VOF Week 2: (My Journey to World Pulse)

Growing up in the dusty streets of Dangamvura, a high density suburb in Mutare, Zimbabwe, people used to say, ‘you behave like a boy.’ Most girls of my age would sweep and play with dolls while I was playing soccer and making kites.
At the age of 12, I realised that there was something unique about me. I was good academically and my parents wanted me to be a medical doctor. But I wanted to challenge the gender stereotypes that were stifling the development of girls in the patriarchal environment in our country. I enrolled for a degree in Journalism and Media Studies so as to level gender disparities using the power of communication.
I was introduced to ICTs at the age of 20. This steered something in me. Like a sponge, I absorbed all the information that I could and linked it to the society around me.
After graduating, I saw how marginalised women and girls struggled to make ends meet. Women were voiceless and had no control over their lives. They were excluded from making important decisions that affected them. They were treated like children and as such their voices were not heard. I realised that the Millennium Development Goals would never be achieved without the involvement of women in the effective communication systems. This was the beginning of my journey to World Pulse.
I worked for an organisation that used participatory learning tools for advocacy and communication. Although these methods were effective, something told me that more could be done. I then decided to leave as a way of self development. I shadowed a multi-media and graphic Designer for three months and learnt more about how computers and the Internet can change people’s lives. I was able to design various information, education and communication materials. But I wanted communication which was more effective - a two way process where the sender and receiver play an equal role.
I embarked on two projects - one focusing on sexual rights and the other one was aimed at promoting communications rights. One day a friend send me an email titled, “You should try this”. I read through the programme for the Voice of the Future Group. I realised that this was what I had been waiting for. The journey was long but worth it.
Through pulse wire, I will realise my vision of a society where women’s rights are human rights. I will learn more ways to ensure that everyone enjoys communication rights using advanced internet technologies. I will build the local capacities and abilities of marginalised and vulnerable people in the strategic and creative use of communication to express their needs, to make their voices heard, to manage their own communication, and to participate fully in their own development through the use of participatory communication so as to change public values and beliefs that are essential for long-term social change