The Sunday News
AT a time when life seems to be getting tougher for the ordinary man, a helping hand is always welcome for those in need. Empowering, inspiring and building communities is a mission that Patience Ndebele-Omijie has taken to heart, and she has made extensive improvements in the UK and Zimbabwe through her organisation — Inspire Women, Men and Children (Inspire WMC).
Growing up in Zimbabwe’s second largest city, Bulawayo, as the first born in a family of three and eldest grandchild in her family probably instilled a sense of responsibility over others in the young Patience. The mother of two recalls her early upbringing in Zimbabwe before she moved to the UK aged 23 as part of a solid foundation that laid the first bricks for the multiple responsibilities and roles she would later take up in life as a mother, wife, registered mental health nurse and community champion.
“We were taught from childhood that family is very important. I grew up in a household of an extended family, not just my nuclear family (mum, dad and siblings) but with cousins and distant relatives from Silobela. I remember at one time we had 21 people at our house. We always cooked a large pot of food — to accommodate everyone including unannounced visitors. We always had to immediately create space and share everything,” she says.
“The extended family experience instilled within me a personal and corporal identity. I was expected to perform certain roles as the eldest child in various stages of my life — that moulded me to a productive individual, helping my family and others around me. The experience became a blueprint of my leadership endeavours of serving others.”
It was then that the seed planted early in her childhood that Patience would go on to start Inspire WMC; an organisation that empowers communities through equipping everyone with vocational skills and start-ups to improve lives.
Patience has been involved in community building initiatives for over two decades after having started her career at Orap in Zimbabwe before establishing Inspire WMC. She has gone on to lead many projects aimed at empowering women, men, youths and ensuring the well-being of children in London, Bulawayo and Umguza District, finding time between her professional and family duties.
“I do philanthropic work in between my shifts. It’s difficult and sometimes I struggle to find balance with everything including family life but I always try to be fully present in everything I do, applying myself fully so that I give out and get the best always.
Time management is difficult but I am glad to be surrounded by very supportive people that I always delegate for certain tasks. I do have sleepless nights but the passion I have for my work pushes me to do more and achieving set goals, it’s so liberating,” she says.
Finding that joy in serving and helping others has helped Patience and her team in scripting some remarkable success stories within communities. They have an on-going project, Pelandaba Inspire WMC Skills Centre in Bulawayo which has graduated more than 200 students since January in short courses including Basic Baking, Dressmaking, Afrocentric, Basic Computers and Beauty and Makeup among others while Inspire WMC has trained more than a thousand young girls, women and men on how to make reusable sanitary pads and menstrual health.
According to Patience, the idea of the project/school is to ensure that their students gain invaluable skills that are necessary to start their income generating projects as well as get jobs.
Good deeds rarely go unnoticed and Patience has been recognised and honoured many times for her work and inspired many people in the process. Motivated by a desire to do good for others with whatever she saw her winning the Community Champion of the Year Award at Zimbabwe Achievers Awards UK 2019, with Inspire WMC nominated in Community Organisation of the Year category, a recognition she says was a success story on its own as both milestones reflect growth and fuelled even further their relentless desire to make positive change.
Some of their notable community work in Umguza with five primary schools in fees sponsorship, food, poultry keeping, gardening and sports initiatives has been one of the processes that have allowed for greater engagement within communities and has encouraged progressive conversations and solutions. The response from the communities has been overwhelmingly positive and shattered myths and stereotypes.
“There has been an increased participation of women and girls in our activities. Men are also supporting our projects despite the patriarchal nature of our societies. I’ve witnessed men participating in #NomorewhisperingPeriod, attending our Menstruation Hygiene and reusable-sanitary pads training, partaking and openly discussing about menstruation. I believe the key issues are having conversations, building bridges, learning from each other and the importance of accepting different cultures and views with our work.”
Despite the heart-warming stories from Inspire WMC, running two organisations on two continents has not come without its own challenges. However, for Patience, she feels the challenge signifies her dual sense of belonging and global interconnection by connecting her two worlds, revealing the best either side has to offer. She also attributes the ongoing success of the organisation to the support and efforts of the team and partners around her.
“It’s not been easy because both continents are unique on their own and faced by different challenges and needs but we have a team of very supportive people who are part of Inspire WMC. Our donors, supporters, friends and volunteers are always supportive. I also collaborate with other (community) leaders in their initiatives including campaigns, advocacy work, for example, I have been part of various mental health campaigns because it is something in line with my work,” she said. She also highlighted the role that the diaspora community and organisations like hers play in the home front.
“I believe our organisations’ input in development, is much more than remittance but as influencers, who can champion social change using resources, expertise and skills within our reach. I would like to see more Zimbabwean- diaspora communities occupying a more integrated space in the development dialogue as we all bear the burden of improving our communities back home. We need bold steps to create viable links and collaborations as the diaspora community — organisations, entrepreneurs, global agencies and companies as we promote lasting change in our country.”
Inspire Women, Men and Children has been a silver lining for most despairing communities in the UK and Zimbabwe and for their equally inspirational leader Patience Ndebele-Omijie the journey to changing the world one person at a time continues unabated. — ZimAbroad
BLURB — The love I have for people keeps me motivated thus the need to do good with the little that I have. I am so passionate about seeing people happy and getting what they deserve. Our communities are faced by many challenges and that on its own motivates me to be a change catalyst. — Online
