However, it was not just some random empty meeting. As a follow up to Presi-dent Obama’s Young African Leaders meeting in August 2010, this particular meeting was done under the guise, Young African Women Leaders Forum. As I sit here writing this article, I am over-whelmed by the lessons I can draw from that two day interaction and these include but are not limited to normalcy in leader-ship, patience as a virtue, young women as leaders of both today and tomorrow.
The confusion emanates from that one does not know whether to follow a certain par-adigm or just continue in their “normal” way of doing things. It becomes even are suppose to mentor you seem to be also -ties showing you the light at the end of the tunnel.
Michelle Obama resonated with something that I had so many times held dear to me and that is normalcy in leadership. When one becomes a leader and a young woman in particular, they can still be “normal’ enough for people to interact with without feeling as if they are a completely new person that needs a new introduction.
It was her calmness, casualty, warmth and approachability that made me think that indeed it is possible to have a tight schedule, everyone look-ing at you and many other pressures and still remain a good leader.
Imagine what it would be like if leaders in Zimbabwe would interact with their respective “con-stituencies’ with respect, dignity, warmth and geniuneness? Zimbabwe would be a much different place to be and am sure that we will not have to be ruled but led in many aspects than one.
However, we still have a long way to go, it is possible but of these cadres.Americans treasure their security and I will not get into the intricate details of assuming why and how but one thing for sure is they do work on tight security and when it involves the life of the First Lady, need I say more.
We had to practice pa-tience as we got cleared to enter the venue for the meetings and this sometimes took minutes which turned to hours. During on. Sometimes as young women and lead-ers in general, patience is an ingredient we lack. Transformation has to occur instant-ly and when there are challenges faced, we always want the easy way out – to quit.
However, all good things take time to come by and First Lady Michelle said, only destruction is quick for example the way natural disasters destroy a landscape in minutes and so do explosives. How-ever, if we are to realize transformation, there has to be patience as transforma-tion is realized over a long period of time.
There is a sense of lethargy in the democ-ratization process of Zimbabwe consider-ing the length this “struggle” has taken. However, fellow comrades, aluta conti-nua, we shall overcome one day indeed. Nothing lasts forever so let us be patient in this work.
Often I have heard that young wom-en are leaders of tomorrow but this inter-action emphasized the notion that we are leaders of both today and tomorrow. When young people are seen as leaders of tomor-row, then they will continue to act and be-have as if they are waiting for tomorrow. However, now is the time to show leader-ship wherever we are and begin to make a difference, after all, we can be the change we want to see and take Zimbabwe to the next level.
It is my hope that this reading has helped you share in my experience and that you will be inspired to transform Zimbabwe in whatever corner you are…yes we can!
Grace Chirenje is an activist with a keen interest in Women and Youth Affairs.
Post published in: Africa News