Matipa pens ‘Whispers of the Heart Unfolded’
UNITED Kingdom-based Zimbabwean teen Matipa Shalom Chloe Chivhange has written a book, ‘Whispers of the Heart Unfolded’, which she says was inspired by societal settings.
Matipa (14) who strongly believes that books build a child’s knowledge of the world, revealed in an interview that writing has helped her to air out her views.
“I strongly believe in the power of stories to provide positive representation to my peers, and to explore cultures, festivals, and communities that the children may not be exposed to in their daily life,” she said.
“Children need to see themselves in what they read. There’s an ever-increasing selection of stories containing positive images for children, and seeing a positive representation of themselves will strengthen a child’s self-esteem. These two go hand in hand.”
Matipa said her mother Brena who is also a writer is her role model when it comes to books.
“Seeing the positive impact one of my mother’s books had on other people led me to want to do the same that was my inspiration,” she said.
“I had loads of ideas on what the topic would be, then the publisher suggested a couple of titles and whispers of the heart was there and I felt like that spoke to me as the book is unveiling my thoughts so then I added the unfolded part.”
She said her new book is about how she views the world.
“I wrote what have been seeing, from the world’s perspective, my opinions on it, events that occur in my life, and memories both sad and good.”
“The book was published by Dean Publishers and I plan on creating a franchise of books shortly.
“My role model is my mother because of the resilience she shows in tough times and her ability to strive and find therapy in good habits rather than bad,” she explained.
The talented teen said the book can be found on Amazon in British libraries.
“The book was officially launched on May 27.”
Asked what she wants to be when she grows up and how is the education system in the United Kingdom, Matipa said; “I wish to be an adolescent band child psychiatrist when I grow up. I find the United Kingdom education systems to be too standard and is easy to understand and grasp.”
“Zimbabwean education and UK education is different as the concept of teaching is different, topics and ways of teaching are different and the school year starts in September, rather than January.
“I left Zimbabwe in September, last year, I can see myself coming back for visits as most of my family lives there,” she said.
To her peers, Matipa said, “I would say go for your dreams no matter what the stereotype against a certain gender which in this case is female is,”