School life begins at 52

Ruth Butaumocho Gender Editor

She has been a successful businesswoman since childhood. But at the age of 52 and having last been in a class when she was only 10, she was determined to make the best out of her life

Brushing off criticism from her peers and even her grown-up children, Mrs Elizabeth Magaya stood her ground and went back to school.

Within a year, Mrs Magaya had acquired a full O-Level certificate, enabling her to enrol for an undergraduate degree through maturity entry at a local university.

“I badly wanted to go back to school after dropping out at the age of 10 to take care of my siblings following my parents’ divorce,” Mrs Magaya said in a recent interview.

Although she had made a name for herself in business and travelled the world, she could not properly communicate in English hence did not understand a lot of things.

She badly needed to go school.

Mrs Magaya is a successful businesswoman who has since spread her tentacles in different sectors including construction.

From humble beginnings Mrs Magaya is now an author who has written a number of publications, including a motivational book that contains her narrative and a renowned motivational speaker whose empowering talks have inspired hundreds of women.

She has won many accolades from the late 1990s in recognition of her contribution to business in Zimbabwe.

At one time she was voted the national runner-up for the Zimbabwe National Chamber of Commerce awards – in the Worker Category – for her sterling contribution in the construction industry.

Coming from a disadvantaged background, where basic education, food and clothing were considered a luxury rather than a need, Mrs Magaya credits her ascendancy to opulence to sheer hard work.

“What I am today, what I have and all that I acquired over the years, did not come on a silver platter.

“With no formal education, seven children to fend for and with a husband who was equally poor, I had to work very hard,” she recalls.

After her parents divorced, she became the breadwinner, scrounging for food in the neighbourhood at times patronising neighbours’ bins in search of food.

Realising that she could not continue fending for her siblings alone, she decided to get married, further worsening her already dire situation.

Her husband took her to his rural home, where she now had to herd cattle, till the land and scrounge for basics again.

With nine pregnancies to tend to within seven years, Mrs Magaya’s life became the centre of discussion in the village.

But those social gaffes did not in any way stop her from fending for her big family, which now required much more than motherly love.

“I started market gardening and would plant vegetables that I sold to other villages,”

Under the conditions Mrs Magaya grew stronger spiritually, vowing to change her situation.

As luck would have it, her husband asked her to rejoin him in the capital, where he was working.

Being an enterprising woman, Mrs Magaya did not sit on her laurels, but started several income generating ventures including market gardening on a small piece of land the couple had in Glen View.

It was during her interactions with other women who had an interest in entrepreneuerialship that she learnt of the tie and dye business.

“Learning about the tie and dye business was a life changing experience.

“I could tell that my life was going to change for the better.”

Armed with her experience in crotcheting transcending over two decades, Mrs Magaya decided to turn her passion into business.

“Business in tie and dye was blossoming and orders were coming from all directions,” she recalled.

With time, Mrs Magaya became a household name and was now being asked to give motivational speeches at different national gatherings.

During one of the numerous gatherings, the late MP for Mhondoro, Cde Mavis Chidzonga, called her aside and advised her to go back to school and upgrade herself.

That short discussion was a turning point in Mrs Magaya’s life.

“She told me that one day I would become a national product but that was only possible if I would go back to school and upgrade my education.”

For someone who had successfully set herself up in business and was already enjoying the rich trappings, as attested by her opulent lifestyle, she did not disregard the advice.

“I took the advice. I had a disadvantaged background, but I realised that I could still correct the anomaly, by going back to school.

“I could not afford to be arrogant, neither could I claim to be knowledgeable when it was clear that my deficiencies were in the public domain,” she said.

Her decision was, however, met with trepidation and even scorn, even from her children, who felt that she was better off running her businesses than be ridiculed by school kids.

“Even my kids didn’t understand why I wanted to go back to school considering how successful I had become in business.”

But she was not deterred.

She badly wanted to rebrand herself, so much that she didn’t have a problem in joining her “schoolmates”, who were young enough to be her grandchildren.

Looking back, Mrs Magaya believes that the decision she made was transformational, giving leverage to her business acumen while widening her horizons.

With the assistance of Professor Hope Sadza, Mrs Magaya eventually enrolled for a degree in Management and Entrepreneurship and passed with flying colours.

She is currently doing a Masters in Business Intelligence and recently completed a leadership course with Vital Voices of America.

“One’s background should not be a hindrance towards her goals and vision.

“I may not have been as fortunate as others, but I worked hard because I wanted to change my circumstances

“I am not apologetic over what I have, because I worked hard for it. My wealth is traceable and is as result of sheer hard work, and nothing else.”

Mrs Magaya added that pessimism and fear of the unknown are the two greatest problems that are affecting women’s economic advancement.

“We have women in our midsts who are very talented but are afraid to explore existing opportunities within their commuties.

“Yes, money to start income-generating projects is always difficult to access, especially for women from disadvantaged communities, but be prepared to start small,” she said.

With no serious family commitments to tie her down, since her last born is now 33 years old, Mrs Magaya says she now wants to commit her time to assist women.

“I want to mentor women to work hard and change their circumstances. Plans are already afoot to start a foundation aimed at empowering women, through mentoring, networking and creating business opportunities for women.

“More often than not, people tend to view their upbringing and background as inhibitive factors in their advancement. Yet they can break the barriers and succeed,” she said.

Having traversed the globe conducting business, Mrs Magaya said opportunities were abundant but that entrepreneurs would need to be innovative. When she is not attending to business, Mrs Magaya, who is an ardent nature lover, spends her time in her garden at her Borrowdale Brooke home.