Interviews

Interview with Millicent Tatenda Masakwa...

In an exclusive interview, Millicent said, “Growing worked there for 1 and half year and managed to raise up was not that easy. I grew up with my mum ,dad money to go to College for the whole year. ,little brother but we were privileged enough to I applied for Mass Communication (Journalism and have all we wished for. I was not a brilliant student at Media studies) at Harare Polytechnic and thanks to school maybe l should say l was an average student. I the God in heaven l got enrolled.I managed to pay my only had faith that one day l will find a way to be a betschool fees for the whole of National Certificate levter person in life. My family could not always afford to el and fortunately passed all subjects. My parents saw buy me and my little brother new clothes so my cousins the passion l had for journalism and strived to look for used to give us their second hand clothes for us to wear. money so that l could continue with my national diploAfter finishing my ordinary level , l spent almost 3 years ma. at home doing nothing seeking help from relatives to In 2018 when l was in my second year l was introduced assist me to go to study even a short course. I remember to an organization called the Journalism Students netone day begging a relative to process my papers so that work of Zimbabwe by a classmate (Farai Matiashe).I l could go and study nursing. I had to stop bothering met influential people in the organization who pushed him because l realized that he could not help me but l me to become a better person. I also managed to pracjust wasting my bus fare every weekend. Family gathertice few journalism work with includes covering one of ings added salt to my wounds and stress l could feel out the biggest Art festival in Zimbabwe called The Shoko of place every time we gathered because all my cousins Festival and many festivals were at Colleges and Universities . In 2019 l got an attachment at ZBC Radio Zimbabwe. Just when l thought that mercy was upon me ,a relative I tell you, God did wonders during my attachment pewhom had promised to pay my school fees turned me riod.I was the first attaché to host 5 programs and 4 down. She turned me down after l had passed my enshifts as a result of excellency approved by the Bossrollment interview. All she could say was she could not es. I hosted programs which include “Nyaya Dzerudo” afford to pay the school fees anymore . which made the listeners fall in love with Radio ZimbaI lost hope. Judging from the city l live in (Kadoma),l bwe more, “Zvevechidiki” which captured and drew the could have been impregnated by a gold digger or buyer youths closer to Radio Zimbabwe , “Usandikanganwe” since it is a city of Gold. Unlike some girls ,l knew what which made the title l was given by the listeners “tete l wanted in life and that is to make my parents proud Millicent” including “Ruoko Runopa” and “Tipeiwo one day. Mukana”. I looked for a job in supermarkets but unfortunately I also managed to drew many listeners closer to listenl could not get one. Just when l lost hope ,my cousin ing to Radio Zimbabwe through Radio Zimbabwe so(Candice) came to inform me that she had found a job cial media.I was their social media manager and we for me. Guess what, it was an Ecocash agent and sellgained more followers during my attachment period. ing small cellphones job. Many people laughed at me Through that same social media platform we also manwhen they realized the kind of job l did. They used to aged to raise 53 000RTGS for an operation of a baby call me with this nickname “Musikana wepaEcocash” brain tumor and it was successful. Radio Zimbabwe in a mockery way. I remember my ex boyfriend of that also won a digital advertising award which was also time dumped me because of that ecocash issue, he was supported by the social media platforms which l was ashamed that l worked there. managing. Despite all these people who laughed at me ,l never looked back because l knew what l wanted in life .My goal was to live a better life from my previous life. I My message to all of you guys is never give up .Imagine if l had given up where will l have been today? Remember it is never too late to try again. Do not quit, work hard to achieve your goals in life.. Follow me on Instagram @miss_j_mimmz ,on Twitter @Iam_missJ_Mimmz 30

Matilda Tinashe Borerwe

Matilda Tinashe Borerwe known me as ‘Bacon’ is a one of the Zimbabwean female comedians currently based in Japan. She has a BSc degree in Land and Water Resources Management from MSU. Her facial expressions make everything super hilarious and brings Zimbabwean comedy to a whole new level. She started making videos on a small scale in 2017.

In an interview in response to her intentions with comedy she said, “I do it to make myself happy and to entertain my followers. My inspiration is the YouTube Zim reality show that left us wanting which is ZWAGs. I want to be different from all the other type of comedy that is popular in Zim. My kinda comedy is a little different and thank God my Facebook friends and Instagram followers understand it too. I hope to just keep doing this and to bring laughter to everyone. I want the country to move at the same speed as the others internationally in terms of what we consider funny. I am also trying to be funny not just to Zimbos but to anybody. Due to Data problems I have been using Tiktok to make my 60second videos so that everyone can enjoy without data restrictions.” Follow her on Fb for more info.

Interview with Tinaye Edwell

My name is Tinaye Edwell “Musisinyani” and I was born and bred in a small town Masvingo in a small southern country of Africa called Zimbabwe. According to my late dad’s diary, I was born around 06:01am on 15 January 1995 and it was on a Sunday at a town’s general public hospital. I grew up in a family of four and being the third child with our single mom. My dad passed on 1999 and I later knew my dad was late when I was in my primary school final year.

Education I did my primary and High School in Masvingo and later went on to do my first degree at a local state university called Midlands State University in a small town called Gweru. Remember I’m the third born in a family of four but I’m the first to go to a tertiary institution. After my sister failed her high school examinations and my elder brother failed also now it was obvious for me that I was going to fail. I’m not one of those kids who are inspired by their elder siblings or cousins to perform better in school. In my family it’s different because even my cousins didn’t manage to, I had to look outside and be inspired. All I know up to now is one day I wrote in my small book that one day I will go to university that is when I was in my primary. You know growing up as an orphan its something that is not easy and to be frank with you no scholarship paid my fees. Thumps up to my mom who is a vegetable vendor, she stood by me and did all she could to make my dream come true. To cut the long story short, on the 12 of July 2019 I was conferred with a bachelor of commerce honors degree in Economics. I remember in primary I was in a school choir and I used to write poems for my friends who did well in many competitions. That time I was just a good writer and not a speaker, them were good speakers but not good writers. During my secondary school I was never involved in all that until one day during my high school when we travelled as a school for debate and public speaking competition. The guy who was supposed to represent us on public speaking disappeared and the teacher asked if there was anyone who wanted to replace. Everyone went quiet and when they were about to go to inform the authorities that our school was out of competition I just said let me try. I don’t know how I did it but I was elected the junior councillor in the junior council of Zimbabwe of the ward where our school was situated. That’s the time I realized my leadership capacity and from that time I have always believed in youth leadership. That’s the time I realized I was a good speaker as well. So I had a good leadership skill, speaking ability and writing skill. I can say this is what I realized that I wanted in my life. Though due t lack of career guidance somewhere somehow I think I made a mistake in choosing a field to study from high school to university but all again a believe all things work together for good. Now I know my path. In 2019 January I launched an on TV show called Real Life Talk Show that release episodes every Saturday. Though due to some economic hardship and some commitments beyond my control I have stopped and thinking to resume as soon as things seen to be a bit stable. I wrote my first book called Mindset To Conquer The World which I was looking forward to public on my birthday this year 15 January but some changes came. In this book I used my experience to inspire some people out there that anything you want to achieve in life is achievable as long as it is registered in your mind that you can want to do it. I’m also running an online inspirational platform called Mindset Clinic where I do daily posts to inspire others. You know growing up in a ghetto where there is no inspiration and motivation takes requires much discipline, determination and focus.