2015-05-20Staff Report 2 "I am a working progress. Not where I am destined to be but I am certainly not where I started. Tanyaradzwa Daringo, commonly known as Tanya, a 23-year-old woman of Essence, born in Zimbabwe and raised in Windhoek. Being the youngest of two, Daringo attended Constancia Private Primary School for the most part of her childhood before continuing her journey at the Holy Cross Convent Primary School and completing her high school at Academia Secondary School. As Deputy Headgirl during her matric year, Daringo constantly maintained an expletory image as she was well aware of her juniors looking up to her. A netball fanatic, she played for the school team throughout high school whilst managing to juggle the demands of a practice schedule, school work and the Learners Representative Council (SRC) . Upon completion, Daringo was granted the opportunity to pursue her studies in Journalism that she completed in 2011 and headed back to Namibia. She is currently enrolled for an LLB Honours with the University of Namibia (Unam). Daringo got her first ""job"" in 2011 as an intern at the Cape Argus in Cape Town in South Africa, which was a requirement for graduation. “The time of my life, except for the morning meetings, those were intense. The reason I had such an amazing time working for this publication was because I got to learn a lot. I covered a number of beats, which diversified my writing not only as a print journalist but within my poetry or even feature writing,” she says. In 2013, Daringo was selected as a Moremi Initiative for Women's Leadership (MILEAD) fellow. MILEAD identifies young African women with potential and passion for transformational leadership roles and prepares them through rigorous training to take such roles. She was nominated as one of the three short list candidates for the Windhoek Lager Community Ambassadors award in Namibia, being the youngest nominee of this category to date. Daringo was listed as one of the 30 inspirational young Africans in 2014. She was also one of the top 18 ""Badass young African leaders making a difference in the world"" for 2015 and has recently been awarded as one of the first 60 Young Queen's Leaders Award to be presented by her Majesty Queen (Elizabeth) in June, representing Namibia within The Commonwealth. She is currently mentoring two young Namibian women whom too aspire to see the advancement of the women movement in Namibia. “I have always been a perfectionist...this means that I am meticulous with everything I do. It has probably even gotten worse with age. As a teenager I was extremely self-conscious, I would wear a jacket in the heat of summer in an attempt to hide my arms. I knew I was ""pretty"" but I somehow managed to convince myself that there were levels to pretty and I was on entry level,” says Daringo. She is currently a producer at the Namibian Broadcasting Corporation (NBC) whilst completing her LLB with Unam. In the midst of all, she is rolling out the Leading Lady's project under Her Liberty Namibia, which aims to assist young Namibian women in re-writing their matric in an effort to meet the entry requirements and enrol into law school. “The purpose of this project was driven primarily by my interest in the advancement of young women and law and the importance of the two. The project is currently in the trial stages,” she says. Daringo encourages the youth to never get too comfortable making decisions for themselves. “Be honest with yourself and where it is you want to be. Be unapologetic about being a little more curious or inquisitive, hungry or driven. People are always willing to listen so make that appointment and draw up the business plan. We really need to believe in our ideas a little more.”" 2015-05-20Staff Report 2
