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Ms Mapondera centre surrounded by her family and friends during her birthday recently

Ruth Butaumocho Gender Profile

She has traversed the world encouraging women to become economically independent and work hard to attain financial freedom in their own homes and communities.She has also been involved in several women’s projects and initiatives in parts of Africa and Latin America towards the advancement of women, leaving trailblazing success in the lives of those she worked with.

And at 92, Ms Esineti Ndaiteyi Mapondera still has energy to inspire women to greatness through motivating them to venture into entrepreneurial projects.

“Women are doing pretty well for themselves now, much better than during our time.

“However, I believe they can even push the stakes much higher than what they are currently doing,” revealed Ms Mapondera during an interview at her Eastlea home at the weekend.

The Zimbabwe National Chamber of Commerce Business recently honored her with the ZNCC Empowerment Woman award for her outstanding dedication in pushing the women empowerment agenda throughout her life.

“I am humbled by the recognition. My passion for women empowerment was not motivated by any financial or material benefit but I wanted women to work for themselves and change their economic narrative,” she said.

She is a women empowerment doyen who was actively involved in economic empowerment projects in both Zambia and Zimbabwe, where she initiated several projects and actively participated in the crafting of women empowerment policies.

Her sojourn in the women economic empowerment movement was characterized by challenges, backstabbing from fellow women and pitfalls, but she remained astute in pushing for a different narrative for the female populace that yearned for economic independence against a backdrop of piecemeal policies and inadequate resources.

Esinati Ndakaitei Mapondera

In 1984 Ms Mapondera represented Zimbabwe at the Woman’s Decade Conference held in Nairobi, Kenya as the head of the NGO delegation.

That mission and others that were to follow gave her leverage as one of the most dedicated and competent individuals’ who was committed towards women economic empowerment issues.

In 1992, she also represented Zimbabwe in Geneva at the World Council of Churches where she was the first woman to represent Africa at such a forum.

Her efforts transcend the borders of Zimbabwe having started in Zambia, in the 1950s where she worked tirelessly to empower women with knowledge to start community projects, and alleviate the levels of suffering within communities.

Ms Mapondera, who had gotten married in Zambia and was working for Chilanga Cement soon after returning from the United States after completing her Masters in Social Welfare immediately initiated a community project having realised that full time housewives within that community bought vegetables from the supermarkets.

“I was shocked to realise that wives of Chilanga Cement employees literally bought everything including vegetables, yet they had small open spaces which they could utilise,” she recalled.

Though deemed small, the project spawned business opportunities for Ms Mapondera who was to realise that she could start a viable business exporting vegetables to the United States.

With the money she had saved intending to buy a house, Ms Mapondera shelved the project and instead bought a 24-acre piece of land in Chilanga area, becoming the first black woman to own land in Zambia and the first exporter of vegetables in the United States.

“The business grew and I had to resign from my full time job to focus on my project.

“Running the project inspired a lot of women to start projects of such magnitude, throwing away the long-held mantra that big projects were only for big boys,” she said,

However in 1979, something unusual happened in her life and she decided to come back home having lived in Zambia for more than two decades.

Armed with both a diploma and a Masters degree in social welfare, Ms Mapondera got a rude awakening when she failed to get a job.

She decided to approach the late First Lady, Cde Sally Mugabe and volunteered to work with women to kick-start several income-generating projects across Zimbabwe.

“She had bought a piece of land in Melfort which she intended to use to empower the girl. Because of my experience with empowering women in Zambia, I recommended it to be used as a college for women,” she enthused.

Working with women at that level gave her an insight into challenges that were stalling their greatness, with financial woes, being the major setback since most women did not have collateral security needed when applying for a loan from the bank.

Ms Mapondera established an organisation called the Zimbabwe’s Women’s Finance Trust, whose mandate was to train women in business and financial management, while assisting them to borrow money.

“Having traversed the globe in pursuit of saleable empowerment projects, I realised that women in other countries were doing well.

“They owned vast tracts of commercial land; they were running thriving multilateral companies and boasts of millions of dollars in their banks.

“I wanted the same for our women here,” she said.

Like many trusts that were formed during the early 1980s when the economic terrain was in its formative stages in the new Zimbabwe, the Zimbabwe’s Women Finance Trust folded, leaving Ms Mapondera saddled with debts running into millions of dollars.

She had to sell her piece of land to offset the debt.

Looking back, Ms Mapondera believes that women’s economic empowerment narrative has greatly improved from what it was more than 50 years ago.

She however said petty jealousies and squabbles among women continue to threaten their economic progression.

“Women are yet to learn the power of team work and celebrating their own success stories among other women.

“Petty jealousies are a cancer that is eating women’s progress across the varying clusters in our economy,” she said.

A former board member of the Mass Media Trust, Ms Mapondera says women’s achievements would be monumental once they begin to support each other.

“Women are hard working and innovative, but they have to work as a united unit to achieve much more,” she said.

With five grown up children working in different countries across the globe, Ms Mapondera spends her time at home, reliving memories with varying people who regularly visits for pep talks on different issues.