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Heather Masimba is a passionate Human Rights Defender and a liberal feminist with particular focus on girls and women empowerment. She is also a fashion model and beauty Queen model groomed under Miss Zimbabwe Trust and Zimbabwe Tourism Authority. She holds the following modelling titles: 2nd Princess Miss Zimbabwe Masvingo 2013 Miss Bulawayo Polytechnic 2015 Miss Research and Intellectual Expo 2015 Miss Tertiary Institutions Festival of Arts in Zimbabwe 2015

Heather was born on September 27 1994, and is the 2nd born child in a family of 3 beautiful girls (Mary and Samantha).

Interview with Heather Masimba

I’ve always had a strong personality growing up, and have always been passionate about women leadership in different spaces. I started engaging in girl child empowerment activities in Junior School (Cecil John Rhodes Primary, Gweru) where I participated in the school drama club, debate and public speaking. Again, that’s where my modelling journey started where I was crowned Miss Grade 1 Yellow (lol). I’ve always been confident but very reserved. Most people were shocked to see me on National TV, participating at the Miss Carnival in 2013 and 2014, because they knew me as a very quiet person but didn’t really know the beast in me. Also, growing up, my dad used to call me his super model and since then it sort of it contributed to my modelling career as well.

I was raised by both my parents, and they have been very supportive. Sadly, in 2003 my dad passed away and that’s when things turned sour (MHSRIP). I had to adjust, things really went bad financially and it was a tough period. My mom was still in college at that time. This made me grow up quickly, I remember that’s when I started learning how to cook sadza and other house chores. Sometimes I would be sent back home during class because my school was not paid. It was really a tough time to be honest. Life was really hard ever since the passing of my dad, I remember some time in 2008 we would eat dinner as early as 4:30 before sunset, because we could not afford to buy candles and was forced to sleep early due to the darkness of the night without electricity (I’m very emotional right now). In 2011, we then moved from Gweru and relocated to Masvingo.

My mom was a very strong woman, despite all the pain and suffering she went through as a single mom. She still managed to send us to school. Around 2015 thereabout, my mom was diagnosed with breast cancer. You I would always ask myself why us? Whenever things were about to start moving on track, something bad would happen. Almost all mother’s money was channeled to her healthcare. Life wasn’t all rosey for us. Fast forward, in 2017 I had an opportunity to participate in a Youth Leadership Exchange Program where I was representing an organization called My Age Zimbabwe trust in Malawi for 6 months. I left in January on the 26th and that was the last day I gave my mother a hug at the Robert Mugabe International Airport. On May 18, 2017, my mother died of breast cancer. I never got to see her in hospital, or maybe I was never meant to see her in that state. It breaks my heart that I never shared her last moments with her. The pain never really goes away. May her beautiful soul rest in peace (I love you amai). I am thankful that I managed to do something very nice for her on Valentine’s Day that same here, little did I know that it was the last gift I was ever gonna get her. I told myself that everything that I do, I will do it for her. She was my best friend and I was comfortable sharing stuff with her. My dream is to start a movement on breast cancer awareness in memory of her. I don’t want someone else to lose their beloved one because of something that can be treated if detected early.

Being an orphan does not mean your goals are limited. It makes you see life at a different angle and gives you this energy and drive for success and become the person you’ve always dreamed of.

Basically I grew up in a female headed family and thanks to my mom who moulded me to be the strong, confident and independent woman I am today. All my life I have been surrounded by very strong and powerful women. I also want to take this opportunity to thank Ms. Marry Mubaiwa Chiwenga, Shuvai Murumbi, Tafadzwa Mugazambi, Lorraine Muguti, Chido Liberta Mushaya, Nadia Gori, who played a significant role in my modelling career.

The modelling industry created a platform for a lot of opportunities for me. I have been working with different as their ambassador and employee. This made me to

divert from the Tourism Industry to International Development Studies. I started working with organizations like My Age Zimbabwe Trust, Youth Empowerment and Transformation Trust, Right Here Right Now Zimbabwe, Network for Youth Development Malawi, SheDecides, Women’s March Ottawa and The World Health Organization just to mention but a few. I have been invited to speak on so many big platforms to speak about girls and women issues, Sexual Reproductive Health Rights and Youth Empowerment among others. I’m very grateful for all the opportunities and more to come.

2. Beautiful is an understatement, how do you manage to stay calm around the hiccups of life? T hank you so much for the compliment. I will respond to your question. Having a negative attitude about the challenges you face is a great way to snowball into feeling overwhelmed. Look at obstacles as opportunities to learn and certain tough situations as chances to show the world what you’re made of. Being a woman in leadership spaces is not easy and most people always look up for your downfall because of the patriarchal society we live in, you have to be strong. I always try to be confident, never give up in my ability to slay whatever dragon lies ahead. Every day I receive insulting messages from different men especially when I post about gender equality and certain provocative things like Menstrual Health Management, Gender-based violence and rape among others. It shows how some people are very ignorant about these issues and how much more work needs to be done in educating people about the importance of addressing these women issues. To be honest sometimes you really feel like quitting, then you think of that marginalized girl who doesn’t have the opportunities you have to advocate for what’s rightfully theirs and looking up to you. That itself motivates you to keep fighting for the change you 3.As a role model to meny young ladies out there,whats your advise to a girl child? M y advice to the girl child is do you and be courageous about your dreams. Nothing and no one can limit your goals as long you don’t just dream but wake up and act on them. Most importantly, look beautiful and ALWAYS say good to another woman because it’s a winning for everyone else.

4. Well, I personally love and adore you so much, your work and efforts to make a better tommorrow for everyone are undeniable, what is your own eluccidation of C life? ultivating a close, warmhearted feeling for others automatically puts the mind at ease. It helps remove whatever fears or insecurities we may have and gives us the strength to cope with any obstacles we encounter. It is the principal source of success in life. Since we are not solely material creatures, it is a mistake to place all our hopes for happiness on external development alone. The key is to develop inner peace. In my own limited experience I have found that the more we care for the happiness of others, the greater is our own sense of well-being.

5. What are the 5 core values you L look for in friends? oyalty (If you are my friend, I want to be able to trust you with our secrets and won’t spill to others, gossip about us or allow others to criticize us). Honesty (requires that we speak openly from the heart and incorporate objectivity into our words). Trustworthiness (Trustworthiness is often the ‘make or break’ element in any interpersonal relationship. Any breach, regardless of perceived magnitude, can devastate a relationship). Dependability (if you’re my friend, I should be able to count on you to be there when you say you will, to do what you say you will, and to be willing to stand up me, and most importantly non-judgmental (to me it reflects our ease in accepting a friend’s choices, regardless of how they may differ from our own.

6. Do you think there is a community misinterpretation of young women in business, if so why? A lthough both men and women are well represented in the economically active population, questions arise when it comes to their presence and effective representation at higher decision-making levels. Indeed, while men and women are present, men dominate in top management. Gender representativeness is a necessary prerequisite in achieving equality, fairness and social justice, given the history of gender and racial discrimination. Women are represented in top leadership but that too has raised more complexities, women are present in business leadership but some remain either absent or grossly under represented. International experience suggests that women’s representation in business leadership has been achieved through quotas. Zimbabwe is among the countries that have successfully used quotas in to achieve gender equity in political representation yet the same instrument has not been applied in business and other domains. As in politics, the quota system can be applied to achieve gender equity in business. Intervention policies and strategies at the macro - and micro-level must ensure the proportional representation of women in business leadership. This would not only achieve descriptive representation but also lead to substantive representation of women in business. Increased representation of women would not only enrich the organizational culture but also enrich businesses with a broader spectrum of ideas for greater efficiency and performance and contribute to the feminist goal of women’s empowerment.

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