HOUSE OF MUTAPA Striving To Inspire
feature zvisinei dzepasi mamutse Vasikana Project “I Call On You Sis” Interview by Simba Harawa
based woman calls on other women to rally toU SA gether and empower girls through puberty education through a journal titled “I Call On You Sis”. The journal was launched in Cincinnati, USA on 17 August 2019 and is now available on platforms such as Amazon. HOM: Congratulations for deciding to help others and empower girls. Please introduce yourself and tell us your background. ZDM: Thank you for such an honor, my name is Zvisinei Dzepasi Mamutse, I’m originally from Zimbabwe now based in Ohio Cincinnati. A mother of 3. Married to Honest Mamutse. I am a nurse practitioner by profession practising addiction medicine. HOM: What made you take action? ZDM: To carry forward teaching instilled of community service, that we are the change we want to see. It is important to still instil those values in our children. Losing two parents at a young age it is not the material things I remember, but the values that were instilled in us. In 2019, and soon 2020, we are linked at the touch of a button through advancement in technology, but we still have girls missing school because of a lack of ways to manage their periods, this is because menstruation has been viewed as taboo, a subject we can’t talk about and Vasikana Project aims to bring awareness to this subject and help with the eradication of these taboos. Vasikana Project is a non-profit organization empowering girls by providing puberty education and safe, dignified ways for young girls to manage their periods. We believe all girls can embrace who they are, define their future, and can change the world.
legacy and empower girls through puberty education. HOM: Did you have that ‘aha’ moment or it was a gradual process to commit yourself to help others? ZDM: As I listened to the stories I heard from my sisters coming from Zimbabwe about girls missing school, that is when I got the AHA moment that this was an area in which I could make a difference, bringing awareness to their plight. HOM: What are some of your childhood memories that still impact or influence you today? ZDM: My parents were community oriented, they were always helping one person or another by paying tuition. My father always stated it was no point just educating his children only he believed in raising up the whole community. HOM: Please kindly explain the vision you have for the project? What do you want to achieve? ZDM: Vasikana Project is aimed at bringing awareness to period poverty, safe and dignified ways to manage their periods, and to leave no girl behind with the pub-
HOM: What is the inspiration behind the project? ZDM: Vasikana Project inspiration is to carry our mothers legacy of empowering women, our mother Judith Mereki Dzepasi worked for an organization that shed light on family planning and empowered women to make decisions about their bodies. She rode her bike from one homestead to another, one village to another advocating for women, hence we wanted to carry her
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