training for the cross country, I was training for the Old Mutual marathon in Harare where I finished third"

"There are quite a number of races I want to compete in this year, they are saying there is a race on 25 May in Harare then another on 29 July on the same course, same route where quite a number of international athletes are going to run there. I really want to try my best, I have run the Comrades Marathon without the intention to finish, I never ran to finish but I ran it, I can’t remember because I ran it twice then after that I discovered that when you run this race you really need to put the proper endurance. Comrades, you can run without speed but if you put the right endurance and the right distance in your knees you will be home and dry but if you start by speeding then you won’t have the proper strength in the knees, you won’t do anything there. I really want to finish it at 45, the Russian guy Kotov won it at that age"

"I don’t intend to stop running because there are people who are older than me who are still at it. There is this guy, I don’t know where he is from, he was 83 by then, he could run the marathon in three hours at 83, they always call him the fastest guy according to his age. When we run, we run according to ages, I run as a veteran, but when I beat the seniors and get into the top 10 I am considered both ways. Besides there are ladies who have been running before I even got into running, Catherine Ndereba is older than me, she can still run as fast. The issue is about the right training, if you master what you want to do"

"My knees cannot go up much higher than they used to so, sometimes doing track more helps keep them fresh. I haven’t pulled out of a race because of my knees, when I feel they are so painful I slow down, I know somehow they are going to heat up and I am to follow up. I don’t have a diet, I eat anything as long as I am hungry"

"I am still young, my mother has to look after me, before you have a kid you are still a child yourself, I have never been married, to have children in two years time, maybe. Even when you are a runner, you plan when you want to have kids, I will have obviously one day, that one I know"

"Discipline is needed, they need to listen to their coaches, follow the programmes that they are given by their coaches"

"I am not an activist because there is any glory or cash to it and not because I'm trying to antagonize the government... I'm doing it because it's a job that's got to be done."

"I have, even as a child, always been a firm believer in fairness and always strive to be even-handed in my dealings with everyone."

""If anyone wants change,they have the obligation to do something to attain that change." The only weapon I developed as a form of protest was to surreptitiously take out the air from the bicycle tyres every morning, which almost always delayed the cyclists. From then on, I questioned virtually everything I did not agree with."

"What should be important is the fact that you are the best man or woman for the job and if you are you should be appointed."

"The system is afraid of her. She is steadfast, determined & resolute. Don't omit her when names of heroes of this generation are called"

"Beatrice Mtetwa is a regionally and internationally recognised lawyer and woman human rights defender who is known for her fearlessness and dedication to tenaciously use the law to protect the rights of others while placing herself in the firing line"

"Marrying off a girl at age 11 is not marriage at all, it is rape, often people ask me how it felt. Honestly how am I supposed to feel? It is horrible having four children by the age of 18. Honestly what am I supposed to say? However, I maintain that I am not a victim; I am part of the solution."

"These girls are married off before they are able to define themselves. I come from this line of women who have been married very young before they could define the lives they wanted for themselves."

"Wherever you are in life, despite challenges and difficulties, your dreams will always call you and remind you who you are and what you want to become."

"I am incredibly honored to be standing among the World’s Top 10 Most Inspiring Women ‘Sculpted for Equal Rights’! Can you believe this rural Zimbabwean girl and just looking back where I came from to think I will have a life size statue standing in the streets of NYC! My goodness! The list includes Oprah Winfrey, Pink, Nicole Kidman, Jane Goodall, Cate Blanchett, Janet Mock, Tracy Dyson, Cheryl Strayed and Gabby Douglas."

"I am just humbled- it is unbelievable. Can you believe I am standing so tall in New York City? We know that 3% of statues in the city are female. My great-grandmother, my grandmother, my mother - ha - they would never have dreamt of something like this."

""Your dreams in life will have deeper meaning when they are tied to the greater good.”"

"We are strong already, but together we are stronger."

"As a child growing up in poverty, I witnessed how community consistently prioritize boys over girls in education because they felt boys had more chances to get job opportunities, These experiences made me want to write a story that decisively validates the value of giving educational opportunities to girls."

"Zimbabwean humanitarian, scholar, educator, and author, Dr Tererai Trent is one of the world’s most internationally recognized voices for quality education and women’s empowerment."

"Even after becoming a child bride who had three children by the time she was eighteen, Trent eventually earned multiple degrees, and a prominent global platform. A platform where she has interacted with world leaders and international businesses and audiences to advocate for universal access to quality education."

"The President said the nation is proud of her work of promoting equality and empowerment for girls and women. "Congratulations @TereraiTrent who has been honoured as one of the 10 most inspiring women in the world, part of the "Sculpted for Equal Rights" initiative. All the people of Zimbabwe are deeply proud of you & your work in promoting equality & empowerment for girls & women," the President wrote."

"“When things fall apart, the children of the land scurry and scatter like birds escaping a burning sky.”"

"I am starting to talk fast now, and I have to remember to slow down because when I get excited, I start to sound like myself and my American accent goes away."

"As for the coldness, I have never seen it like this. I mean, coldness that makes like it wants to kill you, like it's telling you, with its snow, that you should go back to where you came from."

"“The problem with English is this: You usually can't open your mouth and it comes out just like that--first you have to think what you want to say. Then you have to find the words. Then you have to carefully arrange those words in your head. Then you have to say the words quietly to yourself, to make sure you got them okay. And finally, the last step, which is to say the words out loud and have them sound just right.”"

"“There are times, though, that no matter how much food I eat, I find the food does nothing for me, like I am hungry for my country and nothing is going to fix that.”"

"“Further and further we go, and the sun keeps ironing us and ironing us and ironing us.”"

"“Aunt Fostalina says when she first came to America she went to school during the day and worked nights at Eliot’s hotels, cleaning hotel rooms together with people from countries like Senegal, Cameroon, Tibet, the Philippines, Ethiopia, and so on. It was like the damn United Nations there, she likes to say.”"

"“...and the women spread their ntsaroz and sit on one side, the men on the other, like they are two different rivers that are not supposed to meet.”"

"“Now when the men talk, their voices burn in the air, making smoke all over the place. We hear about change, about new country, about democracy, about elections and what-what."

"“If Messenger would be to open his mouth right now, his voice would be a terrible wound.”"

"“We're hungry but we're together and we're at home and everything is sweeter than dessert.”"

"“I think the reason they are my relatives now is they are from my country too - it's like the country has become a real family since we are in America, which is not our country.”"

"“I used to be very afraid of graveyards and death and such things, but not anymore. There is just no sense of being afraid when you live so near the graves; it would be like the tongue fearing the teeth.”"

"NoViolet Bulawayo has created a world that lives and breathes – and fights, kicks, screams, and scratches, too. She has clothed it in words and given it a voice at once dissonant and melodic, utterly distinct.""

"Look at the children of the land leaving in droves, leaving their own land with bleeding wounds on their bodies and shock on their faces and blood in their hearts and hunger in their stomachs and grief in their footsteps. Leaving their mothers and fathers and children behind, leaving their umbilical cords underneath the soil, leaving the bones of their ancestors in the earth, leaving everything that makes them who and what they are, leaving because it is no longer possible to stay. They will never be the same again because you cannot be the same once you leave behind who and what you are, you just cannot be the same."

"Africa has the resources to feed itself and the world. However, a quarter of all Africans experience the everyday reality of hunger."

"Media's role goes beyond entertainment or information sharing, they constitute a tool that has the power "to educate, to empower, and to inspire young girls to dare to break the mould."

"Something needs to be done to put an end to all forms of gender injustice."

"They must apologize to Africans for their patronizing attitude and organisational disregard for Africa’s peculiar development priorities whilst covertly promoting an unhealthy neo-colonial, quasi-imperialist agenda."

"Chronic underfunding was just one of ONE’s deliberate tactics to undermine the diligence and expertise of its Africa staff, many of whom were competent and suitably qualified women."

"Unproven and unsubstantiated allegations against me or any former employee in Africa are essentially part of a much larger crusade being sponsored by racist, anti-Africa elements within the ONE Campaign"

"They must apologize to Africans for their patronizing attitude and organisational disregard for Africa’s peculiar development priorities whilst covertly promoting an unhealthy neo-colonial, quasi-imperialist agenda. This is nothing short of utter disrespect for ONE’s over three million African members, who have warmly embraced its campaigns, projects and promises. The top echelons at ONE Campaign have never really tolerated open debate, especially with regards to its operatives in Africa. They may pander to the global ethos and ideals of ONE’s more famous co-founder but mostly white managers have essentially hijacked the essence of the organisation and replaced it with their myopic agenda"

"the international development community, including African finance and development experts, particularly those that have worked in similar charity organizations view my appraisal of ONE Campaign’s corrosive corporate culture, disdain for gender parity and disregard of meritocracy within its ranks as being symptomatic of many international NGOs ostensibly waging wars against Africa’s varied development challenges but in reality seeking to perpetuate the status quo"

"None of the former employees including me have been accorded a fair hearing. ONE’s global leadership team chose rather to embark on a campaign of calumny against me, as a scapegoat for its own larger inequities, with the organization playing the accuser, judge and jury, in utter disregard for the principles of fairness and probity. In my own case, I have handed over the matter to my lawyers. They all know the game is up as we are speaking up to protect our integrity and precious culture as true Africans. It is time for NGOs everywhere – not just the ONE Campaign – to accept and realise that every country, every people, every culture is capable of producing thought leaders who can and do deliver real change in their own and other contexts. Like always, expect blanket denial from ONE. That is how they operate"

"As the Executive Director for Africa, I was a firm and principled administrator and I struggled against the organisational tide throughout my tenure, knowing fully well that I had a personal desire and drive to create value for Africa"

"I was not there to be beautiful but to work"

"I was afraid to say anything – and I have never been afraid of a boss before. I was an object. And the person doing this to me was another woman"

"I have no doubt I was being bartered, being offered for sex,’ she said. ‘I know about these things, I am a married woman"

"I’m extremely excited about the work the new president of the bank is envisioning for the bank and the continent and for the bank and it’s such a great honor that he should ask me to come and work with him and really help to help implement this vision for Africa"

"I always feel that my calling is to my continent so in everything I have done, my focus has always been on moving Africa forward"

"I have been appointed to this position, obviously by a gentleman who understands the importance of equal opportunities for women… having been picked for this position I in turn have a responsibility to open doors and opportunities and mentor those who come behind us and as it is I personally stand on the shoulders of giant African women who went before me and created opportunities and opened doors for me"

"I will go and talk to the experts and we will teach you how to make oil on radio."

"What you vividly imagine, ardently desire, sincerely believe and enthusiastically act upon must inevitably come to pass."

"Sow a thought, and you reap an action, sow an act and you reap a habit, sow a habit and you reap a character, sow a character and you reap a destiny."

"When I arrived at the polling station for the first time I felt comfortable. People were smiling and talking to each other about a better country. We are only hopeful that the positivity that we now have will help to turn things around for us"

"We cannot move forward if you still have a situation where being members of different political views can lead to violence. Zimbabweans only thrive when we are united and that is what we need. We need our leaders to help unite us"

"We might have the best constitution in the world but if our leaders still abuse it, what good is it"

"We may have good laws on paper but as long as those laws are not enforced we have a problem. For example we have the Domestic Violence"

"Apart from the farming knowledge we gained,] our marital life has greatly improved, we now do things together"

"The power of love can conquer the love of power."

"We formed WOZA as a movement to show a peaceful way women of all colours and class could restore dignity for the people of Zimbabwe."

"In Africa, women are regarded as second class citizens and women like me who ‘don’t know their place’ are also a target."

"The struggle for women's rights in Zimbabwe continues and needs to be heard by the men who are mismanaging this country."

"This pain is not a weakness. It is strength. Our grief binds us. Do you feel it?"

"“Any institution that claims to keep women locked up for their own good should be watched very close, in my opinion.”"

"There is, it seems to me, a certain type of man who is terrified of the idea of a woman wielding power, of any sort; the type of man who is willing to dress up his terror in any sort of trappings to legitimise it."

"It's always the same with family, Wydrin reflected. You spend your life consumed with guilt that you're letting them down somehow, and then when you meet up with them you can't wait to get away again."

"Don't be afraid of who you are."

"Show me a people who don't have a bloody history."

"Just between you and me, I've never crawled up a monster's arse before. It's quite exciting."

"What you brought back, darling, was the truth. Which is rarely comfortable and never painless, but often, ultimately, worth knowing."

"Words are always important,’ said Jolnir. ‘Even normal, non-magical words, in the right place, can change the world."

"Beginnings are very elusive things, almost as elusive as true endings."

"Our armies, with their shining armour and singing swords are rust and dusty bones. We are like... an echo of something that came before."

"To be suddenly alone when all you have ever known is connection. To be alone in the dark while you felt the distant pieces of yourself decay."

"Dark things are happening here, don't be getting me wrong. Young people lost, their poor families going out of their minds, and that evil thing lurking... It should have been dealt with a long time ago, but how could we have known?"

"Not born of love, or affection, but a simple terrible need not to feel alone, just for a little while."

"There was too much, but every moment they were inside she was aware of the terrible danger they were in, and she had the distinct sense that her luck was now the thinnest piece of fragile ice, and they were edging out further and further over and abyss."

"I was empty, just a thing for gathering dust, and now I am full of something, and if that causes me to make poor decisions, then I will live with it. Or die with it. I don't care."

"Life is suffering. Life is war, and sacrifice. Life is victory."

"Judging by the constellations just starting to glint into life, the scent of the wind and the texture of the earth... I would say we're precisely in the middle of nowhere."

"All people need, in my experience, is a little push in the right direction. Or a giant kick up the arse. I am always happy to provide either."

"Fear can keep you obedient, or the need to stay as free as you can."

"I can suffer all that, I can suffer it and come through stronger, a weapon forged for your hand, but I cannot abide inefficiency."

"This level of fuck up is an Eboran speciality."

"A fire that burns in secret, a lethal conflagration that you can only discover when its too late to save anyone."

"I’d burn the bloody tree down myself if u thought it would bring you back’ he said quietly. ‘Everything is so hopeless anyway, why shouldn’t we be happy for a bit? We could have don’t that, couldn’t we? I think so it would have been messy but… Instead my mind gives me this’ He gestured around at the dream desert, the dream sky. ‘A fucking dream of you. As if that would be enough."

"Because whoever it is, I’m sure I’ve already forgotten them. I can barely keep track of your brief human lives, you know here one moment gone the next. I should keep a list, so I can tick the names off as they depart."

"All of us back together under the same roof - that’s a bloody good end to this mess if you ask me."

"I just want to be able to have my kids have jobs and I want to be able to afford their schooling"

"People assume that people on the ground know what the Arab Spring is"

"many people don't know what happened in Egypt and Tunisia because the news is blocked"

"Protests are not called by social network media, as some people want to portray"

"Protests are called by … knocking on people's doors, talking to them, engaging them, understanding their issues and getting collective understanding of people power and the right to protest and how it can be exercised"

"I am of light skin, they knew I was going to get very badly sunburnt, and we were just made to sit there for some form of punishment"

"And when we tried to object, they started accusing myself and my colleague of being lesbians because she had been beaten and I was rubbing her back"

"So it was a very bad day, and our lawyer had not been able to come to give us any update on our appeal process and I just thought: I don't know how we're going to get through this"

"They were telling me they were going to murder me and bury me and no one would ever know"

"Luckily for me, we ended up in a police station and some of the police officers were very sympathetic. There was no food there but one of those police officers came and whispered into the window of our cell: 'I'm bringing you food from your house. I know you are hungry.' So sometimes in life when you suspect the absolute worst thing, God sends you an angel"

"It's an incredible mix of this Irish and this Matabelean nation, which is a fighting nation. My grandmother was once arrested during the early 80s because the Mugabe regime said she had arms caches. That's the melting pot that I come from"

"We [Woza] get scared like anyone else," she says. "But I think what gives us the commitment to continue to do the things we do is that we speak 100% the truth, and we speak it from the moral authority that we are the mothers of the nation, and if your mother cannot speak out on your behalf then you have no one that will speak for you. So that is why we are committed to doing this: because we want a better future for our children"

"It was just deeply frustrating for me to be a mother and see that my child had now gotten arrested for something that I was doing, and I was helpless. And so with Christopher's arrest, my mother-in-law [who lives in the UK] got a little bit worried and said: 'Look, please can we have the kids"

"Also, because of my activism there were threats that they would be taken and put in the youth militia, where they train these kids to be violent, so I had no other option but to allow my two sons, who were still living in the house, to come and be in the UK. My daughter is much older; she had already left home"

"In some ways, my blood has been too black to be beautiful"

"In other ways, my skin has been too white to be right. And yeah, it's been a problem... My first marriage failed because, at the wedding ceremony, my ex-husband's mother and father arrived at the wedding and the reality that I was mixed race hit them when they saw my mother and they saw my brothers, who are much darker than me, and they just couldn't take it and they left the ceremony. They hounded my husband with all this stuff about the son of Ham and all this racist rhetoric, and: 'You're going to have black children' and our marriage failed as a result of that"

"And now under Mugabe, quite often police officers who do not know me, who do not know my background, will make all sorts of racist [anti-white] comments to me and so I've also had that... So it hasn't been easy"

"Seeing my mother want something better for me and seeing her sacrifices [as] a single mother raising seven children - it motivated me a lot... It was her as a role model and the fact I had seen so much discrimination that made me want to become a human rights defender"

"Sometimes when we are singing, we are extremely discordant because, you know, your mouth is dry, you're scared and you're watching out the whole time for the police"

"We had huge expectations that it would have... but we have not noticed any change. In fact, in some ways we can say the pressure on us has increased because post the signing of this deal, I then found myself back in prison. And after having made bail - and it was a huge legal battle - we then found that we were restricted to a 40km radius, and that has never happened before"

"Jenni WIlliams demonstrates the strength and perseverance that has become a hallmark of Ginetta Sagan Award recipients"

"It really motivated me to work harder because there was no one to take care of me except myself in the future, that was ... a motivator for me to have something to do with my life."

"Be clear about what you want and never be afraid to go after it."

"At our school, grades had to share the same classroom. This saw us attend classes combined. When I was in Grade 3 second term, one of our teachers erroneously gave me an examination that was meant for Grade 4, since this was a composite class. Up to date, I do not believe that it was a mistake but rather, the teacher knew what they were doing"

"When the third term came, I asked to write an examination meant for Grade 5 learners, although I was still in Grade 3. Again, I passed, performing better than everyone"

"I threw a tantrum, promised never to return to school. My brother then went to speak to them and they reached common ground. I was allowed to proceed to Grade 6"

"After Grade 7 there was no school for me to go to, the normal thing in our community was getting married. I did not like my mother`s marriage that is one of the things that motivated me to work hard"

"I was only 10, so I wanted to continue with school. The time coincided with the height of the economic meltdown, no one was going to school because teachers were on strike"

"I asked the guys that could afford to go to school (for) notebooks. I also asked those who had written their O-levels to give me their old books. I studied at home and managed to write five subjects, Maths, English, Commerce, Integrated Science and Religious Studies"

"My first attempt, in 2008, I managed to pass two subjects, I had two Bs and three Ds"

"It was a humbling experience, but I chinned up, studied hard and wrote again the next year, in 2009. I got the requisite five subjects"

"Our family did not have money, so I was in and out of school but sometime later, one teacher noticed me, then he asked me about it and he organized an interview with a journalist working with The Herald for a story"

"I was doing Maths, Accounting and Business Studies, and I attained 12 points"

"The admissions office at UZ thought there was an error because I was too young to be eligible to apply for university"

"At home, we attempted to start businesses to change our circumstances. They always looked good on paper, but they failed. This is why I decided to study accounting, to understand why businesses failed"

"Although I was the youngest, school was easy for me at university because I did not have to catch up like I had done through primary and high school. Every semester had its workload which I managed with ease"

"My three years of articles becoming a chartered accountant showed me so much. It was a combination of school and real-life work experience. I can feel like I have grown so much"

"The growth that comes from doing is more tremendous at this point than anything I can get in a classroom"

"If it is not Harvard, Stanford or Columbia, or anything in the Ivy League or the top ten universities in the world, for my Masters in Business Administration"

"Aged nine, she took her final primary school examinations, where she obtained top marks for all of her subjects. Lacking financial support to undertake her high school education, Maud studied on her own and completed her Ordinary Level in just two years after skipping two forms."

"People don't see what they have, they're busy looking at what they don't have and worrying about how they can get there, and yet when they start by appreciating what they have, then their lives will be different and their goal in life will not be to project what they don't have and to use it to define themselves when they can learn to define themselves by what they have."

"I learned to redefine myself regardless of what happened to me when I was a kid, I've been able to reclaim myself. This is something that's required for every individual. We are not what happened to us."

"The reason why I go into communities, select groups of young orphans, empower those and bring them back into the communities to inspire change there is because we need to change the way change is viewed. People say politicians or the grownups or the successful ones are going to change things in the country, but I think everyone has a part to contribute."

"I strongly believe that, regardless of what is happening in politics – not just in Zimbabwe but in many different parts of the world – if we want to change things, we will need to go to the grassroots and teach them to stand up for themselves, because if we can empower them beyond being a victim of a political situation, then we are making change happen."

"It was tough"

"I remember I cried many days after that and I used to watch other kids going to school that I used to run around with, and it was painful. But it was more painful to go to school and spend the whole time thinking about what's going to happen when I get home. Getting back home to watch the hungry faces of my granny and little brother. It was unbearable"

"The reason why I was supposed to find it attractive to marry him was because he had two sisters that were going to South Africa to buy clothing and coming back to Zimbabwe"

"I did not go because I realised if I got married, then I was leaving my grandmother and my little brother alone and I wouldn't be able to help them any more"

"When I was eight years old I'd told myself, 'I want to help other young orphans so they do not have to experience what I was experiencing.' I thought, 'If I get married, am I achieving that or not?' And it was clear that was not the way to go. I didn't go to meet the guy and my relative told me, 'I tried to help you, you turned that down and from now on you're pretty much on your own"

"My grandmother was so knowledgeable that even when she couldn't see any more she could smell which mushrooms were edible, inedible, poisonous … But to grow them was very strange"

"You realise that if you can work, you can actually get there step by step, you can put food on your plate"

"In this case it was converting waste into food, creating food for the community, but also doing something that no one else in that community was doing. We were unique in that time, doing something that was highly scientific without having studied at all. In my case I'd only done five years of primary-level education. It was like magic"

"One of my biggest dreams, of course, never having met my father, was to actually have a father"

"I don't think I would be doing what I'm doing now in Zimbabwe if I didn't believe there is a possibility for a change"

"I learned to redefine myself regardless of what happened to me when I was a kid"

"I've been able to reclaim myself. This is something that's required for every individual. We are not what happened to us"

"From those experiences there's some kind of lesson that inspires me to do what I do now, but I'm not back in the moment when I was 10. I've dealt with that. I just look at the future with a new hope. I'm 100% sure that I am not going to be one of those women who say, 'Things are the way they are because I grew up as an orphan"

"Orphaned at the age of seven, Chido Govera escaped a life of poverty and abuse in rural Zimbabwe. Now she's an activist, travelling the world to help others change their lives"

"Mounting evidence of the benefits and impact that sport can have on women, youth, economic development and so much more than the typical "health benefits" we all assume should be the only reason we participate in sport."

"Honestly, few things can compare to that experience of representing your country and your fellow people back home."

"“The actions that have brought me to this point were not done with the intention of recognition and that makes this achievement all the more special.""

"It truly is a tremendous honour, one that I was not expecting at all"

"The actions that have brought me to this point were not done with the intention of recognition and that makes this achievement all the more special. I hope, if anything, being named as one of the top 30 finalists will help me continue my pursuits in community work, both here and in my native Zimbabwe and I encourage other student-athletes from Seton Hall to aspire to do the same"

"Seton Hall University has been nothing but supportive of my many endeavours and I am thankful for its continued support"

"Being a female international student-athlete is a wonderful platform and I only hope I can make the most of it"

"I want to offer myself as a resource to these (US-bound) young athletes, especially because I had none when I went through this process. What motivated me to do this is essentially two fold, part of my visit is centred around my work with an orphanage called Tariro House of Hope and the Sneaker Drive I had been working on for a while in the United States"

"If for real memory is a way of holding on to the things you love, the things you are, the things you never want to lose, then our memories are the things we want to hold onto the most and if we don't make any then how are we going to hold onto them? This is the reason why today I took it upon myself to go down memory lane. The best way to do it was to approach the man who was in the thick of things at that time"

"The Secret is keeping fit and staying away from booze and womanizing."

"To the youngsters, Respect plays a major role in anything you want to do. Respect your elders the rest will follow"

"Based in the United States, Alex is a force to be reckoned with on and off the basketball court. Her basketball career began at Arundel School, Harare and as captain of the team she took Arundel through it’s first international tour to South Africa. For a total of 9 years Alex played for Zimbabwe’s Junior National Team and the Senior Women’s National Team. Most notably, she represented Zimbabwe at the 9th and 10th All Africa Games"

"She collected sneakers in good condition and took them back home to Zimbabwe where she distributes them to the underprivileged. Alexandra is particularly interested to see more children and youth exposed to the world of opportunities they are unaware of or think they are unentitled to. She wants the youth of Zimbabwe to have the right tools so that they can accomplish their own dreams and move forward in life."

"Don't let success get into your head,no matter they say how good you are. Like i said, one's music speaks for itself, respect and be humble, you will get there."

"One has to enjoy what they do and respect for the profession and perseverance are the key elements to make it out there."

"I feel so sad that adequate medication isn’t available at this moment and people are dying from curable ailments."

"Know your worth. Invest in yourself. Know your WHY, in everything you do be intentional. Do at least one thing with your end in mind everyday."

"The fear of poverty and being ordinary inspired me to be an entrepreneur"

"Winning Miss ZimWinning Miss Zimbabwe 2005 was a life changing moment for me as it opened doors I never thought I could go through. It was fulfilling and rewarding and proved to be a great platform for me to establish my career and brand.babwe 2005 was a life changing moment for me as it opened doors I never thought I could go through. It was fulfilling and rewarding and proved to be a great platform for me to establish my career and brand."

"Sometimes, Go slow to go fast! Entrepreneurs like myself always want to go fast, we love to build. But there always comes a time when you face adversity, pressure and challenges. Every decision and reaction can’t be made just as quickly. Learning to go slow to go fast only gives you great room for perception."

"Rest, reflect and meditate as often as you can. Taking time out to rest and re-energise provides for great foresight and minimises regrets."

"Don’t take yourself too seriously, we’ll make mistakes along the way, correct them and keep going."

"Intuition is a woman's most powerful asset. Intuition combined with logic makes for some of the most rewarding and accurate line of judgement."

"[I am] truly humbled and blessed to join the Young Global Leaders community and am excited to collaborate with my fellow YGLs on our shared commitment to shaping the global future"

"It's a great opportunity to represent Africa amongst globally talented peers, an opportune to share our context and collaborate with others in mutual exchange of knowledge and championing of causes important to humanity, globally"

"I can compare myself and relate to Mutesi, the Queen of Katwe when she had international chess tournaments. She was made fun of because of her background, but that didn't stop her from doing what she loved."

"My advice to young girls who want to get into motocross or any sport is to always remember where you came from. The road is not easy, not everyone wishes the best for you or will support you. Always keep your head up and remember to never give up! Everything takes time, sacrifice, and determination. It will all be worth it in the end."

"Motocross is a sport that you barely hear about especially in Africa and few girls are exposed to it. I wanted to inspire girls out there and show them that anything is possible if you put your mind and heart to it. I have experienced gender criticism from a lot of people because of the sport that l play. I know a lot of sports that girls want to try motocross but fear to do it because of what people will say. I want to change that."

"Tanyaradzwa started racing at the age of five and is the first female to have won a motocross championship in Zimbabwe since it was started in 1957. She finished second in the 2012 championship season."

"Her commitment to giving back comes from her father who always encouraged her to help others."

"She is a brave girl. The way she is organised and determined is so amazing. She gives me a reason to empower women. It is at this age that they need to know that nothing can stop them just because they are girls. If she beats boys then nothing can stop her."

"Female reproductive organs are hidden parts of the body, located down there. But that should not mean that issues affecting them should be hidden or looked down upon, or swept under garments. Let’s put menstruation on the agenda and openly discuss it to its logical conclusion."

"I have a deep love for my country and I am passionate about women claiming their power through self-care. This can only happen if we start to build a today and tomorrow that is full of empowered women and healthy girls as well as responsible boys and men. Girls and women should not regret their gender. Let us support them to manage their periods with dignity."

"I envision a Zimbabwe where all girls and women can access adequate menstrual products, in an environment that is period-conducive and be treated with dignity in order for them to manage their periods in a manner that fosters human and sustainable development."

"A girl who is absent from school due to menstruation for four days every month loses at least 40 learning days, the equivalent of six weeks of learning, per year. It’s like not going to school for half of a school term. Equity in education can therefore not be achieved under such a scenario.” She added that this development, if implemented well, would ensure that girls attend school, concentrate and also participate in sporting activities, improve their mental health and generally be in control of their periods. She added that this development, if implemented well, would ensure that girls attend school, concentrate and also participate in sporting activities, improve their mental health and generally be in control of their periods... It will also address issues to do with period shaming, as girls are often laughed at when they spoil their school uniform or the school chair, or when walking awkwardly due to use of improper and inconvenient menstrual absorbents such as rags, cow dung, you name it... From our estimates, we might be actually looking at a number of 550,000 schoolgirls at most, both in urban and rural schools, that need sanitary wear, which translates to a sanitary wear per capita of ZWL $363 (US$22.6). This means that the allocated money is adequate to cater for all schoolgirls who menstruate, in both urban and rural areas."

"Let me highlight that menstrual poverty is not something that only affects girls or women who are poor. It is not just lack of sanitary wear, but it is also a lack of proper menstrual facilities, period education and a period-friendly environment... When a girl is on her period, she needs a supportive environment that helps her to manage her period with dignity. I was born into a family with five girls with an extended family of 15 people in rural Zvimba. Seven of us were girls who needed at least seven packets of sanitary pads every month to manage our periods but due to unavailability, we had to resort to using anything else to manage our periods... Our main challenge in our work is lack of resources to reach out to more vulnerable girls who are suffering from period poverty. The move by Scotland has shown us that it can be done but Zimbabwe still has a long way to go to completely eradicate period poverty."

"A nation without period poverty and a nation that provides equal opportunities for girls and women to succeed in all aspects"

"Theresa Nyava, the executive director of Sanitary Aid Zimbabwe Trust welcomed the development saying it will go a long way in bringing equity in education. She said it has been established that 72 percent of school girls in rural areas don’t use commercial sanitary wear, desperately resorting to unhygienic means, with 62 percent of them missing school every month... She added that this development, if implemented well, would ensure that girls attend school, concentrate and also participate in sporting activities, improve their mental health and generally be in control of their periods. She added that this development, if implemented well, would ensure that girls attend school, concentrate and also participate in sporting activities, improve their mental health and generally be in control of their periods. She said from their own calculations, the $12.5 million (USC) earmarked for the project can actually cater not just for rural girls, but also for all schoolgirls who need sanitary pads in Zimbabwe."

"Theresa is one of the exemplary women who are making impact at the grassroots level in Zimbabwe. Her work in fighting to eradicate period poverty since 2016 has tremendously benefited local communities of young women and girls in rural and urban Zimbabwe. From founding an organization with personal funds in 2016 together with funds from well wishers, Theresa has demonstrated great empathy and a high level of zeal and determination. She has soldiered on, albeit the economic challenges in the country and the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020. This has seen her organization, Sanitary Aid Zimbabwe expanding its work, to now offer more services such as training services for women and young girls that empower them to make reusable sanitary pads and other hygienic products... It is therefore not surprising that Theresa is affectionately known as “Sanitary Bae” in social circles because of her work in Sanitary issues."

"I am sure there are a lot of women who have taken good care of their partners children. Not all step mothers are jealous and society has to celebrate such roles."

"Every women who gets into a second marriage faces a lot of stress and confusion as she tries to adjust to ready made family. There is no time to learn to be a mother as you are starting with errands and a system you are not used too."

"It is a sad reality that most health campaigns done by the Government target non-deaf community for example circumcision and cervical cancer campaigns."

"She came up with the book as part of efforts to address the evil stepmother narrative that has poisoned society for centuries ."

"Barbra has written and conducted research on Deaf education, Access to Health for the Deaf & Sign language. Barbra has a keen interest in the empowerment of the Deaf and hard of hearing. She has experience in human rights, democracy, governance,elections, gender and education."

"There are a number of lessons learnt from my moments of solitude. l learnt that the world owes me nothing but that l can choose how to respond to life challenges. l got to understand that l can't change certain situations but l can adapt on the best way to handle the situation. even though l am differently-enabled, my challenges are not unique, but they mirror what everyone else goes through."

"They can relate to me. They say ‘if she is working, we can also work.’ This is not a time for self-pity, being a woman and living with disability should not turn us into charity cases."

"Women with disability receive double stigmatization both from a gender and disability perspective. we are demanding to hold posts in key decision making positions as we say NO to stigmatization, but also it is my encouragement to fellow colleagues that you have to participate for you to be recognized, make an impact in your societies."

"In spite of what I have been through, I still love life and want to make the most of each moment, good or bad. My challenges are not unique, but they mirror what everybody else goes through."

"I did not face any challenges in primary school because the school I attended, St. Giles Primary School, accommodated children with disabilities only. Therefore I did not feel any different. The only challenge was with my disability because I was born with brittle bones."

"So I had to be careful of how I did things. If I fell or had any slight accident, I would easily get a fracture on the leg or arm"

"At this school, a person could only write five subjects with female students taking up home management while males did biology but I chose to do both. The reason was because I was weak in mathematics so this strategy then helped me to attain five Ordinary levels"

"The subjects I excelled in were Human and Social Biology, English, Integrated Science, Home Management and Commerce"

"The love and support of family.They made me believe that I can be anything in life as long as I work towards it."

"Being a woman born with a disability I could relate to the challenges women and girls with disabilities face that drove me to establish the organisation. The girl child with a disability is marginalised in society, often bringing in a sense of hopelessness"

"They often face triple jeopardy being disabled, their gender and unemployment. The Trust is therefore set out to empower and resurrect hope in the girl child with a disability to allow her to realise her potential and the impact she has in her community and society as a whole"

"I am pushed by love for people, it is sad to meet people who cannot assist themselves and each day I feel happy when I help someone, but it is not easy, I get threats from various people when I am tackling issues, but I am not shaken. I believe God is there to look after me and at the end of the day I emerge victorious."

"It's funny because I do not have any awards, each time I feel I am not ready, even today I feel I haven't reached where I feel I deserve an award."

"To the youths, I say life is changing everyday, thing come and go but always be yourself and stay focused on your dreams."

"To the young journalists, I say be original, know your job, be ethical and know that once you are famous, your life is a book, open to everyone to read. Such when you make a silly mistake, the papers will sell like hot cakes because you are a celebrity."

"She made a name for herself at Zimbabwe Broadcasting Corporation (ZBC)'s Radio Zimbabwe where she hosted a no-holds barred Sunday morning talk show which touched on various social issues. Some of the controversial issues that the programme has dealt with include those of satanists, child prostitutes, victims of rape and business people who use juju to enrich themselves. It was a phone-in programme and many a times perpetrators and victims called in airing their views and experiences making it worthwhile for the audiences to tune in."

"Tennis is such a fantastic sport for everyone to be involved in and it is my passion.We have young players who are doing well and so they need to focus on the rich techniques and realise how important that is at this stage,said the mother of one."

"I travel with my two and a half year old son because i want to.He is my first priority as well as my husband.So apart from a busy schedule in the courts ,it has also been a time of sleepless nights at home.""

"I miss playing a lot and started practising three weeks ago with a view of playing again,” said Cara, who made a career prize money of US$6 515 415 after turning professional in 1998.I will see how my body recovers and will play a few challengers tournaments in October to see how it goes since I now have the baby.""

"My husband will travel with us and will be looking after the boy all the time. That will be great. I will definitely have a new coach, but my husband will always be there as he helps me on the mental side of the game.I will just test in a few tournaments and work on getting my ranking back. I would like to go with a new perspective and hopefully do even better. I have a home now so I just have to enjoy my game without putting myself under pressure at all.”"

"While some young tennis players are inspired by what they see on television,or at a tennis club,Cara Black's introduction to the sport came to be in her own background on the fur grass courts her father constructed and at the Black farming farm in Harare Zimbabwe, the Tennis international Federation said.""

"It takes time to bridge the education gap between man and women. Our mandate was to reduce gender disparities where the boy child goes to school and the girl child is married off."

"The role is to educate the whole of Zimbabwe not only the girl child. The advantage of an educated woman is that they become a power in society and there is no way they will raise uneducated children."

"Women! You can do it. Come to Women `s University in Africa (WUA) and study. Get up and break out from your comfort zones."

"Improving the status of women is one of the most critical levers of international development. Women Excel is one exciting forum created by women for women with the purpose of empowering women in every sphere of their lives."

"Women often find it difficult to apportion resources towards their own education because more often than not they put their needs at the bottom, whilst they care for their families."

"We started Women`s University because we wanted to prove that we can do it. The message to women is to keep on pushing the cart and do not doubt your abilities."

"A mixture of driven personality and deep seated passion to assist the marginalised and a conviction to serve, further strengthened her determination to establish the institution,whatever the cost."

"The university is testimony of hard work, resoluteness, selfless-ness and determination of someone who was not satisfied being at the top alone. She stretched her hands to pull other women to be up there with her."

"Her passion and determination to empower women attracted organisations like Africa Capacity Building Foundation (ACBF), which became the biggest funder for technical support."

"Professor Sadza has taken the gender agenda across continents and sensitised most women of positions of influence to ensure they do not to leave any woman behind."

"Prof Sadza leaves a track of indelible footprints in the academic arena, business field and the lives of the 10 481 graduates that have had the privilege of learning at the Women’s University in Africa, the only such institution in Africa."

"Her heart has always bled for those women whose backgrounds have contributed to their exclusion in the academic arena, whose culture made preference for investment in the boy-child whilst relegating the vulnerable girl child to a school dropout, early marriage and rearing of the family."

"Her life has been dedicated to addressing gender disparities and indeed fostering equity in university education."

"Although improving, women remain marginalised particularly in institutional decision making, yet we know that household welfare, hence, the whole population, both in terms of production and reproduction, depends on women."

"This lack of a ‘human face’, in particular, a ‘woman’s face’ in banking and finance matters has been a serious weakness in the development discourse and practice, partly responsible for the development paralysis we face today."

"She enjoys membership in various professional societies and activities in civic, public or international affairs, including the Reserve Bank of Zimbabwe Monetary Policy Committee."

"Appreciate that Rome was not build in one day, so take time to perfect what you are doing and you will come up with a beautiful and unique product."

"Learn from others and create networks."

"What is true for my family is not true for the family next door or down the street. We get nowhere venting our frustrations through talk of blame. So when we don’t see people masking, when we don’t see people doing what we think they should be doing, let’s just really be thoughtful about how we engage people and have healthy conversations to get our communities where we’d like to see them."

"And my primary focus across all of those priorities, whether it's with my staff, with COVID, and with other health care conditions, is equity. Making sure that I lead with equity, that I center equity, and that I do everything with a lens for equity."

"Hlatshwayo Davis said her interest in public health was shaped by the death of her father, who was diagnosed with cancer and diabetes."

"At 39 years, she has made history as the first black woman health director of St. Louis."

"With her impressive background and extensive experience as an infectious disease expert, I am confident in Dr Hlatshwayo Davis’ ability to lead our Covid-19 response as well as our efforts to improve health outcomes across the city"

"African women especially young ones have been silent foe so long. We are the discussed,the studied,the analysed and the written about. And I am so privileged to have been able to raise my voice and speak for what we felt and cried and yearned."

"I saw the world as vast and magical with so many cultures and people. It opened me up and made me very adaptable to change. It also meant that I was not afraid to be in strange places, to experience and to learn."

"Racism is a phenomenal thing; it is like a thick mist that obscures the vision and judgment of even great minds."

"Until the lion learns to write tales of hunting, we'll always glorify the hunter"

"She is a founder of cutting Edge Neurosurgeon Inc., a web based start up."

"She is a public speaker who has been invited to lecture at various colleges and universities across the USA and spoken to numerous book clubs and civic organisations and served on many literary panels including being an invited guest of The Gotenberg Literary Festival."

"My message to teen mom’s: you made a mistake, so what! No one is perfect, everyone makes mistakes. Pick yourself up and be a boss babe. Building a beautiful life and empire for you and your kids. Take the obstacles in your life and use them as building blocks for an amazing life. Have a vision for your life and set specific goals with deadlines to achieve those goals. Trust in God and believe in yourself. Have confidence, be brave. You are amazing and you are worthy. You can do anything if you set your mind to it. You have to be willing to work day and night to achieve your dreams."

"I always believed in myself. I always believed I could do anything I wanted to do. There was never a doubt in my mind that I could do anything."

"To the young teenage mother, you are not damaged goods. God loves you as you are. Have a plan for your life and work hard to achieve your goals not only for you but for your child. Build a support system around you. We need each other to succeed. I always say it took a village to make Zimbabwe’s first abdominal transplant and hepato biliary trained surgeon."

"I didn’t know how I was going to ever fulfill my dream."

"She fought her way to the top in a male-dominated field despite hearing discouraging comments like, “Girls don’t belong in an operating room,” from some attending physicians."

"Bulawayo, I am from Bulawayo, the second city of Zimbabwe. On a return to Home, I found, saw, so many people wearing the black patch of mourning attached to their shirts. I knew what the patch meant and for whom it was worn; a generation decimated by AIDS and parents burying their children. It was with profound grief that I created HOME."

"I am a spiritual being and music lover."

"Labour of love."

"All my work as a writer has to do specifically with the black condition, the black woman’s condition and theorising about and speaking to black liberation; black revolution."

"There's way hipper, trendier shit happening in spaces unsafe for lily-white skinned people's privilege."

"As a black woman, black people, you’re not supposed to crumble."

"We all know what a coconut is, don’t we? It’s a person who is “black on the outside” but “white on the inside."

"The past, present, and future, all wrapped into one."

"'I have gained more confidence and am more eager to do my duty as leader and a women's rights activist'."

"Why do we want to glorify and justify rape, rape is rape!"

"“Acceptance for these women is a challenge, unless they have someone to take them back to their families and act as an intermediary, asking for the family’s forgiveness, and asking them to accept the women back into their homes and lives.”"

"Activists travel - we are the voice of the voiceless and speak the truth,"

"Even those who live in the diaspora, when they speak about their experiences in Zimbabwe it does not mean they are not being patriotic."

"I think if you’re a white Zimbabwean, you have an extra responsibility to give back if you can. My hope as a publisher for more than 30 years is that I have enabled a corpus of work proffering many different stories and points of view."

"Books open up new worlds for us emotionally, geographically, culturally; by encouraging understanding, they help us to develop more compassionate, rational, tolerant societies, giving rise to a more broad-minded world."

"For me, literature is an incredibly important way of telling the truth."

"A good writer has a sense of integrity that is hard to compromise."

"Editors are a bit like stage-hands: the play can’t go on without them, and yet their role is necessarily in the shadows. It is, however, interesting to see how many writers acknowledge their editors – the third eye is of value."

"“I hope this will be an inspiration and an example to young people.”"

"So, thanks to grandmother Mahembe, agriculture is in my blood. She instilled in me the passion for agriculture that inspired me to remain in school until I attained my PhD in Animal Production."

"Every African country must have a smart agriculture transformation plan."

"I’m a scientist, you can see them blinking."

"I am one of those people who put 100% into whatever I am doing, so side hustles would never work for me. It has to be all in!"

"What COVID-19 has taught us is that health system resilience is the job of everyone."

"The act of using collage is helpful as a reminder of the fragility of the human condition."

"In essence, the exhibition is about me… trying to find myself in these images. A lot of the people in the photographs are not people I was close to, you know, growing up. But they sort of played a role in influencing the way I think."

"I allowed myself to learn from them instead of imposing ideas of how I wanted Zimbabwe to be."

"The beauty of being a child of the diaspora is that we are able to reinvent ourselves and what it means to be African."

"Vampires that suck your shadow and confidence."

"This is what is happening in our society and people tend to shy away from talking about it. So as a writer I have found a niche"

"I was once housed, fed and protected by prostitutes when my life was in danger because of my activism during the liberation struggle. Up to that time I had not paid much attention to prostitutes as human beings"

"As writers we do it for the love of the art, but to then get nothing out of it while every street corner is littered with your books, it is heartbreaking and demoralising"

"I don’t care what people say though, the book’s champion declared. It is beautiful writing"

"I am from a background of women who are activists"

"Some were chiefs. My grandmother was a chief’s wife who influenced the chief in good governance. I had an aunt born in Bulawayo who married a foreigner in 1936. She started the burial societies. My paternal men were moneymakers, my maternal men were chiefs. I have always done things in my own way, since primary school"

"Aftrica is an oral culture. The orality of things is selective—we choose what we talk about. Black people in a black community are expected to behave in a certain way. Someone asked me ‘Are you still black"

"I believe in speaking for those who can’t speak for themselves. In the 1970s I was rescued by these women, by sex workers. Those people had a heart. They were women, mothers and sisters. They really felt for people. If a man wrote it, he wouldn’t understand how it worked. These women never have the time to sit and write their experiences. They are too shameful, too embarrassing"

"It is very essential for journalists to expose corruption, mismanagement of the economy, violation of human rights and related issues."

"I never thought I would be a journalist in my life. When I was growing up, in high school, my father was very, very tough on me. I was very bad in mathematics."

"Certainly I will go back to my country. I don't think that I will be able to survive in the Diaspora. My life is in Zimbabwe."

"And you know that people who are power hungry, who want to maintain this hold on power, can do anything to make sure that the independent voice is muzzled."

"It is from him that I inherited the spirit of hard work that has and continues to inspire me."

"I feel highly honoured and favoured by the nation and also by Almighty God.I feel blessed. I think God has granted me a long life to reach up to this age and being honoured as a hero in my lifetime"

"The boys didn’t accept that I was top of the class. They used to say, you’ve got a male brain. You are a woman, you shouldn’t be top of the class. But I topped the class from grade one up to grade standard six. And then in secondary, I was also top of the class. So there was that challenge of competition with the boys. And my father used to work at the mission as a gardener. So he used to come home and tell us, the visitors that came to the mission, he told us about Herbert Chitepo, the first black lawyer in Zimbabwe"

"One day he told us about a couple, a white couple. The husband was a veterinary surgeon and the wife was a medical doctor. And I really wanted to be that doctor. There was a flame in my heart that I wanted to be a female doctor. And from there, I was just aiming at working towards being a medical doctor. And in Form 1, when the teachers asked what we wanted to do after school, most people said teachers, clerks, police officers, governors, secretaries. Then when it was my turn, I said I wanted to be a medical doctor. And they all laughed. Especially the boys said, what? Because there were no female doctors, only black ones. And my headmaster then said, yes, Madeline, you can become a doctor"

"When I qualified, it took another seven years before any other black girl registered in the medical school. And then they came out from high schools, from Bonda, from St Augustine’s, and from Goromonzi. Lots of girls came to register in the medical school. And you know, during my lifetime, I’ve been integrating and talking and attending meetings and continued medical education. I attend that almost weekly. And the latest drugs, the latest, new diseases and all that, I’m in front. So I’m quite happy and the girls, there are over 600 women doctors in Zimbabwe after, I qualified. They have done very, very well. They’ve done specialties, you name it, they are there, specialists in cardiology, radiology, oncology, paediatrics, you name it. All the fraternities, they are women and they are doing very, very well"

"The sky is the limit. Don’t allow issues of gender and culture to inhibit your dreams. You can be all you want with hard work and self-belief"

"I wasn’t meant to live this long,I was a sickly baby but look at me, living and beautiful. That’s a blessing."

"I didn’t understand why I should be barred from that restaurant or being with that person."

"Home is a myth and, at some point, I had to accept that. I have lived in so many places and I have just learned to accept that you belong where you are."

"People in music want you to play small so you can make them feel better. That’s why you see so many bands break up no matter how talented they are."

"I’ve been fighting not for a particular area — I’ve been fighting for South Africa, I’ve been fighting for Zimbabwe, Malawi, Tanzania, Congo and all these places. So I feel I don’t belong to one place."

"I’m a child of every part of this continent."

"The way of my singing is message. You send a message: It’s love, it’s sadness, it’s everything."

"They want to know how someone like me, who hasn’t studied music, can understand it so well."

"I didn’t plan to be a singer, singing planned to be in me."

"A response to the daily experience of being harassed, grabbed and catcalled at in public."

"She belonged to a generation of artists who transcended boundaries in art and politics long before we coined the concept of globalisation."

"Her music will leave on, and we will never forget her meticulous fashion sense. Because clothing is armour and makes important statements too."

"She was the living library of music and an iconic legend with vast experience."

"Her music uplifted the spirit of millions across the world."

"“She thought football was like soccer,” Edelstein said to “Philadelphia Daily News” after Diana passed away in 1997. “She asked, ‘What are your colors?’ I said, ‘Green and silver.’ She said, ‘Those are my favorite colors.’“"

"I paint people because figuration is a better vehicle for my ideas and is more accessible to the viewer, especially in Zimbabwe. I use my art to re-create the world on my own terms; taboos become exposed and the hidden is given prominence. In my work, women are more than just powerless beasts of burden and the male body becomes objectified for the delight of the voyeur. In this world there is no black and white but it is full of everything in between'"

"At the time when I did my course it was attached to a Theatre Studies Foundation Degree at Leeds College. I needed to do a top up year to get a BA. The previous course has been more traditional theatre and the year at Beckett introduced me to performance art."

"I recently became a Lecturer in Scriptwriting at Manchester Metropolitan University. Previously, I worked at the University of Manchester (Drama), Warwick University (Poetry) and guest lectured at Leeds Beckett (Performance). My teaching is attached to my work as a poet, screenwriter, playwright, dramaturg and director. I have been working as a freelancer for 15 years. I have performed poetry and competed in international poetry slams. My theatre work has been produced across the UK, France, Germany, South Africa, Zimbabwe and USA. I have made short films and produced radio plays. I have purposely worked on multidisciplinary projects to challenge myself as a writer and grow my skills."

"Where possible, I took part in various development programmes and workshops. These helped me move through various mediums and build networks over the years. As a result of my industry experience, I'd be invited to lead workshops for arts organisations, theatres, schools and universities. I built a teaching portfolio while simultaneously continuing to do my vocation. When the position at MMU came up, it welcomed applicants who had industry experience where a PhD was missing. I knew I was qualified for the job."

"The course introduced me to new performance principles and techniques. It gave me an appreciation for performance art. However, it crucially highlighted that as much as I enjoyed performing work, writing was where I thrived more. Researching and creating scripts is a genuine passion."

"I've had many proud moments over the years. When I was 17, I represented the UK with Leeds Young Authors at Brave New Voices International Poetry Slam in New York."

"In 2014, my first play BOI BOI IS DEAD won the Channel 4 Playwrights Scheme and was a finalist for the Susan Smith Blackburn Prize."

"My plays are published by Bloomsbury. My first narrative short, THE ANCESTORS premiered at the Pan African Film Festival in LA in February 2023."

"This month, the spin off anime Castlevania: Nocturne premiered on Netflix. I am one of the screenwriters on the series."

"The performance of my final project, HOME HAS DIED was my favourite memory. The project was a tribute to family members who had passed away. It touched on migration, disconnection, grief and healing. It was my first ever solo show. My mum joined me on stage. She played the drum and sang."

"The notion of discovery is very important to hold on to. Sometimes we think we know who we are or what an idea is; or we are debilitated by what it isn't or what we aren't. But by remaining in a space of discovery you'll be open to experiment, to ask for help, to throw things out and receive the unknown, to collaborate with other practitioners and to put yourself forward for opportunities. You'll be scared, but still do it and discover what comes."

"I happy to say that I am a part of England Netball under17."

"University is going to be brilliant! It will provide opportunities and experiences you couldn't have imagined. Use your time wisely and make the most of what you can get while you still can."

"It builds confidence when you see someone else coming from your background who was in a similar position to you achieving in their given field. It's vital that we all have something to aspire to! Sometimes you need to see it to believe it."

"I think with 'role models' it's key to understand that you don't have to be just like them to be great. Underestimating the worth of being the best version of yourself and taking the qualities you possess for granted are big mistakes!"

"I take influence from their ambition! Athletics is a sport in which you have to stand up for yourself with conviction in your actions regardless of what others around you are doing. That passion for being and doing better is highly influential and carries over into my daily 9-5 work too."

"Ihave a lot of respect for Lewis Hamilton. He is standing up against racism and helping to get across an important message within an environment where he could easily step back, keep quiet and follow the status-quo. Stormzy has donated £500,000 to fund educational scholarships for students from disadvantaged backgrounds and will provide £10m to black British causes over the next ten years. Again, it's not just about the amount of money, but the fact that he is choosing to use his platform for sustainable change that makes this inspiring."

"It is my life’s work as a wellness coach, yoga instructor and personal trainer to inspire those who work with me to realise their best self ever."

"My passion is to find a balance between living a full productive, healthy life as a woman, as a wife and as a friend. It is my mission to help you do the same."

"Teresa Moodie. im a fun loving hard working mom of a teenager."

"Speaking on her new role as JET’s CEO Dr. Rodriguez-Moodie explained, “Growing up I always had a deep passion for the environment and its sustainability. As the activist Wangari Maathai once said – if we cannot sustain the environment, we cannot sustain ourselves. I have always admired JET’s work, and it is an honour to now be leading this amazing organization. I have a vision of a clean and healthy Jamaican environment, and I am looking forward to working with JET’s staff, membership, and other stakeholders to achieve that. We intend to continue to build greater awareness and understanding, so others will be as concerned as we are, we need all hands on deck."

"My first single from my upcoming EP is locked and loaded, and there's an exciting opportunity for you to remix it."

"Being a visionary woman means feeling the fear and doing it anyway,”"

"The beat that pulses through House music compels an individual to move their body. Yet, House music is more than an irresistible groove. In the eyes and ears of Zimbabwean-born artist Jackie Queens, House music has the power of building communities."

"House music is cathartic. I associate this feeling with house music most out of all the others. When I’m dancing, I feel renewed, and when I’m listening to it at home or on the go, I feel energized and happy. As a symbol of a fighting spirit, it stands out as a platform for the free expression of people when I consider its roots and the impact it has had on the world, especially for Black and Queer people"

"At the moment, I’m inspired by people. In particular, the many ways in which we demonstrate our humanity. Sometimes we aren’t kind or generous, but even in those moments, compassion and courage shine through. A source of inspiration that never goes out of style is music. As I am continuously in awe of what we are capable of creating, it never becomes mundane for me."

"In these different environments, I am inspired by the selflessness, collaborative spirit, and audacity of the people I interact with. Humility is a necessary quality for working with people of varying backgrounds. I continue to learn, not only about myself, but also about the world around me. Even if I won’t live to see the world in full colour, I’m inspired by possibilities. There is a glimpse of the future, no matter how fleeting, when there are small victories."

"From inequality, racism, sexism, and discrimination, the answer is endless. However, in light of COVID 19, I have been thinking a lot about the working conditions of people in the music industry, like artists, events staff, promoters, etc. Music workers have little to no rights or security and we operate in a deeply unequal and exploitative system. From that perspective, I’d like to see more attention paid to music workers rights and concerted efforts made by those who have power to change the environments we work in."

"Anyone can exist, dance and love as they are with full freedom."

"There will be more music! As a label we’ve been away for a while, so I’d like to do more digging around and unearthing gems like I used to do. I would also like the work of Bae Electronica to be multiplied on the continent of Africa, and for more women to do what we do"

"Desiree’s debut EP just came out on Bae Electronica, I’m very excited about that. It’s a pivotal release for the label because we’ve been part of her journey from the beginning. From a shesaid.so South Africa perspective, our chapter has a very special partnership with Rocking The Daisies to present the Oasis, a safe space for women and LGBTIA+ festival goers. We’re working extra hard on that right now and it’s one of the things I’m most proud of and excited about."

"Emmavie and Gina Jeanz. They are my favourite producers right now. Both are extremely good at blending the classic with the contemporary. It’s R&B/soul with Emmavie and Gina Jeanz shines when she injects 90s house motifs into her cuts. Their range of production is so dynamic and refreshing."

"I looked back at the tracks I’d been listening to on repeat the past six months. Normally, I spend quite a bit of time thinking about mixes or mixtapes, thematically, as well as how to situate the listener in a particular time or place. In the beginning, that was the plan, but then I asked myself “what am I listening to?” I was pleasantly surprised to find quite a few classic tunes on there, the Dear Friend DJ SPinna remix is an all-time favourite. Although it’s recently out, I’ve been listening to Desiree’s track for a while now, I love it so much, obviously lucky enough to get dibs on that!"

"To me, netball is life and everything else because everything that I have in this life is motivated or influenced by the sport"

"Whenever I step on court, I play my heart out and enjoy the game and whatever comes out of it is a bonus…this is what I did in both World Cup appearances,"

"Being part of the Surrey Storm family is phenomenal, apart from moulding me as a player, a lot has also changed socially and at home"

"This time, I told them (Gems) to get out there, play to enjoy the game and whatever the result is, be ready to work harder again tomorrow."

"Don't forget to get up every once and a while and do some stretching and exercises. Don't let your body atrophy in front of the computer."

"Remember – if you're not healthy, you won't feel good enough to write! But after you've had your vitamins and have done your yoga, write as much as you can as often as you can, even if you spend a lot of time staring at a blank page. If you just hang in there, you will succeed!"

"The deadline is what makes it fun. If I'd had more time to write the script, it would have surely lost some of its organic grossness. I would have tweaked that out in the interest of not making my readers sick."

"There was the one life-changing teacher in high school and then the-rock-and-the-foundation writing teacher I had in college. Both pushed me to explore the limits of my creativity and were very open minded to my wild imagination."

"I love the concept of writers being presented with a blind challenge rather than simply submitting previously-completed work for judging. It puts us all on an even playing field, so anything goes. And I like competing against writers of all walks of life and with all levels of experience."

"I hoped the Challenge would help me to rejuvenate my writing habits by making me think outside the box, which it definitely did."

"My bones shall rise again!"

"uh I think thats the most important thing because a lot of people don’t actually understand the context of what being spoken about by ZImbabweans"

"I mean I.. I.. its a very difficult one and i always says to people that its so difficult to understand the Zimbabwean situation unless if you are in Zimbabwe because theres very big disconnect between what happens on social media versus whats happening on the ground. So if you are to read the social media uhh you’d probably think we’re like in the middle of a warzone"

"Ghana is almost like Zimbabwe the people are warm they’re loving they’re umm you know receptive to new people [presenter in backgroung: Facts] I love that about Ghana so I’m literally about to by a house in Ghana."

"*FULL TRANSCRIPT: MisRed Interview With A Ghanaian Radio On Zim Situation, By Spread the love, retrieved on 8 August 2020"

"There’s a very big disconnect between what’s going on the ground and what’s going on social media"

"I am feeling incredibly grateful and honoured to have worked on the Harare project with two of the most prominent producers, Oscar Chamba and Macdee Chidavaenzi."

"I believe that if we work together and support each other, we can achieve great things"

"I’m honoured to be part of this vibrant and dynamic music scene, and I hope to inspire others to follow their dreams."

"One fateful day, as I was engrossed in my singing, I glanced out the window and noticed a music studio called Megga. This studio was renowned for hosting rehearsals for some of the biggest celebrities in the music industry. Curiosity sparked within me, and I couldn't resist wanting to know what went on next door."

"Unable to contain my excitement, I approached them and asked if I could join in on their rehearsals. To my surprise, they welcomed me with open arms and encouraged me to showcase my own singing abilities. With all my heart, I poured my soul into my performance."

"Looking back, it's incredible to think that a simple glance out of a window led me to a life-changing opportunity. That accidental encounter at Megga Studios ignited a fire within me and set me on a path that would shape my music career for years."

"It became more difficult to know who I am and I just poured myself into this EP. I have been working on this EP since last year, so it took a bit more time than I normally take, but I am happy that I took my time to perfect all that I wanted done."

"I’m reintroducing myself to make my fans know that I am a diverse artist who is comfortable in every genre. My next album will focus on one of the genres on this EP. I featured Baba Harare on ‘Ndipe Mwana’ because I love jiti, and as a diverse traditional dancer and artist I thought he would be the best to bring out my jiti traditional side."

"I am a diverse artist. I am a musician, model, dancer, choreographer, writer, actress and film director by profession. I have been limiting my potential for too long due to fear of the unknown and always waiting for people to accept me but now I am doing it all without boundaries or feeling unsure because I can do this."

"I have lots of visual and performing artistes of different genre lined up for this exhibition. I will also be releasing the artistes soon after all the contracts has been signed up."

"I would love to work with a lot more Zimbabwean designers but right now I am designing most of my clothes and sometimes Ivhu Tribe’s Jasper Mandizera does that for me,"

"For that part I would never protect or guard my nudity art. In fact it does not need defence."

"It surely is the grace of God, we must be doing something to get all these nominations."

"Since I began releasing music I have been meeting people who tell me that my music helped them go through situations they were facing in life, that is enough reason for me to keep making music."

"We have completed the planning part of what the project is going to sound like and what is left is the execution process which we are going to do, one calculated step after another"

"On this upcoming project I am not planning on having collaborations at all, my efforts are on consolidating the Janet Manyowa sound so that those who like the music can identify with the sound."

"I made a promise to my mother that I would become a medical doctor"

"That was a defining moment in my journey, recognizing that people can judge you and put you in a certain column because they assume that you just landed here in Canada, so you are not as good as other kids simply because of where you come from"

"Being in that room, surrounded by women who had incredible stories and hearing Oprah’s story – intuitively, I could see pieces of myself in her journey, in her pain, in her struggles, in the circumstances that she had to live through such as poverty. It helped me to shift the lens through which I saw myself. I felt empowered. There was just a shift in my awareness, a shift in my consciousness"

"I want them to understand that things might not yet unfold in the way that they wanted, but there is so much more waiting for them in life, and that just being here in this moment, being alive, and being an immigrant in this country which serves immigrants, is a blessing"

"In August 2017, I launched an online mentorship program for young women. The program called Esther’s Mentorship aims to assist women to win back their power, settles into their true selves, realize their potential and be the best of who God created them to be."

"I use my personal experiences and testimonies to empower and assist women to realize that it doesn’t matter where one has been. That through their broken pieces, there is hope at the end of the tunnel and God can use their pain."

"While speaking at an event in South Africa, one of the speakers took an interest in me. We began talking about my life’s journey, my vision and plan for the future. I told her about the mentorship program and she suggested that I call it Esther."

"Upon return, during a conversation with my spiritual mother, she said I reminded her of Esther. As if this was not confirmation enough, I then decided to name it Esther because we are raising queens."

"I also intend on having centers especially in the big cities and branching to the rural areas where I feel those in the rural areas need it the most. My intention is to build a community of sisterhood that reaches every girl that needs it."

"Our words and thoughts have the power to shape our destiny. It is the narrative that you hold true about yourself that is manifesting in your life every day as your reality. Be mindful of the stories that you tell yourself about who you are. I am here today doing the work that brings me joy and brings joy to the lives my voice is called to touch because of a promise I made to myself and to my dear mother on her deathbed. I am a testimony that, “You become what you believe”. You are the master creator of your destiny. Your life has meaning. Your life has a purpose. Everything you need to fulfil your calling is right inside of you. I am here to help you unleash your true highest potential."

"You can never say it’s too early to dream,The earlier you start dreaming, the earlier you are inclined to start working hard."

"When I heard the news I was watching one of the men’s Logan Cup games and had to go online to verify, as I couldn’t believe it"

"Watching cricket has become a routine of mine lately, as it helps me to see and hear how the guys are doing"

"I watch a lot of games and listen to as many people as possible to hear their views on cricket, whether it be the men or women’s game"

"ersonally, this is what I was looking forward to when I started playing cricket, and also this was what we were aiming to achieve as a team during my day"

"Test cricket is the holy grail of cricket, and every player aspires to play"

"Over the last couple of days, I have realised that we go through different phases and in each opportunity or phase, there are certain challenges that you face that will make life easier for the next generation"

"You will realise that some of the girls that are playing right now may not get to fully enjoy this status, and those that come some five or ten years later may"

"The hope is that by the time the future generation starts playing, we will have developed further and will be playing and competing against some of the top sides regularly"

"Everyone has a part to play"

"Having this status means more game time"

"I played mine and hope to continue contributing in my new role as convener of selectors"

"“A lot of groundwork will definitely need to be done in terms of school, provincial and club cricket"

"Ideally, I would like a scenario where we have something like two senior sides, namely the Lady Chevrons and an emerging side, while we also have active age-group sides"

"This will make it easier for gradual progression, and the obvious beneficiary will be the national side"

"I am quite excited by the appointment and would like to think my history in cricket and sport in general substantiated the position"

"I am looking forward to see how we can grow and develop the game of cricket to as many girls and women as possible, obviously with more game time and exposure to the sport"

"I am happy and humbled that my input to the game has been worthwhile, having pioneered in different aspects like captaining, coaching and now as convenor of selectors"

"It was ideally to equip the Under-19 players for the qualifier and the World Cup"

"The six senior players were deliberately chosen to mentor on batting, bowling, general mannerism and confidence building"

"A player like Mugeri-Tiripano has a huge presence on the field and we are hoping the youngsters will feed off her and learn a lot"

"Mugeri-Tiripano and Mupachikwa were chosen to help the batters, especially the top-order batters, while our top bowler Nkomo will mentor the bowlers, with Dhururu and Mupachikwa mentoring the wicketkeepers"

"Dhururu will captain just as she did at Kwibuka because she was able to help the Under-19s go through the tournament and helped build their confidence"

"I used to be called ‘Khiwa’ which means white or ‘nkawu.’ Nkawu is a monkey in my native language. Although my brother would stand up and defend me, he still left school before me, and so I had to learn to stand up for myself and be vocal about what was going on in my life"

"Pageantry has definitely given me a platform to be a voice for those that cannot speak for themselves, a platform where I can empower other women to stand their ground and speak out against issues to do with abuse and discrimination."

"We have old cultural myths that have existed for a very long time. It is believed that people with albinism do not die and there is the misconception that our body parts can be used to heal chronic diseases."

"We have stereotypes that say we are not as equally capable as other people. I have made it my job as an activist to spread the message that we should refuse to be defined by unjustified harmful cultural conspiracy beliefs."

"I am saying as persons with albinism we should not allow someone else to dictate to us. Like all humans we have the freedom of expression, let’s utilise it. I am advocating for change in society and the world at large."

"We have to understand that as citizens of this global village we are all different. There is something unique about each one of us. For persons with albinism, it is their skin. There is a need for society to embrace this uniqueness."

"If traditional leaders, churches, local authorities, policymakers and ordinary citizens start spreading the message of tolerance and inclusiveness, the world will be a better place."

"I discovered in primary school that I was different when other children started asking me questions like, ‘Are your parents white?’ ‘Why is your brother black?’"

"My teachers would make me sit in front because I was short-sighted and then I started questioning all these occurrences. It was painful being the only child in a school of 1 500 pupils who looked different, and people made fun of me."

"At a very young age, children of my age were asking me questions like, ‘What happens to you when you die?’ ‘When will you turn black again?’ ‘What happens if I beat you?’ ‘Why is it you and your sister are different from the rest of your family, are you from another planet?’"

"I had sisters and mothers who told their children and siblings not to play with me. I had relatives who pretended to like me. I was overwhelmed with confusion, I never really knew who honestly cared about me."

"I have told myself that I am equally capable as the next model. Whichever designer, photographer or promoter who will exercise prejudice will miss out on an opportunity to work with this wonderful, hardworking individual. I have also made it a point to bring out my very best when I get a modelling gig."

"We live in a world that questions our capability as women and, in turn, set to marginalise, abuse as well as discriminate against us, but that very same world is diversifying. We have feminists and humanitarian activists who are advocating for change as well as inclusion. It is awful that we spend most of our time fighting but it is also great because we are fighting for something bigger than us."

"A good course that will not benefit only us, but generations to come as well."

"I knew a lot about European history, but I couldn’t tell you anything substantial about African history"

"my early reading was devoid of Black writers and African literature as a whole"

"Most of the books I read reinforce the way I think and view things"

"I enjoy writing all my characters, otherwise they would not make it into my books"

"Writing as a career is not financially lucrative for most writers"

"write for love before you consider writing for money"

"life has light moments and dark moments. It’s not just a canvas painted with one brush, and so I just wanted to bring all that together to show the different layers, the happy and sad moments"

"A lot of religious people are like that. They have zero empathy and a lot more judgement."

"You have people who are affluent and people who are poor. Who decides how the scales are weighed?"

"Wealth comes with its own problems and challenges"

"I like to show that as much as we like to divide ourselves with borders, we’re more related than we think"

"We never go deep into dealing with our wounds. We carry things forward, from one generation to the next"

"I think Africa has a wealth of talent which remains largely unknown, never mind celebrated"

"I am tired of this portrayal of African women as being timid, oppressed creatures"

"I believe books should transport you to places, whether real or imagined"

"I hate reading a book and not being able to locate myself."

"I’m intentional about provoking empathy and creating a conversation around those kind of topics"

"writing is a space where I can be bold and brazen, uncensored even"

"Life is about taking chances and believing in yourself"

"Yes, writing fiction is risky but then, as they say in finance, the higher the risk, the higher the return"

"A country needs to be judged by the living standards of its poorest people and not the few elite."

"I think there is a tendency of viewing happiness as a destination and that you can exist in that state forever, I dont buy that."

"For me, writing is like being an actress, in a way, because I get into the role, to make it believable. Otherwise you won’t be able to connect and relate to it"

"The genesis of current problems is rooted in the past"

"Learning from history allows us to not only learn about a country’s complexities and heritage but also solidifies our identity about ourselves as a people"

"Venturing into filmmaking, I did not quit modelling, rather I shifted my attention and priorities to creating films. When I was younger, I always loved storytelling, so when I got older and realised that there could be a career in the field, I pursued it,"

"If you are blessed, you find yourself with many talents that you can utilise with ease. That was the case with modelling, acting and making movies. The reason storytelling has taken centrestage is a matter of what I enjoy more between the two"

"As a little girl, I never dreamt that one day I would be a model. I remember in high school, I was in social clubs such as Interact and hosting a pageant, not once did I have the inclination to partake in it. Only after high school I was scouted by Mercy Mushaninga through her Zim Gossip Agency, and I did entertain the thought after much persuasion"

"I do have to say that the Lord knew what He was doing as His grace saw me groomed and polished to be the person I am today. Modelling brought about confidence to a girl who was born on the left side of the island, it opened doors that seemed beyond my reach and broadened my perspective as to what I can achieve"

"My foray into professional modelling began in 2011, where after winning a number of local and regional pageants, I made history when I was crowned as the youngest Miss Zimbabwe ever"

"During a year-long reign, my role under the Zimbabwe Tourism Authority centred on being a national brand ambassador and promoting the nation as an exciting tourist destination. This period also saw me winning various international pageants as well as undertaking a number of philanthropy initiatives, with the most prominent being a water and sanitation project with Aquamor"

"If it was back then when I did pageantry, it would be what did the pageant stand for, for example, Miss World stood for beauty with a purpose. To conform to that I took projects that spoke to their mission"

"We embarked on a water and sanitation project that saw us build, dig, and educate people on how to construct low-cost Blair toilets and protected wells. The project was done after the cholera pandemic of 2008-09, so it spoke to a prevailing need to prevent another outbreak"

"In runway, I pay attention to the look and mood of the designer’s vision. If it is a fierce look, I adjust my walk accordingly. In editorial, I analyse the image trying to be captured if it is a sweet innocent look, I then practise on the mirror angles and looks that capture that look. As I think of it, modelling is all about being a chameleon and acting out what is needed"

"Like any other industry, the modelling world has its pros and cons. My perspective is to know why you are getting into something and stick to your vision"

"There are too many to mention ... hahaha what I will say is that my most memorable moment was losing the Miss World pageant because that was the catapult that thrust me into my true love film"

"Modelling is a balance between owning your look (having a signature look character and characteristics) and being able to be malleable, so find your look and be open"

"It was a very difficult season for me last year and it has been over a year now, I am definitely mentally stronger and I give that glory to God as he is the one who has seen me to that point of healing"

"I have found lessons although it was not easy"

"I am stronger now, God has restored what I lost"

"I took a long time to rest and I am very ready for the season, this part of the year is always my busiest so I am looking forward to the local events and travelling"

"Journalism will always be a part of me, I was getting calls for events even when I was on my sabbatical but I had to prioritise myself and my mental health"

"Agreeing to bookings is not always a good thing, however now that I am back my clients who know that I am back have already booked me for the rest of the year"

"It is far too soon to say how this transition will affect followers and support of Ruvheneko"

"This is where you learn how much support you have as an individual versus how much support you had because you were part of a particular media house"

"If you see me quiet, it means I am dealing with some things. I stopped now after nine years to put on the face to make people happy"

"People attack me like I am just a profile picture on social media, they don’t know there is a person behind that"

"We are living in an environment in which when you are a well-known personality like a radio host, nobody cares about the real you"

"I am excited and still can’t believe this. It has been my dream and I thank God for the opportunity. The first thing that I am going to do with the money is to take my mother out"

"It has been long since I did that. I also want to pay my tuition fees and at the same time look for someone who would want the same assistance"

"In 2014, I entered Miss Parade and was voted first runner-up. I am signed with Decean Modelling Agency in Cape Town, South Africa"

"I took the tutorials by Marry Chiwenga. I said my aim is the crown. Here I am,"

"models should work with professional agencies for them to succeed in the industry as they know the actual requirements"

"It means love and beauty is not only based on physical features, but intelligence, heart and love and that was what the late Kiki Divaris was made of"

"It feels really good to be winning again after having been away from the game for so long."

"Some of the most important things are travelling and gaining worldly experience, seeing the world and learning about different cultures."

"These are small things which play a huge role."

"I hope the future generations will take it upon themselves to change these things and build a team."

"As much as it was a difficult decision, it was the only one available."

"It was tough, but I could not accept a reduced sentence upon admitting guilt when I was innocent."

"When I stopped playing tennis, I was forced to confront myself and remember who I was before sports became such a huge part of my life."

"If there's one thing that the past year has taught me, it's to not limit myself to just one career path."