Book Description

A Girl's Echoing Voice in the Zimbabwe Chimurenga Guerrilla Girl is a historical novel, set amidst the backdrop of the struggle for liberation of Zimbabwe. Whilst the names of the characters are fictitious, the majority of events and places are true. The main protagonist in this novel is also the narrator; a woman fully involved as a trained fighter in most of the events. The story depicts an account of how the women were fully involved in the liberation struggle. The other element to the story is how the women of Zimbabwe had to fight the battle on two fronts, against two kinds of enemy: the struggle against the common enemy, the colonialist, and the struggle against male chauvinism. Most of the African men in Zimbabwe found it hard to accept their women as fighters, let alone armed guerrillas. So women had a hard time trying to assert themselves as capable and trusted liberators. Women were always in extreme danger of being put down by their male counterparts. About the author Helen is a retired college principal lecturer. She grew up in Colonial Zimbabwe, Southern Rhodesia. Initially she trained as a nurse but later worked as a tailor in a garment factory. Helen then joined the African Trade Union Congress and became involved in trade unionism which eventually led to involvement with national political groups. Through her political activities, she met her future husband. Because of their political views they ended up in exile. During this period, they lived in Tanganyika (now Tanzania), USA, UK and Kenya. Helen and her husband remained involved in party politics during their time in exile. They returned to Zimbabwe at independence in 1980. As a black woman, Helen has known extreme poverty and discrimination. She has a passion for the emancipation and advancement of women.