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Q: WHAT is your name?
A: Bilqees Gwenzi.

Q: Growing up what was your ambition?
A: From primary school to high school I was utterly blank until when I was in Form 3 when a male friend who had relatives in truck-driving motivated him to get a Class 2 driver’s licence.

That is the time I got interested in getting a licence. At the back of my mind I wanted to get a Class 4 licence but my friend managed to talk me into getting a Class 2 licence which was a three-at-one-go than getting a Class 4 and then going again for retest to attain a Class 2.

In doing all this, my hidden passion that was within was intrigued.

Q: How then did you manage to land in the trucking world?
A: My first experience was when I would accompany my high school friend when he was now driving to and from Botswana and Sino Zim.

From then on I joined a WhatsApp group with female truck drivers where a lady friend also encouraged me in. She now makes it her mission and is very enthusiastic about empowering other women to join the male-dominated industries. I then connected with other lady friends in South Africa who volunteered to help me in learning to drive the trucks.

Q: How then do you juggle family and work in this demanding industry?
A: Tough! (sighs). But as a mother I have to make things work.

I first left my daughter when she was only a year old but the need to provide for her so that she would be able to get all I never had while growing up was my main motivation to get out there. All I ever want is to give my daughter a life that is different and better than the life I experienced growing up.

Q: What challenges have you encountered thus far?
A: At first I always thought I would be treated as an equal but getting into the industry you always get one or two people who will try and prove you are not an equal and remind you of your position as a woman. However, there are some who are willing to accept you as you are and treat you like anyone else in the team.

Some challenges being faced by us women in the male-dominated spaces include having the male counterparts seeking more than a work relationship thus end up creating an awkward working environment when you turn them down.

Q: What message would you want to relay to young girls and women?
A: Take the bull by it horns. Don’t be afraid to pursue your dreams and passion in life. Don’t let your dreams be defined by gender or religion but you should be able to defy all odds. Looking at myself, I am the first Muslim woman to be a truck driver in Zimbabwe, and entering into a male-dominated world I did not let my denomination define my dream and passion.