A genuine self‑starter, Tapiwa has always set out to do
things her own way. Born and raised in Zimbabwe, when the
predominantly private school she attended made it deliberately
difficult for black students to start societies, she went ahead and
forged on without any support from the academic staff.
As President of the school debating team she founded, she
trained and coached the team herself to great success.
They first won their national heats, before being victorious
in the continental competition in Botswana and achieving a
respectable fourth‑place finish in the international finals held in
Italy.
Tapiwa also enjoyed notable success as an individual, gaining
the highest A‑level grades in her country amongst her cohort.
This success allowed her to think about applying to some of
the best universities in the UK. Not fancying the cold weather of
Durham nor the relative quiet of Oxford or Cambridge, Tapiwa
opted for Queen Mary and set about having an immediate
impact on the life of the London college.
She went on to preside over the transformation of the African
and Caribbean Society (ACS) into more than just one big
party: whilst she threw a number of successful events, she also
received individual accolades for her ‘outstanding contribution’
to the university.
Not content with her academic success, Tapiwa has also proven
herself to be a successful entrepreneur – making £6,000 profit
from a solo retail venture selling clothes on Facebook to cover
her living expenses at university – and to be committed to
charity work. Her sister was recently diagnosed as being autistic,
a condition that suffers from a lack of recognition and a degree
of social stigma in Zimbabwe. Tapiwa is pouring her energy into
a range of exciting initiatives to raise awareness of the issue.
These include preparing to return to Zimbabwe this summer to
shoot an upcoming documentary called ‘Our Hidden Children’,
and launching an autism charity.
Her plans for the charity include setting up a college where
autistic children can be taught how to make the best use of their
hands, given that manual dexterity is a particular challenge of
theirs. Tapiwa’s sister is currently training as a chef, which has
transformed her quality of life. Tapiwa hopes to help others
experience this positive change through the college, and her
ultimate aim for the project is to open a salon in Zimbabwe
staffed exclusively by autistic hair stylists.
When she is not trying to improve the world by representing
others around her, Tapiwa also finds time to express her own
views through her writing. She has begun performing spoken
word poetry around the issues faced by black women in society
and is also a prolific blogger.
‘Cultured Love’ is a about the interplay between sex and her
Christian religious beliefs, and how this affects her day‑to‑day
life. The blog currently has over 2300 followers, which one
might expect: when a woman as strong, as intelligent and as
accomplished as Tapiwa is speaking, it is little wonder that
people sit up and take note.
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