Front PageThe Big Interview

 Sheena Namaona: Fountain of ideas

Being multi-talented is a special gift from God that is rarely found in most young people. HOWARD MLOZI engages an inspiring young woman Sheena Chilimampunga Namaona, who wears many hats. She is a business administrator, entrepreneur, fashion designer, poet and manager at Nzika Arts:Sheena

Give us a brief background of yours?

I am 30-year-old Sheena Chilimampunga who was born in Zomba to Dr. and Mrs. Chilimampunga. I am a third born in a family of five. I am married to Mwai Namaona and together we have two daughters: Mia (3 years) and Mirae (5 months). And I am the managing partner of Nzika Arts. I studied for a Bachelors Degree in Business Administration but I did not graduate. I am an event dresser and fashion designer. Basically, that is what puts food on my table.

Why didn’t you graduate?

I had travelled to Scotland for a young entrepreneurs secondment in business marketing and advertising at Leith Institute of marketing in Edniburgh. I wrote the principal for his blessing and he gave an okay and my lecturers also agreed that I would sit for a differed exam when I returned. When I came back I did sit for the differed exam because I missed the first examination sitting due to my travels. I waited for my results to come out but my grades were never released. I was tossed from office to office until a lecturer told me I had passed but someone was not releasing them. I spent a full semester not attending classes running through Polytechnic corridors and knocking on doors until I said enough. I could not register to proceed to the next class without the results that’s how my journey through Polytechnic ended. Through the years, I have learnt that all this happened because God was bracing me up to be a true and mature entrepreneur.

Do you regret not graduating?

Not once! There are a lot of people I know who never graduated at university but are successful in life. Those people inspire me and I work hard to one day inspire others.

What inspired you to become a fashion designer and poet?

In 2003, my heart led me to an amazing man called Mwai (who is my husband now). He turned out to be my well of inspiration. We think alike, it is like our minds are synchronised. Since then he has been the main reason my soul is free to soar through creative thoughts and bring ideas to beautiful fashion designs and feelings to paper. What I see and experience in my life is what creates ideas in me and a simple set of my work is always an expression of my perception of culture, tradition and the world around me. Generally, it all comes from being content with what God has given me in this life. Let me also indicate that I do not like work that is dictated to me, I enjoy creating pieces of work and challenging myself.

What achievements have you made as a fashion designer?

I and my husband Mwai have established a clothing line. We have dressed countless people key among them beautiful ladies for their special occasions and the designs are always beautiful pieces that awe me. We have created jobs for a number of people and fashion designing has taken us places to exhibit our work like in USA and we have made exceptional friends along the way. It was an inexplicable honour to have made an outfit for the first lady Gertrude Mutharika.

You are a poet, a mother, a designer, a working class and an entrepreneur. How do you divide your time?

Time! What a resource! It looks like my plate is full but

God wonders me with how he lets the whole puzzle of womanhood fall right into place. But every day, I am a wife and mother first, then an entrepreneur and poet second. I am incomplete without family because they are my happiness, strength and motivation.

What is your mission and vision?

I am on a journey to study literature and see where pages will lead me to. In fact, I want to be able to fully express myself and what I perceive of life to my utmost capacity. I want to reach a point where I use my mind (poet), my body (fashion designer), soul (mother and wife) and skill (administrator) to their extreme extent.

What challenges do you face when discharging your duties?

Availability of resources is a huge challenge coupled with lack of enough well-trained and skilled labour.

What does Sheena like doing during her free time?

I love cooking! It is another beautiful form of art. And my free time lets me cry out to pen and notepad, laugh out with ink and paper and whisper political criticism to the wind!

What is your favourite food?

The greedy Ngoni-Sena side of me loves rice with anything meaty. And the Lhomwe married side of me likes Kanyenya wa Nsomba (fried fish).

You are probably an inspirational young lady to girls in Malawi, what is your advice to them?

Life circumstances must not hinder us (girls and women) from soaring high because life has a tendency of throwing lemons at us. So, when it is hot, pick them and make lemonade. When it is cold, pick them and make marmalade! n

Related Articles

Back to top button