Zimbabwean scholar named one of the most inspiring women in the world

Tererai Trent@TereraiTrent

Statues of Equality is set to launch in #NYC this summer. I am incredibly honored to be standing among the World’s Top 10 Most Inspiring Women ‘Sculpted for Equal Rights’! Come August 26 and celebrate the empowerment of women and big dreams! #StatuesForEquality

Trent, 54, was kept out of school for most of her childhood because of poverty and being a female but she taught herself how to read and write while living with her parents in rural Zimbabwe.

She relocated to the US in 1998 after she was discovered by an American non-profit that visited her village. She has since achieved her dreams of getting a masters and a doctorate.

The US-based academic faced domestic abuse in the pursuit of her dreams and continues to champion girls and women empowerment through education.

Her inspirational story caught the attention of Oprah Winfrey who gave Trent $1.5 million donations to rebuild her elementary school in Zimbabwe in partnership with Save the Children in 2011.

The women were given the honor by Statues for Equality, under the “Sculpted for Equal Rights” initiative by famous Australian artists Gillie and Marc Schattner, who are seeking more gender representation in public arts.

“In order to truly honor the cause, it was crucial we cast the statues in bronze, they will live on, much like the statue itself, beyond your lifetime and the lives of your contemporaries,” Schattner said in a statement on their website.