The roots of my journey in activism

MY activism journey began in 2006 during my internship at MISA Zimbabwe. I vividly remember that during a trip to Harare to visit the national television station, ZBC, we passed the MISA offices. My lecturer pointed to the offices and I was the first in my class to state that I would like to join MISA Zimbabwe as an intern.

So, you can imagine my delight when my CV was selected from among others in the class for me to join the organisation.

Armed with the naivety of a 21 year-old second year journalism and media studies student, I was assigned to the information department where I was to be mentored by a seasoned journalist with vast writing experience, and an intern who was about to leave.

I’m not going to lie; it was a bit intimidating at first.

MISA Zimbabwe is a prestigious organisation whose work on defending and promoting media freedoms, freedom of expression and access to information in Zimbabwe was well known by all journalism students at the National University of Science and Technology (NUST), and as I would learn later, in the civil society sector as well.

In the face of this prestigious organisation, it felt easy to shrivel and hide. But when life gives you such opportunities, you just can’t let yourself hide. You have to give it your all. And I did.

The working environment was very cordial and the team was like one big family. And, as is the case with any family, we had nicknames for each other. Hilton Zvidzayi, the intern who was about to go back to university was “elder”, I was “younger”, the office orderly was “Cde Gono” and the administrator was “Madam Admin”. And to this day, whenever we meet, we still refer to each other by these nicknames.

I was assigned both major and minor roles within the organisation and this gave me a chance to not only put my knowledge into practice but to also gain deeper insights into the journalism industry in Zimbabwe.

I conducted research with the then Director, Rashweat Mukundu, wrote articles on media violations and did logistical work in preparation for any events that the organisation would carry out. Despite being an intern, I was tasked with spearheading the World Press Freedom Day celebrations in Chinhoyi .

I have fond memories of having an article I co-published in the first edition of the journal, Thinking Beyond. I also took to fixing printers or computers in the office and updating the organisation’s website back in the day when this required more than just copying and pasting.

While I had no prior experience or knowledge of these tasks, the organisation allowed me to learn to adapt to whatever professional situation I found myself in.

What was supposed to be a yearlong internship turned into a year-and-a-half. My internship experience allowed me to network with journalists from different media houses and towns. This proved to be valuable as I had a strong network of journalists whom I could call on for publication of articles and stories I did in my future roles as Information Officer or Communications Manager for different organisations.

There were days, however, when I felt that my supervisor, Nyasha Nyakunu, was throwing me in the deep end, but I soon realised this was meant to build my capacity and that he had faith in my ability to succeed.

During my last six months with the organisation, I was joined by two other interns whom I worked closely with as they started their journey with the organisation. At that time, I was tasked with heading the Gender and ICT department of the organization, which was no easy feat.

Upon completion of my first degree, I went on to complete a Master of Science in Development Studies with NUST and a Master of Philosophy in Monitoring and Evaluation with Stellenbosch University.

I have held a number of communication posts but I have also been able to move into programming with no prior experience or professional knowledge. My ability to write clearly and concisely, which I sharpened during the year I spent under the mentorship of Nyasha, has opened up a number of opportunities for me professionally.

I am currently the Monitoring, Evaluation and Learning Manager for an international organisation and a mother of two.

My only regret is that, because of the size of the organisation, I was not able to join them on a fulltime basis upon completion of my first degree. The opportunity came later, however, but I was unable to take it up as I was working for the United Nation’s International Organisation for Migration.

Despite this, MISA-Zimbabwe has and will always be, in the words of former MISA Zimbabwe chairperson, Kumbirai Mafunda: MISA yepamoyo (MISA, closest to my heart).