From Gokwe To Oxford: The Girl Who Dared To Dream
Hi, I’m Petronella. I am massively bent on empowering and inspiring people from all walks of life.
If anyone was to ask me what lesson I’ve learnt from my crazy adventures and encounters, I would say this: Dare to dream and give yourself permission to follow all your dreams.
My name is Petronella Munyaradzi Munhenzva. I am an author, research consultant and speaker. I have spent the last few years of my life studying. In 2017, I graduated with Honours from the University of Zimbabwe. In 2019, I graduated with MSc from the University of Zimbabwe and in 2021, I graduated with MPhil from Oxford University.
Recently I published my first book: “From Gokwe To Oxford: The Girl Who Dared To Dream.”
The book chronicles my journey: Growing up in Gokwe, Nembudzia, a very small town in rural Zimbabwe (this is me being generous in my description). I learnt at some of the country’s worst schools without books, desks or adequate infrastructure. Despite all this I made it to Oxford University.
I have started working on the sequel to the book with working title, “My Encounter with Blackness in Oxford and No I am not Woke.” In this book I explore my life in this place of my dreams. How did a girl who spent three-quarters of her life in rural Zimbabwe adjust and settle into the culture of Oxford? I explore issues of race, different experiences and world views in the classroom, finding a hairdresser, finding a church, contemplating the world’s biggest challenges from a different vantage point.
Next to my everyday job, I am a coordinator for the Africa Working Group with Young Scholars Initiative. I founded the Munyaradzi Education Foundation, an organization established to support children growing up in rural Africa.
I am the CEO and Founder of APETZiM; a Zimbabwean women led research firm. In my free time I enjoy reading, playing chess, watching sermons, and feeding my curiosity on how the world is evolving.
From Gokwe to Oxford: The Girl Who Dared to Dream
– Petronella Munhenzva
“From Gokwe to Oxford: The Girl Who Dared to Dream,” is an inspirational book that chronicles the journey of a girl who grew up in rural Zimbabwe in a place called Gokwe.
It tells the journey of her life, growing up and learning at some of the country’s worst schools without books, desks or adequate infrastructure but despite all that, making it to Oxford University.
The book is for people that need hope and a glimmer of light, who need to believe through just one more day, especially as we are in very uncertain times.
Get a copy from Amazon here.
In case you cannot get the book via Amazon, please feel free to contact me.
The Munyaradzi Education Foundation is an organization I established to support children growing up in rural Africa starting with young people in rural Zimbabwe, particularly Gokwe.
The foundation speaks to me at a personal level and I approach it from a position of: What would I have needed growing up in Gokwe?
The Munyaradzi Education Foundation does not stem from a position of neither comfort nor pity. It is coming from a position of holding as many hands in Gokwe as I can. Every little girl in Gokwe can make her dreams a reality and I am honored to be the conduit.
Petronella Munhenzva
Foundation Motto: Holding as many hands as we can
Foundation Values: Honesty, Respect, Family, Accountability and Integrity
Who Are We Here For: Every child living in rural Africa. Current focus is on young people in rural Zimbabwe, particularly in Gokwe
Foundation Goals:
I have been that girl walking 5 kilometers to school. I have been that girl sitting in a grass-chipped classroom without benches or a proper roof.
I have always been that girl who had to share a textbook with nine other students to read a passage for a test. Because the school couldn’t afford a broom, I carried one to school to clean the Blair toilet. The list is endless but I have been her and I AM HER. My story is her story.
In December 2020 after being in Oxford for slightly over a year. I went back home to Zimbabwe. While there, I went to Gokwe, the place where I was born and spent the first 18 years of my life. I went to every school where I had learned, sat in the chairs I once sat in, and spoke with the teachers who had once taught me. Going back there made me appreciate the journey I had been on. Every teacher I spoke to at every school I visited kept on saying, “You should come back when the schools are open; the kids would love to meet you and hear from you; they could use the motivation.” To honor their wishes and to give every child hope that they can, I have decided to hold as many hands as I can in Gokwe and everywhere else in Africa and actively become the change I want to see in the world.
Mission Statement:
To empower young people in rural Africa through various educational opportunities, providing and promoting available information on career guidance, life opportunities, and entrepreneurship.
If you would like to contribute towards the foundation, please feel free to use the paypal link here.
Please feel free to come and say hello. You can find me on:
YouTube
Behance
Podcast
I reserve a few hours a week to chat with young people from all over the world who have questions for me in a WhatsApp group called: Question Time With Petty. I would be happy to have you join me over here.
You can also sign up for email alerts below and you will be notified whenever I post news, announcements, or other goodies.
Petronella Munhenzva