What inspired me the most about Nora Tapiwa was how she still manages to keep hope alive – against all odds.
Norah is a family-oriented person who describes herself as a mother, grandmother, widow, banker by profession and last but not least an activist by passion. She works tirelessly with an unrelenting enthusiasm – and draws no salary.
“I survive by God’s grace and handouts,” she said when I asked about her lifestyle. She was widowed and left to raise two children on her own.
“It’s tough living as a parent in a foreign country, with no salary or school fees for your children,” she said. I’m startled to realise that her voice does not have a single trace of self pity. She is not looking for people to throw her a pity party. Rather, she is looking for honest and sincere ways of resolving the crisis in Zimbabwe.
Tapiwa is one of the many unsung heroes in the struggle for a democratic Zimbabwe.
“I get value from making a difference to other people’s lives, especially those at grassroots levels,” she said. It is obvious that she is not looking for any particular recognition for the work she has done.
“Recognition for what? We are not in this for the recognition. I don’t blow my own trumpet,” she says.
Far away from newspaper headlines and television appearances, Tapiwa has led the fight for exiled Zimbabwean teachers. She was hugely involved in discussions with the South African government that culminated in the documentation programme run by the Department of Home Affairs.
She is reluctant to answer a question of whether she feels robbed that she has fought the struggles of other professions but no one seems to be fighting for her.
“We have a leadership vacuum in Zimbabwe which must not be exported to the diaspora. Teachers were being de-professionalised in the diaspora and we could not just sit by and watch so we engaged the South African government and they were allowed to teach at some schools. Teachers are the backbone of society,” she says.
This kind of activism did not spring to life in South Africa for Norah. “I was part of the Zimbabwe Congress of Trade Union (ZCTU), and whenever we led a strike action, we would not get paid but I did it anyway because it was a small price to pay to improve our working conditions,” she reveals.
She also believes that activism is a calling and that it’s not for everyone, but insists that every Zimbabwe has a part to play in its liberation. “We are like a bicycle wheel, one spoke cannot sustain the whole tire. So each Zimbabwean has a role to play in the fight for our restoration,” she says.
She maintains that Zimbabwe was liberated by people in the diaspora in 1980 and that Zimbabweans in the diaspora have the power to liberate their country again.
Nora left home in 2003 because she feared for her life and that of her two children. As she describes the situation that drove her from her house, tears well up in her eyes.
“I was not part of any political organisation but black-suited man came to my house and threatened me,” she speaks quietly. We can only speculate that is was her work in the unions that gained her notoriety with the state. She hasn’t been back since she left.
Within spaces of activism, it is usually forgotten that there are lives that have to be lived, families to take care of and homes to sustain. These suffer the moment you give yourself to the struggle. But with the culture of activism changing - and people putting more emphasis on travel and per diems at the expense of work that transforms lives - those who still stand on hope alone, or on the grace of God , may feel a sense of betrayal.
Yet, women like Nora will always stand as beacons of inspiration to those who have lost everything and have been victims of politically motivated violence.
On the occasion of Women’s Month in South Africa, Nora is disillusioned. Her hope for women is that there will come a day when there won’t be a need for Women’s Day or Women’s Month. She believes that women are more passionate than men, and if they are empowered then a nation is better off.
It is the woman who makes a house a home. She does not see the relevance of commemorating days like these because there just hasn’t been sufficient awareness to stop violence against women in all its ugly forms.
Rather, she argues for more sustained resource mobilisation targeted at women to help them start their own enterprises and thus liberate themselves from poverty. “Women should not wait for things to happen but should make things happen,” she concluded. -
By Regina Pazvakavamba, Media & Communications Assistant in the Crisis in Zimbabwe regional office. Additional reporting by Levi Kabwato.
