Patience has a stall at The Red Shed Market, Drury where you’ll find her on the first two Sundays of the month; she says her goal is to see her homewares sold in furnishing stores across the country.
Better by design By anyone’s imagination, Patience Ngembe Kajingae Chiyesu has packed a lot into her 25 years. From helping children with HIV to running a small business from her Pokeno home, there’s no stopping this indefatigable woman. She spoke to ANGELA KEMP.
The first thing you notice about Patience is her smile which can brighten the dullest day. Since moving to Pokeno in 2019, she feels she has a lot to smile about, not least the success of her homewares business launched in the midst of last year’s lockdown.
functions attended by then Prime Minister, Helen Clarke.
It’s the latest in the line of events which have helped shape Patience’s positive outlook on life.
At the age of 15, Patience was sent to school in Ghana to learn about her African heritage.
She first arrived in New Zealand aged two after her parents fled the war-torn Democratic Republic of Congo. Home was in Mission Bay and her father Joseph Ngembe, who worked as a chef, was the president of the small New Zealand Congolese community.
“I had never experienced living in Africa so my parents wanted me to go there and study while I lived with an aunt.”
Sadly, Joseph passed away in 2001 but not before he had cooked at
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Patience’s mother eventually remarried and the family, including Patience, her sister and brother, moved to Brisbane when she was 10.
In Ghana she became part of the Model United Nations Assembly (MUNA) and was awarded best female delegate. As a result, she travelled to New York for two months representing Africa in the
Patience General Assembly and attending a local school. Patience returned to Australia to finish sixth form (Year 12) before attending university to study journalism for two years. “I liked it but didn’t enjoy it and ended up dropping out,” says Patience. “I then decided to go back to Ghana and started a charity organisation, Selfless Servanthood, working with orphans and kids with HIV. In all, I brought together a team of about 50 volunteers who we
contacted through WhatsApp. “We travelled round the country doing things such as cleaning up a building, cooking food and handing it out at random places. We visited schools and orphanages and taught them how to wash their hands correctly and to be hygienic. We once spent a day at the foster home of 80 children who were all HIV positive ; we just played with them.” Patience returned to New Zealand two years ago after marrying Desmond Kajinga, a surgical nurse www.southmagazine.co.nz
