Entertainment / Celebrity
Mai Chisamba wins Human Rights award
11 Jan 2015 at 06:23hrs | Views
Rebecca Chisamba, who is regarded as Zimbabwe's own Oprah Winfrey, is busking in glory after landing the overall defender of Human Rights Award at the Zimbabwe Human Rights Association Awards ceremony held in Bulawayo last month.
Popularly known as Mai Chisamba, the talk show hostess won the award for her humanitarian efforts as well as her passion for transforming society mainly through her popular TV programme, Mai Chisamba Show, which attracts a huge and diverse audience.
"I do my work with a passion and my mandate is to promote local language and to uphold our progressive cultural beliefs.
"I won two awards last year and I am glad I was recognised as one of the gender champions by UN women in conjunction with Msasa Project.
"I won a little bit of cash, a big trophy, a sculpture of our country's map and a holiday for two in Victoria Falls," said Mai Chisamba.
She was, however, quick to point out that she is not motivated by money but having an impact on people's lives.
"Yes I won some money, but it is not about the money - it is about the recognition, about the difference that I have made and continue to make in people's lives. That is what keeps me going," she said.
She says it is satisfying enough that her television show has transformed people's lives and has been rated as one of the best TV programmes by the Zimbabwe All Media and Products Survey (ZAMPS).
"I do my work whole heartedly and it is such a great honour to be able to reach out to someone and be able to make a difference in their life. I am glad that so many people have come up with testimonies that illustrate how our show has helped the society," she said.
Mai Chisamba whose weekly column in this publication has helped generate a lot of traffic to the paper's website and is very popular among our readers - said her work with the people keeps her on her toes.
"The Sunday Mail column has kept me on my toes as it is a new challenge which I have found worthwhile and very enjoyable.
"I also want to thank God for a supportive family, especially my husband, he is God-given," she said.
She has 14 awards under her belt and among them is the prestigious Communicator of the Year (2003), an award whose previous winners include President Robert Mugabe.
She has also won awards for being the Outstanding Woman in the use of Mass Media for Gender Equality (2012), Outstanding Woman in Zimbabwe (2010) and Superwoman for Advice and Mentoring (2012), among many others.
Popularly known as Mai Chisamba, the talk show hostess won the award for her humanitarian efforts as well as her passion for transforming society mainly through her popular TV programme, Mai Chisamba Show, which attracts a huge and diverse audience.
"I do my work with a passion and my mandate is to promote local language and to uphold our progressive cultural beliefs.
"I won two awards last year and I am glad I was recognised as one of the gender champions by UN women in conjunction with Msasa Project.
"I won a little bit of cash, a big trophy, a sculpture of our country's map and a holiday for two in Victoria Falls," said Mai Chisamba.
She was, however, quick to point out that she is not motivated by money but having an impact on people's lives.
"Yes I won some money, but it is not about the money - it is about the recognition, about the difference that I have made and continue to make in people's lives. That is what keeps me going," she said.
"I do my work whole heartedly and it is such a great honour to be able to reach out to someone and be able to make a difference in their life. I am glad that so many people have come up with testimonies that illustrate how our show has helped the society," she said.
Mai Chisamba whose weekly column in this publication has helped generate a lot of traffic to the paper's website and is very popular among our readers - said her work with the people keeps her on her toes.
"The Sunday Mail column has kept me on my toes as it is a new challenge which I have found worthwhile and very enjoyable.
"I also want to thank God for a supportive family, especially my husband, he is God-given," she said.
She has 14 awards under her belt and among them is the prestigious Communicator of the Year (2003), an award whose previous winners include President Robert Mugabe.
She has also won awards for being the Outstanding Woman in the use of Mass Media for Gender Equality (2012), Outstanding Woman in Zimbabwe (2010) and Superwoman for Advice and Mentoring (2012), among many others.
Source - Sunday Mail
