This word is associated with tranquillity and calm. It sounds more mellow than its meaning, and I think it describes me perfectly because I like bala… - Zilanie Gondwe

I ended up in my home country, Malawi, helping a friend run a lodge. I realised I loved hospitality and tourism. So I opened a backpackers’ campsite. The plan was to do long-distance learning for my law degree; I’d read from the beach. Of course, that didn’t happen. After about 3 years of a wonderful life in the hospitality space, I went back to London and did a diploma in hospitality and tourism.

My psyche analysis tests show that I am an extrovert. I think I am an extrovert-introvert, meaning I am more extroverted than introverted yet both are strong parts of me. My daughter is in boarding school, and my partner lives in Europe and now visits twice a year – Covid pandemic allowing, so I live alone. People come over thinking I must be lonely, but that is not the case. I like and value space and silence. If I have to choose between doing something with many people and doing something with fewer people, I’ll choose the latter. In one of my chapters of life, I was a festival organiser; putting festivals and events together. Bringing people together was, to me, more enjoyable than attending them.

I wouldn’t be able to do what I do now if I hadn’t gone through all those other journeys. I’m still involved in festivals and the gender space but in a different way. My core now is conservation and climate change. Activism is intersectional. So activism is the one word that would describe it all.