Zimbabwe – University of Zimbabwe
Assumita Chiremba
Electrical Engineer and Student Graduate
I am a student at the University of Zimbabwe Academy, born to a peasant farmer in Chivhu. My father is a farmer and my mother works with pottery. They had seven children, three boys and four girls; I am second to the last born child. My family is Catholic and we would sell our family pottery at the local Catholic convents, but I am the only one who doesn’t do pottery. I am interested in mathematics and computers. But we were so poor, and I didn’t have enough resources at school to study the technical subjects that I liked.
Most of my primary and secondary level education was spent at several rural and urban schools. I completed my Ordinary level in 1989 at a local school (Glen Norah High II) passing all the required academic subjects. I went on for my lower sixth former and in the 3 months of my upper sixth form I got an apprenticeship as an electrical fitter with the local utility company in 1992. I had wanted instrumentation because I was interested in computers, but to no avail.
Finally, in September 2002 a new university was launched in Zimbabwe - the Women’s University in Africa. One of their programs was a Bachelor of Science in Management & Entrepreneurial Development. I thought, ‘this would be O.K. for me’, and I would partner with some engineers in Networking and go into consultancy, since our economy was shifting into the ‘lows’. I enrolled at the Women’s University and paid for the first semester of my 3-year undergraduate degree studies. Then in early January 2003, I saw an advertisement in the paper for the “Cisco Certified Network Associate” program. I was surprised, because the only place I had seen such advertisements was the Sunday Times paper from our neighboring South Africa and I admired these ads. I phoned the University right away and I told myself that this was finally the opportunity I had been waiting for to satisfy my career aspirations. Of course, I enrolled in the Program.
The University of Zimbabwe Cisco Academy is a really challenging and stimulating place, where one’s studies are put to the test and where one can be recognized and truly rewarded for what one has achieved. Students can learn with freedom, work hard at studies and still have fun! The Academy Program has helped me to see beyond the horizon of computing and networking. In the future I plan to also complete the Cisco Certified Network Professional (CCNP) and the Cisco Certified Internetwork Expert (CCIE) curricula.
I am a woman, in an assumed “man-environment”. I am me, a unique individual. I am performing well in both my two pioneer programs. The Academy Program has brought so much satisfaction and discipline to me, and I am now “walking tall” despite my short height! It is the catalyst that enabled me to find the instruments on which to play the music within me.
Women, we are the opening verses of the opening pages of the opening chapters of networking’s endless possibilities. If you have loads of ambition and willingness and ability to manage oneself, then you can let your career evolve as you and the world change. Remember that there are good and bad stories from everyone—always look for the good in every situation and have strong self-belief. I have a passion for challenges, and the great thing about the challenges in networking is that there is no endpoint!