To celebrate International Women’s Day this month, we are looking at strong female characters who have managed to overcome great odds and are a source of inspiration to us all.
Non-fictional Characters
Margaret Maganga- A Journey Through Darkness
She suddenly became blind at the age 19, but her life did not end up there, it was the beginning of a long journey through darkness, full of challenges but still she managed to cling onto the hope of a better tomorrow. Read more here
Hopolang Phororo – Joy Comes in the Morning
After being sexually abused by a neighbor, and the nineteen years of her silence, Hopolang managed to overcome it all and find joy at dawn. She is bold, a lioness who conquered her devils and fears, a warrior who won her battle against betrayal, confusion, regret and self-pity and above all managed to climb Mount Kilimanjaro! Her passion to see young women realize their fullest potential has led her to set up the Daughters of Destiny (DoD) Ministry (mentoring young women), in countries where she has lived. Read more here
Hoyce Temu – Nayakumbuka Yote
Miss Tanzania 1999, Hoyce writes a memoir of her life as a young Tanzanian woman and her journey to the top of Tanzania’s beauty industry. She tells of the struggles she went through while pursuing her education and her modeling career. Hoyce is not just beautiful but also a highly educated woman who cares for the needy and uses her platform to help improve their condition. Read more here
Esther Daniel Mwaikambo – Lighting a Fire
From a front office secretary to the first female Tanzanian medical doctor in 1996, the first female pediatrician in 1977, the first female professor of Medicine (Pediatrics) in 1993, the first female University Vice President Chancellor in 1999-2006 and the first female member and Vice President of the Tanzania Academy of Sciences from 2004. Esther is a daring woman who turned harsh treatment from her authoritarian bosses (when she was working as a front office secretary) to inspiration that has propelled her to where she is right now. Read more here
Fictional Characters
Yasmin – Vuta n’Kuvute
After being chased out of her home because of running away from a man she was forced to marry, a man as old as her grandfather, Yasmin ends up in the streets Zanzibar. Here Yasmin finds herself living among the downtrodden Africans and for the first timeshe discovers a whole new life she never knew existed. Yasmin thrusts herself right in the heart of the struggle that culminated into the Zanzibar revolution.
In the backdrop of the Revolution Yasmin forges lasting friendships and may even have a chance to find true love.. Read more here
Msiri – Mmeza Fupa
Bi. Msiri is an old woman. She has been on earth for 2 centuries now. Through generations Bi. Msiri has seen it all. Betrayals, the massacre of her family and grief being a huge part of her long journey here on earth. But Bi. Msiri is still here and still holding on. She is a solid woman, with a lot to tell to the younger generation about the past and the future.. Read more here