Theresa Marwei of Mubaiwa village in ward 27 of Makoni District, Rusape ,Zimbabwe lives to tell the tale of  how she became the talk of the village, “the iron lady,” as we prefer to call her, she is a wife and mother of twelve children whom she bore out of ignorance because then  at the time women had no control over their bodies and were not privy to birth control knowledge  “My journey to the top was not an easy one” she said for her  journey was coupled with patriarchy, male chauvinism and infidelity from her husband that consequently resulted very low self-esteem.

New dawn came into her life when she joined RWA. She joined RWA and because of her enthusiasm towards women empowerment, she was nominated and elected to the position of ward RWA chairperson. To add on, she was nominated and elected to a national coordinator where she coordinated all women initiatives country wide which include mukando, poultry and piggery projects just to mention but a few. Even after her reign as national coordinator, she still continued to climb the ladder and became a recognised somebody in the community. FACE Zim trained Theresa working hand in glove with other women on matters of leadership, property and Inheritance laws, gender and other economic/ livelihood strategies which she went on to adopt in her daily living. Theresa extends her heartfelt gratitude to FACE Zim for she has gone globe-trotting where she has been to more than 10 countries in the continent and overseas in Europe and recently has been to Sweden representing women in different forums.

She bit the odds of getting into politics a commonly male dominated area, she went on board as she was elected to be ward councillor. Women in her ward rejoiced as their issues were to be easily addressed in council as she is known of her vocal nature, and confidence to stand up for the minor majority in the community. Not only was the ward rejoicing by her appointment, the district and province grew interest in such a courage displayed by a middle-aged woman and was invited for radio interviews where she spoke boldly about how she represents women in and outside politics. At council she was appointed to become the District’s Gender Champion and at 69 years she has been in and out of hotels and conferences. Theresa has made a name for herself even her husband respects her so well and appreciates the good work she does for her family and community. Even at an advanced age, she has managed to modernize her home though it located deep in the shadows of Rukweza. Her home is as if it has been uprooted from the urban to the rural and you find everything their tapped water to electricity. She has ventured into business, as she owns a shop where she is a general dealer and also owns a car. She continues to preach power to the woman, “You know what? I am rich in terms of knowledge and empowerment,” she added with a smile on her face, “and l will make sure every young woman is empowered, catch them young to be the leaders of tomorrow”, she added. I want to thank FACE Zim for restoring my self-esteem and for the courage and confidence they gave me and for that l am grateful,” she concluded.

Theresa will live to tell the tale of a lioness raised from deep in the shadows of Makoni District. She is as bold as a lion and continues to fight for the rights of other women.