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Beaven Tapureta Bookshelf—

A new, self-published book titled “The Gift of a Woman” (2018) by Uzillah Hove Munyengeterwa is a springboard in words which will help women to re-discover and pursue their talents for the benefit of their families and community or country at large.

It is written in simple, conversational language but the motivation for women who want to be achievers is deep as it comes from someone who has closely observed circumstances which lead most women to despair, and how the power of God can work through talents.

The motherly spirit with which “The Gift of a Woman” was written appeals even to men, and they will also come to understand and respect the hard-worker in a woman. In its simplicity, the book reminded Bookshelf of another book “A Mother’s Desire” (2011) which author Dorothy Chanakira wrote from the inspiration of raising her first child. Indeed, some motivational books by women and for women have the capacity to open the minds of husbands and sons as well.

With a running theme of women as born visionaries, the book explains why those dreams by women fail.

In an interview, Uzillah Hove said she started thinking about writing the book sometime in 2013 when she was in the business of selling kitchenware on online social networks.

“I had a chance to speak with other women and realised some are in need of guidance to unlock their God-given gifts. I want to share my experiences and wisdom with other women regarding the gift we have,” she said.

Watching her mother fend for the whole family because the father, who is now late, was asthmatic, the young Uzillah learnt what it means to be a mother and an achiever. She writes about this girlhood experience somewhere in the book when she elaborates a woman’s gift of ‘multi-tasking’.

“My late father was asthmatic so his duties were limited but our mother made sure that we ate well, and that we were warm. As a young girl I grew up seeing my mother doing a lot of things at the same time and I wondered how she managed it. She was a subsistence farmer, a tailor, a mother, an aunt, a minister and a small-scale business woman. She would do all this in order to raise money for our school fees and survival.”

Uzillah Hove said her work is a natural calling which involves charity, thus somehow confirming the belief that “motherhood is the highest calling”. Last week, she was at Churu Farm Primary School donating winter wear to children and about 100 bags of cement for the upgrade of the school.

Although the book “The Gift of a Woman” motivates women to awaken to their gifts, it connects vision and business as well. The gift is not a standalone thing; it can show itself in business and in various areas.

Uzillah, who leads two fast-growing women’s organisations called Today’s Kitchen & Home and Today’s Businesswomen Development which is now empowering every woman to rise up and do business according to the gift God, says in the book that through networking and her business seminars, “women are buying cars, houses, residential stands, building and acquiring drivers’ licences”. In her book, there is a bonus section of real-life stories of these women who have benefited from the teachings of the author.

She will be officially launching the book on Saturday, June 16, in Harare. The launch will have guests from Nigeria, South Africa, Mozambique, Malawi and UK, with some as speakers.