Who run the world?

Girls! Girls!

Beyoncé’s female empowerment song always gets me on my feet, breaking into dance in celebration of girl power. “Yes! Girl Power!” But one wonders, is that statement true? Given recent events, especially in the largely followed US election, where the heavily anticipated election of the first female into the office of the US Presidency was, for lack of a better word … a putsch, this got me thinking, maybe James Brown’s hit single, “It’s a Man’s World” is in fact more accurate.

I remember my very first Rotaract meeting. My brother in law, a Rotarian, had dragged my twin sister, Kay, and I to a Rotaract meeting, albeit against our will. “You’re going to love it,” he promised, and … surprise, surprise, we did! On that, our first meeting to the newly resuscitated club of Rotaract Harare West, I was immediately elected into the position of Public Relations Officer. I was bewildered, but somewhat flattered, that this new group of people I had only just met had put so much confidence in me to carry out the role of increasing the awareness of Rotaract to the public.

That day, in 2010, marked the beginning of what was to be some of the best years of my life. Throughout the years in Rotaract I served in other positions, such as Treasurer, Club Services Director as well as District Public Relations Officer. Finally in 2013 I thought to myself, “It’s time.” It was time I take the highest leadership in the club, that of Club President.

I carefully crafted my campaign speech, simply entitled the 3Cs. As I presented my manifesto to my fellow club I promised to Care for each of the club members, to do everything in my power to enhance their Careers by establishing a mentorship program with the Rotarians, as well as to infuse Creativity into the club by doing unique and fun projects such as Art Shows and Speech Contests. I thought, nay I was convinced, I had this in the bag.

I got a rude awakening when the results were announced. I had failed to persuade my colleagues that I was the right candidate for the job. Dejected and discouraged I was just then about to fall into a depression of self pity, when a seasoned Rotarian, Tember Banda, came up with the ludicrous idea that I run for the position of District Rotaract Representative (DRR), which is the highest position in Rotaract, instead. I laughed, “Tember, how can I convince the entire District to vote for me when I can’t even get my own club members to vote for me?” He laughed back and joked, “Well, maybe you can run with your twin sister, Kay as Co-DRRs. If people know they are getting a twofer, they may just vote for you."

Jokes aside, I remembered the words of Mary Morrissey, a highly revered motivational speaker who swears by the philosophy of scheduling ones panic. This ideology suggests that when something bad happens to you, like you lose an election, schedule your panic for three days after the event before you react. If in three days, that problem hasn’t been solved, then you have the right to panic, react and act out. More often than not, after those three days have passed that problem would have “miraculously” solved itself. I therefore decided to schedule my panic, and in those three days it became increasingly obvious to me that Tember’s suggestion might just be the solution to my problem, that is, to run for the position of DRR.

The voices in my head still told me that chances are I wouldn’t win, “I mean, you’re a female, and the last time a female was elected to be DRR was in 1996. That’s 17 years ago!! And … you’ve never been a club a President. Never in this District has a non-past president ever been elected into the position of DRR.” Then I remembered something I had read a while ago, start before you’re ready. “Don’t wait until everything is perfect. Don’t wait until you’ve been President. Just start before you’re ready.” So, I decided to run. Long story short in June of 2013 I was elected as the second female DRR in the District.

That year turned out be a resounding success for the District, with the most notable achievement being the 3-fold increase in the number of clubs in District 9210. I assembled an incredible team, which held a successful training dubbed, “The Thuli excursion,” in Bulawayo; composed an environmental jingle which was translated into 4 languages including Portuguese; and came up with the first fully separate program for Rotaractors at a District 9210 Discon during the Nyanga Discon, which again had record breaking numbers of participants.

So, is it really a man’s world? Hmm … Maybe not after all. Maybe it’s a world where we, both male and female, can rise and do the impossible, both in life and in Rotary.

As we celebrate 50 years of the existence of Rotaract, I would like to propose a toast to celebrate the 30th anniversary of women in Rotary!

Although Rotary Clubs had been dedicated to the idea of service for more than 100 years, many were not always fond of the idea of allowing women to join the club. However a 1987 US Supreme Court landmark ruling declared that women were now welcome to join Rotary, and by extension, Rotaract, clubs around the world.

“My fellow delegates, I would like to remind you that the world of 1987 is very different to the world of 1905. I sincerely believe that Rotary has to adapt itself to a changing world,” said Frank J. Devlyn, who would go on to become RI President in 2000-01.

That hallmark ruling has now allowed women all over the world to not only have the privilege to serve, but also to enjoy all the benefits, such as professional development and international relations as well as fellowship, that come with belonging to a Rotaract club.

Through the training and experience that one enjoys at Rotaract, former female Rotaractors have gone on to be game changers in their chosen fields, such as, to just mention a few:

Cindy Munyavi – Musician, Singer, Awarded Best Female Artiste in Southern Africa 2014 (Rotaract Club of Central)

Brita Maselethulini - Former Miss Malaika (Rotaract Club of Highlands)

Sequila Mumba – Former Miss Zambia (from Tiyende Pamodzi Rotaract Club)

Peggy Kula – MD, South African Airlink in Ndola (DRR 1996-1997, Rotaract Club of Ndola)

Chifundo Chilera – Voted one of the 26 Most Outstanding Emerging Women Leaders in Africa (Rotaract Club of Lilongwe)

There is a universal law, called the Law of Service. If you do a study of the most successful people in the world, they are always the ones who serve the most. Bill Gates, Oprah Winfrey, Richard Branson, Strive Masiyiwa are all successful simply because they serve. They provide a service to humanity in some way shape or form, and those who serve are always given more with which to serve.

There is no better place to learn and master the spirit of service than in Rotaract, whose mantra is “Fellowship through Service.”

We are still a way to go in the world, with currently only 22 leaders of the 195 nations in the world being female, and Rotary being yet to elect a female into the position of Rotary, but the many female Rotaract presidents, past and present, and the likes of PDG Stella Dongo and PDG Lee-Ann Shearing give us hope that we are headed in the right direction.

To 30 years of women in Rotaract …. And counting!