MUNYA SAJANGA : the business brain
Better known as Lady Munya, business woman,owner of award winning radio station, wife & mother.
Who is Lady Munya?
I am a proud African business woman. Born & raised in Chitungwiza Zimbabwe from a family of 3 brothers & 3 sisters, and oh I am a twin aswel. I have a group Diploma in Sales, Marketing & Public Relations. I am a community people's person, I like to promote the welfare of others.
I moved to England in 2001 where I workerd all sorts of jobs from cleaning, care work to warehouse operative. I realised after a few years that I was not putting myself to my highest potential and I could do bettet than the jobs I had been chasing. This is when I established my first business World Cargo International in 2006 and I never turned back since.
It has not been an easy journey but I thank God & all those who have supported and encouraged me through hard times and good times.
When did you fall in love with radio?
I fell in love with radio when my partner decided we need our own platform to advertise our business than pay other businesses lots of money to do it on our behalf. This was in March 2013 we launched Pamtengo Internet Radio Station.
In general what challenges would you say women face daily & what could be done to overcome them?
As a woman myself the challenges I faced in my business was basically being a woman. The men I did business with always assumed that I was a man mainly because of my name which is commonly a boy's name LOL, I got used to it.
On a more serious note in my culture women have always been brought up to bear children and look after their homes while the husband goes to work. The man is always been the bread winner and not the woman. This belief is always going to be there & it is the biggest challenge that women face daily. Women have always been undermined & oppressed till today as women we are still fighting for equal rights, we have slowly started to see women become pilots, engineers, plumbers & bus drivers of which these have always been regarded a men jobs.
We need to educate some men out there that the girl child also matters. There is a few organisations who are supporting girl children mainly in Africa so they can be given a chance to go to school & also become future leaders just as the boy child. Empower & inspire the girl child so they can take leadership in gendet equality at community level.
have slowly started to see women become pilots, engineers, plumbers & bus drivers of which these have always been regarded a men jobs.
We need to educate some men out there that the girl child also matters. There is a few organisations who are supporting girl children mainly in Africa so they can be given a chance to go to school & also become future leaders just as the boy child. Empower & inspire the girl child so they can take leadership in gender equality at community level.
What advice can you give to young girls/women wanting to get into radio?
The advice I can give young girls/women out there is that do not ever let anyone make you feel any less than what you are. Do not be discouraged or be afraid to follow your dreams. Persistence is the key to your success. Always remember Rome was not built in one day, a lot of us are very impatient & are easy to let go of ideas, projects just because they feel it will fail. I always give it a try if it don't work try again don't give up.
What else are you working on/involved in?
Apart from being a mother & wife I am involved in quite a number of businesses & projects.
I run a shipping business together with my partner, I mentioned earlier a company called World Cargo International . We ship goods from England to various countries across the world. WCI has been running for 12 years now still going strong. You can find more details on our website www.worldcargoint.com
Then there is Pamtengo Internet Radio Station, Pamtengo radio provides the news, shared knowledge and cultural perspective that connect and reflect our vibrant and diverse communities. Focusing on our community through radio excellence we create a unique community resource one that promotes connections and fosters a sense of belonging.
We maintain a local and abroad focus for sharing music, arts, culture, news and opinions. We serve the people of our community by providing outlets for their creative skilled and energies. Our vision is also to provide an outlet for the expression of a wide spectrum of ideas targeting those typically lacking media access www.pamtengo.com we also run training projects for the young adults who want to learn about music technology and djying.
I also do charity work through my organisation called UNIKA.Unika helps older people claim their rights, challenge discrimination and overcome poverty, so that they can lead dignified, secure, active and healthy lives. We provide care and counseling to poor,needy and homeless older persons where no other service exists.
Unika does charity work in Zimbabwe and Malawi at the moment.
We fundraise through events which are run through the year. You can see more information on our website www.unika-uk.org.