‘I can’t control time, but I can be patient’

Blessing Tendai Chimombo is aged 25 and stays in Masvingo urban. She is a member of the Women’s Coalition of Zimbabwe Masvingo Chapter.

Chimombo is a development practitioner and currently pursing an MSc Gender and Policy Studies with Great Zimbabwe University.

She is a women’s rights advocate and works with women and youth-led organisations in her advocacy work as a volunteer.

Chimombo’s greatest achievements include, being nominated to represent young women on several occasions, completing her Honours Bachelor’s Degree in Development Studies in four years with a 2.1 pass.

She is proud of this accomplishment and feels that what she learnt is going to give her a big advantage in her career now.

Chimombo has managed to make a great impact in her community through volunteering and working with marginalised and vulnerable groups.

She aspire to develop her leadership and organisational skills, help her achieve her goal of becoming a recognised worldwide women activist.

To Blessing, being a young woman leader means being a role model to other young women. She believes women can also lead.

It also means being a leader who listens, respects every opinion, provide solutions, make good forecasts, plans for the future and always inspire hope.

Her personal mantra is I can do this, I will do this. Chimombo’s greatest life lesson was that she cannot control time, but she can be patient.

Life teaches us that we will not always get what we want right away, if it’s not our time we can’t do anything about it, if we cannot control time then we must be patient enough to wait for what we want.

This article was made possible through support from the Women’s Coalition of Zimbabwe (WCoZ) under the Amplifying Young Women’s Voice for Equality and Non-Discrimination initiative supported by the Norwegian People’s Aid (NPA).