Hazel Rumbidzai Chikwenya aged 19 completed her High School and participated in the 2024/2025 LEMHs bootcamp as she’s an aspiring Public Speaker and Advocate.
I have always considered myself a good listener, hardworking, honest and polite young woman. However, during the bootcamp on the very first day Ms Nyaradzo Mashayamombe the Director of TaLI taught us that to be a leader you have to do self-introspection first and know who you are. This was a revelation for me, I had never given thought about how I saw myself in an honest and progressive manner. Through the exercise, I learned to accept and love myself for who God made me to be.
I learnt that leaders should communicate effectively, to speak without fear and with conviction. We had a session on Advocacy Cycle which taught me two (2) important things:
1. Planning is very important,
2. You have to research the problem you want to address and get the facts on the ground and even the supporting laws correct before you start implementing.
Post bootcamp, l am going to do some serious research in my community about the challenges young girls and women are facing. I will use my findings to come up with my community project and approach the local leaders to start implementing and for support. The LEMHs bootcamp truly gave me guidance on how I can pursue community projects and make a difference, it created for me a support system for success!