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Audrey Simbiso Chidawanyika

Ruth Butaumocho Gender Profile—

At 23, Audrey Simbiso Chidawanyika should be crossing the breadth and length of Zimbabwe preening herself while keep an eye on possible suitors for marriage.But alas, she is knee-deep in philanthropic and motivational work to inspire young women and youth to kick start income generating projects.

Audrey is a fourth year student at the University of Zimbabwe studying towards a Tourism and Hospitality degree.

Her zeal and enthusiasm for making a difference in people’s lives has become her signature tune in the communities she operates in, and in the lives of people she has interacted with.

The University of Zimbabwe recently awarded Audrey with five gongs in recognition of her entrepreneurial and leadership skills for her immense contribution to the institution’s various projects.

The awards she received included the Community Service Awards, Entrepreneurial Award, Leadership Award and the highly coveted Vice Chancellor’s Ambassador of the Year Award.

In addition to the awards, Audrey was appointed as the Ambassador Plenipotentiary to the Vice Chancellor of the University of Zimbabwe, an award given to an outstanding student for her contribution in human services and communities in fighting societal challenges.

“I see myself as a national leader, and leaders do promote national growth for the good of their country or their communities,” affirmed Audrey in an interview in Harare recently.

All the accolades she received are an affirmation of her entrepreneurship and leadership skills that she is imparting to her peers at the university and the Mabvuku community where she lives.

Apart from her immense contribution to the University of Zimbabwe’s various projects, including the highly prestigious Enactus BOOST, where she holds the vice President’s post, Audrey has become a beacon of hope for young mothers in Mabvuku through a support group she formed, Young Women Eagles.

Through the support group, Audrey is imparting life skills, coaching basic business skills and assisting its more than 30 members to run income generating projects like bead making and a poultry project.

“I always tell myself that I am not defined by my looks, but by my intellectual capacity, which I am using to make a difference in these people’s lives,” revealed the diminutive tourism and hospitality student.

With the leadership roles she currently holds within the institution and the various affiliate bodies to which she is a member, Audrey has been using those platforms as launch-pads for information, where she gets expertise and knowledge to share with people in the various clusters she belongs to.

As the Vice President of Enactus BOOST, Audrey attended the Enactus World Cup in Sandton, South Africa from which she learnt a lot on entrepreneurship.

“Tertiary students in various disciplines should not look forward to getting employed once they finish their studies, but should instead work towards creating their own start-ups, and employment for others,” she said.

Audrey added that the exposure she and four other Enactus embers got from the convention in South Africa spurred them to form a trust, Vakoma Trust after they returned home.

The trust assists other students with life skills coaching, motivational speaking and team building among other initiatives.

Eager to spread her expertise and knowledge she gathered during the Enactus world cup, Audrey also resolved to join one of her colleagues Taurai Mafoko and assist him in running a micro finance institution he had formed, Parkworth Microfinance.

The micro-finance facility gives loans to youths and women who want to fund their various projects.

“We realised that several youths and women have various projects they may want to start, but are often unable to do so due to financial challenges. Through this project, we give out loans so that the targeted groups can support their entrepreneurial projects and realise their dreams,” she said.

Audrey possesses bundles of energy for philanthropic and entrepreneurial work which is unique and unusual for someone of her age.

“I had a difficult upbringing and I would not want other children to experience what I went through,” she said.

Born to parents who were vendors and school-dropouts, with no other source of income, life was tough for Audrey and her siblings.

“Our fees were paid from vending proceeds of various merchandise that my mother would take around the various suburbs, and even kumapurazi (farming communities), so that we would go to school,” she recalled.

Audrey’s upbringing did not deter her from excelling in her academic studies, but actually spurred her to work hard.

Having attended a local primary school in Mabvuku, Audrey went to St David’s Bonda for her secondary education, before enrolling at the University of Zimbabwe.

Looking back, Audrey says her tough upbringing did not in any way weaken her spirit, but managed to ignite an undying flame for philanthropy.

“Our dreams, aspirations and hopes are not defined by our backgrounds, but by what we learnt from that and we are willing to grow it further,” she affirmed.

And she is not looking back.

Left with yet another semester or two before she completes her degree programme, Audrey is already looking into future with enthusiasm.

She has got no immediate plans of looking for permanent employment, but is already fine-tuning her entrepreneurial project, which she hopes will make her one of the few young millionaires in a few years’ time.

“As women, we are responsible for who will become. There are so many glass ceilings and sticky floors on our way to as ascendancy, but we will have to by-pass those and chart our own path,” she confidently declared.

Audrey, who singles out her mother as her source of inspiration, believes women are best strategists in any situation.

“I am what I am today because of her determination to see us through our education and adult life, in spite of her limited education and resources.”