#MumCrushMonday TAKE 6 WITH FIREBRAND AMAKOVE WALA

1. Am a proud mother of 4 (a son who is 12, and triplet girls who are 10 years of age).

2. How would I describe myself? I would describe myself as a free spirit and am often inspired by this Oriah Mountain Dreamer quote. “It doesn’t interest me what you do for a living. I want to know what you ache for – and if you dare to dream of meeting your heart’s longing. It doesn’t interest me how old you are. I want to know if you will risk looking like a fool – for love – for your dreams – for the adventure of being alive.

3. What drives me? I love challenging the status quo. I thrive in any situation that is about bringing change. Social change especially. By profession, I am a medical doctor working in the global health space working very hard to change the narrative on healthcare in our region. I am also small scale farmer. I have a certificate in rabbit husbandry. Am also a writer and blog about the uncomfortable things in life like love, sex, and divorce e.t.c. on www.lizwala.wordpress.com

4. What’s the best advice I have ever received about life? Believe it or not, it was from my ex-husband. I hated it when he once told me this in the heated moment of a quarrel, “I am NOT here to make you happy. You have to choose to be happy all by yourself.”  Wow! That cut real deep. For people with my kind of personality we can also be real dreamers. We can live in fantasy world. So I believed in the Mills and Boons fairy tales. Then I experienced real life and boom! There I was being told to choose to be happy. After the moment of anger phased out (this may have lasted a couple of days…or years), I followed his advice, and wow! My whole perspective in life changed from then on!

5. Word advice to women about owning their space? I think women in our times suffer from imposter syndrome. We do not know how to celebrate our small and big wins. We tone down our achievements. I would say, the higher you go up the professional or business ladder, the lonelier it gets and the more you need other women to lift you up. You are expected to think like a man and act like a woman. I dare say, think like a woman and act like a woman. Don’t look at opportunities with a gender lens. You want to be a mechanic, go for it! You want to be the Dean of Campus, go for it. You want to run your own Supplies Company, hey, why not! Ignore the naysayers and do you thing. Heck do it twice and takes pictures! Celebrate each other and open doors for those coming right behind you. Mentor mentor mentor!

6. How has the Covid scare changed me? Well, this I am still dealing with it. Getting to read my results that had been forwarded to my WhatsApp was one life changing moment. That word POSITIVE in bold is forever etched in my mind. The symptoms weren’t so bad but the mental stamina to go through isolation, the constant fear of death (this has been drummed into us like every single day…it really messes with your head), the stigma of being avoided especially for the children, the outpouring of love and supplies from friends and family…it was a mixed pot of emotions. It just emphasized the fragility of life and that you are only guaranteed the very minute you are in. So make the best of it.