Rotaractor of the month........

Since the inception of this online newsletter the editorial team has been throwing ideas of featuring an article that zooms in at  club members lives in detail, as we cover the face beyond rotaract. In honour of International Women’s Day blah blah *that was months back, I was given the task to cover an in depth feature on the socialite/globe trotter/research fellow/Engineer our very own Nomzamo Qaziwe Moyo affectionately known to me as Nomzet Q ,who judging from the numerous titles and conquests qualifies to join Forbes magazine's long list of Africa's most influential and successful women.

You see with Nomzet being an avid globe trotter it took me weeks to just set up an interview with her,  she being voted the Club's most travelled person and one of the busiest women I know, the task was not that easy. Thanks to internet we decided to set up an online meeting, via Skype ,so there I was in some lousy restaurant in Mutare on a laptop *not mine, one I had borrowed from a friend, one of those good second hand me down hp laptops* , anyway where was I, oh yes!, the restaurant in Mutare seeping black “rooibos” tea *my favourite by the way *.So there I was online, Miss Nomzet on the other end, at some fancy restaurant in Bulawayo feasting on a slice of a mouth watering much talked about “black forest” chit chatting to me and this is what she had to say....

Me: Nomzamo Qaziwe Moyo (NQM)  hie

NQM: hie Xris....

I laugh she makes it a point when calling my name spelling the Chris with an "X" at the beginning.Wanting to save my hard earned airt time *by the way am using one of those juice up with airtime Econet modems* so i get straight to the point and start asking the questions I have prepared for this our brief interview.

Me: So tell us, who Nomzamo Qaziwe Moyo is,and whilst you are at it,you might as well tell us what makes you tick........

she laughs obviousy not expecting this serious talk from someone like me, she pauses, takes a huge bite of the mouth watering cake, sips her cup of what looks like coffee and says with a smile.....

NQM:Am a 23 year old extrovert......*she giggles* you see Chris am a person driven by urge,it is the challenge at every corner that makes me tick....

I smile, obviously it is evident from the way she speaks and from the activities she has been involved in she is clearly someone that defies the odds, someone driven by urge, I mean HELLO, this lady has bunjie jumped at the Victoria falls,canoed the Zambezi, well she being a black person *of coz I don’t meant it in a Martin Luther whites treat black like equals racial kind of sense for god sake am black* and a woman for that matter I instantly find her intriguing.....

Me: Extrovert I see, so besides being passionate about doing the scary stuff what are you passionate about.....

NQM: The  prize has to go to  travel, I love to travel, and Iv been labelled the clubs ‘Globe Trotter’, even though am just starting. I love to see sights and to do crazy things. The craziest so far being the 72m leap of faith into the Zambezi Gorge, an hour before the rope broke…recently I touched a baboon, am pretty nervous around baboons. Am thinking of launching  a ‘keep our travel destinations clean’ campaign.

Me.; wow!!! Am speechless ......

 anyway I quickly change the topic, I mean being a male chauvinist ,listening to this woman rant and rave about her numerous conquests insults my masculinity and makes me  as a man feel like some sissy/woman *lol ,of coz I  don’t  mean any of  it *  we continue talking

  Me: so tell me in your own words what is true happiness?

NQM: True happiness is when you eat strawberry ice cream with black forest at any time of the day and not have anyone nag you about it…….(joking). *we both laugh,but her laughs are delayed coz of the network, I mean HELLO we are on skype and econet internet sucks at times* True happiness is when one reaches a point of self actualization, and they are just content about everything in them and around them.

By now am thinking Maslow hierarchy of needs blah blah blah, she takes me back to high school history class with this whole self actualization yada yada

Me: If you could go back in time what would you do differently or change in your life? 

NQM I would do everything more, I’d love more, care more and steal all of Isaac Newton’s notes and publish them as my own, then I’d give college students hell in the future and still be famous….

This girl is a super freak, I like that about her, eish! have mad love for people like her , anyway,

Me: if you hadn’t been born in this century, When and where would you like to have lived?

NQM : Zululand, definitely Zululand during the time of the Great King uTshaka. It would greatly reduce my fashion woes.

Well I laugh, Nomzamo is one of those typically insane people  who when you talking to them  your mind will be constantly racing with questions like how on earth does Ingutsheni psychiatric hospital leave such people walking scot free whilst they continue to hold on to some patients that are far better than her, anyway just for the record she reminds me of me actually, well and some other club members (Thandi, Mpume, Hellen eish the list is long ,good Lord this interview isn’t about me or the other club members is it, it’s about Nomzamo, anyway I move on to the more serious stuff after a heavy bout of laughter,*uurrghmmm .....#clearing throat, by now the rest of the people in this restaurant, well oh by the way am in a restaurant,*oh yah i had mentioned that before* are mostly probably thinking who’s this geek that’s talking to and laughing at a computer screen, they must probably think am a freak or something, anyway who cares ,so where was I ,oh! yes the more serious stuff

Me: Women empowerment and empowering girls to take part in previously male dominated field is a hot topic.Well being a “woman///girl in the Engineering field what are your sentiments or views on this issue and how do u feel this can be applied to an ordinary African girl ?

NMQ: The minute people stop calling us ‘ordinary African women/girls’ and start calling us ‘people’ a lot would be achieved. The industry is still dominated by men only because most women are still mentally imprisoned. I also believe people shouldn’t wait for empowerment; people should also earn their power.

I think to myself there’s a woman who speaks so much sense, yes why wait for empowerment when in actual fact you can work hard to reach that same level that your male counterparts have reached, besides there are a lot of women in history that achieved a lot of things way before this empowerment thing had started, the likes of Madame Curie our own female comrades that fought to liberate this country, yes! there wasn’t women empowerment then but somehow they did it, it only takes individual drive.

So I continue to seep my rooibos tea while she munches her black forest, I continue with the interview

Me: Who are your heroes? and why?

NMQ: My big brother is my hero because he gives me money. My dad is my hero cause I think his wise, even though you’d never catch me telling him that. My mum is my hero because she fusses over me, and I secretly enjoy it. My little sister is my hero because she’s good at keeping me in check.

OOok I expected the sooooo last year cliché statement that every famous person says when asked on Oprah or radio “ My heroe is Nelson Mandela,Oprah Winfrey...” blah blah blah but this women suprises me by telling me her family members are her heroes, by now am chuffed ,anyway am running out of time and by now the airtime in my modem is running out, the waiters in this restaurant are obviously waiting for their tip, daah am black, African and Zimbo we sooO don’t tip waiters that happens in the movies, here we simply smile and assume a friendly mazvita henyu sista /ngyabonga my cee   is enough, I ask the final questions before rounding up the interview

Me: Nomzet

NMQ: yes Chris!

Me: Besides the whole bunch of five kids and stuck with a boring husband that you so don’t love,were do u see yourself in the next 10 years.

NMQ :  I’ll be 33….and my current business will have doubled. Maybe I’ll have furthered my career….. I’ll take each day as it comes.

Me: any last word for the reader

NMQ: Read James 4vs 2-3….

Because of lack of time, well lack of a bible actually *of coz i have a bible am just joking*,am still to look up James 4,well I will leave you the reader to look for the verse, should you find it please share below this post. I must say it was nice talking to this young Rotaractor that has achieved so much, our very own Michel Obama, in the next issue we zoom in on another Rotaractor’s life, AM OUT!

By Christopher Chakwana ( Chris Xris Chaks )