Dr Vongai Nyahunzi: The woman who refused to be defined by the norm
Dr Vongai Nyahunzi, founder and CEO, Alliance for Girls and Women (Afwag)
What you need to know:
- Dr Vongai Nyahunzi grew up in rural Zimbabwe where 70 er cent of girls became pregnant by age 13.
- Two grassroots organisations helped her escape that fate and pursue education instead.
In conversation with Dr Vongai Nyahunzi, one encounters a woman who embodies living proof: proof that brokenness can become beauty, that one girl's survival can seed the liberation of millions, and that when a woman chooses to walk towards pain rather than away from it, she doesn't just heal—she transforms.
"I was born and raised in Norton, a small town in Zimbabwe in the early 1980s," she begins, her voice carrying the weight of memory. "By the time we reached 12 or 13 years old, 70 per cent of the girls in our locality were already pregnant. That was the same case for two of my sisters. I was expected to go that route too."
But her story took a different turn. Two grassroots organisations working quietly in her community recognised her potential. They supported her school needs, moulded her character, encouraged her dreams, and gave her a shot at life. Crucially, they brought role models to her school and introduced a new language—one where girls could dream, aspire, and resist the norm.
"They showed me I could be more and lead," she reflects.
And so she did. She changed course, finished her studies, and began to thrive. Years later, when she returned to thank the leaders who had altered her trajectory, she found something heart-breaking: the doors were shut. Not for lack of impact, but because the changemakers themselves were exhausted.
"They were burnt out. Tired. Some had even shut down because the weight of watching girls get pregnant every day was too much," recalls the mother of three boys.
Around the same time, she visited Kenya, where she had built a relationship with a Maasai woman who ran a grassroots organisation that had once saved her. This woman had suffered the same fate—burnout had forced her to close shop. The realisation haunted Vongai: "Who supports the people doing the supporting? Who holds space for the ones doing the holding?"
Ecosystem of care
In 2023, she answered those questions by founding the Ac(Afwag). It's not a typical NGO, nor a program with neat output matrices. Rather, it's a living, breathing ecosystem of care, leadership, and healing—a network of independent organisations across Africa, united in the mission to create a world where every woman and girl can thrive.
"We're obsessed with coming behind these incredible changemakers and their organisations," she shares. "Because that's the only way this work will last."
Afwag now operates in 23 countries across Africa, supporting women-led organisations through deeply personal, high-touch approaches. They offer funding, coaching, visibility, and something rarer still—genuine intimacy and understanding. But this approach comes with its challenges.
"People still ask, 'How many girls are you rescuing this week? How many are you getting into STEM?' But we're not a direct service provider. We don't interact directly with the beneficiaries. Instead, we invest in leaders. And sadly, that's sometimes seen as a luxury," she explains.
Yet the mathematics are stark and compelling. In one of their surveys, the alliance discovered that 95per cent of gender-focused organisations in Africa shut down within five years—not for lack of relevance, but because their founders burn out.
"So, if we keep building without sustainability, we will never achieve gender parity," she explains. "Afwag wants to change that and shift mindsets."
Walking the tightrope
Leading the organisation means navigating the delicate balance between international donor spaces and local communities—a complex dance of power, proximity, and accountability. The founder acknowledges the difficulty of expanding without "stretching ourselves thin or diluting the intimacy that makes Afwag powerful."
"We keep asking ourselves: what is our DNA? What is our soul?" she says. For her, the alliance's soul lies not in outputs but in outcomes, not in scale but in staying power.
When asked what motivates her to continue showing up, her answer is deeply personal: "It's because someone showed up for me. If they hadn't, I wouldn't be here." She has taken her team back to her village, shown them her sisters, and walked them down the street where expectations were low and futures seemed predetermined.
"Until every woman and girl in Africa can fend for herself, I will not stop," she declares.
"There are millions of Vongais out there still waiting for someone to believe in them. And what if their breakthrough depends on us not giving up?"
Personal stakes
The stakes of this work are deeply personal for the changemaker. She shares the story of a woman leading a social enterprise for survivors of domestic violence: "She was abused growing up, and now she's running something that supports over 6,000 women. But she told me she wants to shut it all down. She feels alone.
It's stories like these that keep her awake at night. "We cannot afford for these women to shut their doors. Who else will open one for the next girl if they close?"
She speaks passionately about wanting to "die empty"—to give everything she can before leaving this earth. One of her proudest moments was launching the organisation's first fellowship program. "It felt like giving birth to something new, something meaningful and powerful," she laughs. "You don't know what direction it will take, but it's yours."
Another transformative moment occurred in Kenya's Maasai community, where she met a woman on the verge of quitting. "The woman said, 'I've lost myself. I don't know who I am anymore.' We spent hours just talking. After that intense yet informal engagement, she said, 'I've found my voice. I have found myself again.' That was so refreshing, so encouraging. I was incredibly proud that I had changed a single soul's life and restored their hope."
Her story
In mid-April 2025, Vongai launched a documentary in Nairobi's Mathenge Drive. Daughter of the Soil is a powerful visual memoir tracing her journey from that small town in Zimbabwe to continental leadership.
"I used to be shy about my story. But I realised my pain and my brokenness could inspire others, so I decided to document and share my reality. That seed that was planted in me many years ago? It's now grown to support organisations impacting over 5.8 million women."
Leadership
If she could put one message on a billboard, it would be: "Invest in the roots, not just the fruits."
"Everyone loves the shiny things, the finished product, the statistics. But real transformation happens underground, in the invisible work. That's where change lives," she explains
She lives by another powerful quote: "The clarity you bring to the world depends on the noise you're willing to clear within." For the mother of three, leadership isn't about power but self-awareness.
"Leadership starts with self," she says. "Healing is not a detour from leadership but the path."
Over the next five years, the network plans to expand to 38 countries and reach 15 million women and girls. However, for its founder, scale isn't just about reach—it's also about depth
"We want 40per cent of our network members to shift policy. We want to be at every table where gender is discussed. Not for visibility, but for impact."
She wants her great-great-grandchildren to be proud of her as an ancestor. "One day, I'll be gone. And I won't be judged just by what I did, but by what I chose to be silent on. So, I will speak."
Afwag has transformed its founder as much as she has shaped it. "It's taught me that courage doesn't require confidence, that you don't need to be healed to lead, and that you just need to walk alongside others while healing."
Most importantly, it has taught her that her scars matter. "Wounds are painful. But scars? Scars carry wisdom."
Dr Vongai Nyahunzvi has created something remarkable—an organisation that dares to cultivate process in a world fixated on quick wins and shiny outcomes. It honours healing, privileges the invisible, and reminds us that the most radical thing you can do is to keep showing up. Every day. For the women. For the girls. And for the ones who once showed up for you.