Fungai Machirori
Fungai Machirori is a Zimbabwean blogger, journalist, editor, poet, researcher and photographer. In 2011, her blog 'Fungai Neni' was runner-up in the World Youth Summit Award 'Power 2 Women' category. In 2012, she founded Zimbabwe's first web-based portal for women, Her Zimbabwe which discusses and interrogates issues affecting Zimbabwean women.[1] She is also an advocate for using social media for consciousness-building among Zimbabweans.
Background
Fungai is the daughter of prominent Zimbabwean journalist and former editor, Edna Machirori. She always wanted to have a voice on how women use social media tools and digital platforms.
Education
During her A Levels she did Mathematics, Biology and English. She had the opportunity to do hard sciences but she chose the field where she could practice her science in writing and expressing. She holds a Bachelor of Science (BSc) in Journalism and Media Studies from the National University of Science and Technology and a Masters degree in International Development from the University of Reading. She also holds a diploma in Public Relations, Advertising and Marketing from the London Chamber of Commerce and Industry (LCCI).
Career
Fungai started writing when she was a little girl and she fondly remembers writing each other love letters with her mother, Edna Machirori, when she was about 8 years old. Her mother is a journalist and so loves writing naturally.
She started blogging in 2009 after she realised that a Zimbabwean media outlet that would not censor her views on important societal issues around sexuality and sexual rights would remain a dream for a long time to come. Her blog, Fungai Neni – meaning ‘Think with Me’, in English – was born humbly, but definitely not quietly. Her first feature article was entitled Erections don’t mean affection and since then she has had the opportunity to introduce the ‘p word’, as well as many other ‘unsavoury’ concepts. As at 2011, she had posted 83 articles and received over 870 comments and 60 000-plus hits. One of her most popular blog posts is one in which she questioned societal and personal perceptions of the vagina. Needless to say, she believed that she had created a community, a safe space where women – and men – could freely discuss issues.[2]
She is a communications and digital media specialist who has worked on projects in countries including South Africa, Kenya, Ethiopia, Malawi, Uganda, Tanzania, Ghana, Rwanda, Australia, Germany, USA and Zimbabwe. She has acquired extensive experience in media, research and documentation especially from gendered and feminist analyses.
In her many years of working with communities she has found conservative societies being often resistant to speaking about change and tend to harken back to a past they want to imagine and preserve as perfect or what is deemed 'morally and culturally upright'.[3]
Awards
- In 2013, Her Zimbabwe was recognised with a Special Commendation in the University of Queensland’s Media for Social Change Awards and is also a member of the Guardian Africa Network.
Trivia
Fungai Machirori survived a shooting incident at Los Angeles International Airport in 2013, which left one federal security agent dead and several other people wounded.[4]
Videos
