Online Reporter
Tendai Rupapa-Senior Reporter
ANGEL of Hope Foundation patron First Lady Dr Auxillia Mnangagwa yesterday delivered truckloads of building materials, including cement and roofing sheets she mobilised, to repair 10 schools and over 79 homesteads that were damaged by heavy rains recently in Rukweza, Makoni South torching wild celebrations in a community that was at the crossroads.
With the support of her foundation’s partners and well-wishers, Dr Mnangagwa also donated food and toiletry hampers to the affected families and the elderly.
Some of the Angel of Hope Foundation’s partners who complemented Amai Mnangagwa on yesterday’s programme include Mr Phillip Mataranyika and Mr Obey Chimuka. Mr Chimuka, who is a former student at Handina Primary School in Rukweza, is currently building classroom and administration blocks at both Handina Primary and Secondary schools.
He is also constructing a clinic in Ward 31 named Chihombe Madhara Chimuka in remembrance of his late grandfather.
The First Lady thanked Mr Mataranyika for also spearheading and planting trees through his Nyaradzo Funeral Services which gives each grieving family a tree seedling, which they can plant at home or where they like, including at the cemetery.
The mother of the nation, who is also the country’s health ambassador also brought instant porridge for the benefit of children, who are close to her heart.
The porridge was donated by Food4Africa a partner of her AoHF to ensure children do not suffer malnutrition.
Health personnel taught the mothers how to prepare the porridge. The First Lady also held an interactive session with the community warning against drug abuse, child marriages, gender-based violence, promiscuity, laziness and poor relations among-in-laws.
In her address, the First Lady said although rainfall is presently low and the workload in the fields is also minimal, this was not a passport for people to engage in promiscuity and domestic violence which could result in permanent injuries or death.
She encouraged families to live in peace and harmony, while they waited for rainfall to work in the fields. To women, she advised them to respect the marriage institution by not snatching other people’s husbands, but to be involved in productive activities.
So touched by the First Lady’s gesture were members of the Makoni South community that they broke into song and dance.
They thanked Amai Mnangagwa for her teachings and for coming to their rescue.
“I have been prompted to pay you a visit by challenges which were experienced in this place. Kuno kwakaita mafashamu akaparadza zvivakwa zvakawanda. Because of climate change and the extreme temperatures, we are experiencing, it is promising that we might incur hailstorms.
“When it comes to this, we do not have to look at Government alone, but we put our heads together even with the private sector and assist one another. With my Angel of Hope Foundation, I have partners whom I work with in my programmes. Angel of Hope Foundation is not a State-funded entity and relies on assistance from well-wishers.
“These are the self-same partners who enabled me to come with the assortment of goods I have brought here today. I grew up with an inclination to assist those in need therefore even when I became First Lady, I proceeded to assist those in distress.
“I thank you heartily for congratulating me on my recent attainment of a PhD. I did this to motivate the youth and fellow women that education has no end and you achieve your vision through commitment and dedication,” she said.
The First Lady said the door was open for everyone to go to school to deepen their knowledge.
“I brought the Zimbabwe Open University under the partnership with my AoHF so that you all could undertake short courses to advance and empower yourselves without looking at age. To our learners here present, we outrightly reject cases of those who fail to return to school in January after falling pregnant. We abhor naughtiness. Focus on your education because a profession is your first husband. But mothers, are we getting time to counsel our daughters and vana baba, are you sitting down with the boys to show them the right path?
“Let us build strong family relations, we want love, peace and unity to prevail in our families. We say no to gender-based violence even cases of letting children dabble in drugs.
“Today I have brought building materials to rebuild our homesteads and the destroyed schools. I encourage us to rebuild these structures the proper way so that they remain strong even in the face of strong winds. It is also my plea that we plant trees for windbreak and also to curb climate change. Let us not cut down trees or burn forests,” she said.
The mother of the nation thanked her foundation’s partners who made the programme a success.
She encouraged youths to emulate such persons because they did not forget their roots.
Had they focused on drugs, the First Lady said, the well-wishers would not have been able to chip in at the critical hour as they did.
The First Lady touched on gender-based violence and urged couples to shun the scourge which breaks families and affects children more.
As a mother she is moving with her Afrikana Humanism Programme and denounced promiscuity, urging couples to be content with one partner.
“Unenge uchichiva baba vepanext door kuti vanochena uye mukadzi wacho anochena zvekuti vakakupfimba haurambe asi wotozoona kuti havana kana sugar chaiyo yekutokupa. Madzimai let us respect the marriage institution,” she said.
Dr Mnangagwa asked mothers-in-law and their daughters-in-law whether they were cooperating and living in peace. Marceline Muzhinye (23) said all was well with her mother-in-law.
She said she grew up as an orphan and when she got married she took her mother-in-law as her own mother since she yearned for motherly love. She said in return, the mother-in-law treated her well. A second respondent said her relations with her mother-in-law were fine, but not so rosy with her husband who was abusive and frequently bashes her.
The gathering also heard from a daughter-in-law who said her in-laws, both aunties and the mother-in-law, was a thorn in the flesh, referring to her husband’s sisters as “return soldiers”.
One of the respondents said her husband was always drunk and she now survives on the measly earnings she gets from performing menial tasks at other people’s homesteads. She said sometimes the husband makes her sleep outside ordering her to return wherever she would have spent the day working.
Gogo Eunice Muzondo encouraged young women not to bottle up abuse, but to speak out before it’s too late saying domestic violence can lead to death or permanent injuries.
Another elderly lady said daughters-in-law of today were lazy to the extent of not sweeping the yard.
She also touched on dressing saying they do not dress in a dignified manner even in the presence of their fathers-in-law.
She said her daughter-in-law brags that she was proposed love on social media when the mother-in-law was wooed over a period exceeding two years hence, they were not on the same page.
The First Lady took time to address every situation raised and helped address the issues, urging people to use her national gender-based violence 575 toll-free and report any form of abuse.
Mr Bofu Promise Chitsidzo, the headmaster of Nzvimbe Primary School in Nyazura said his school was among institutions whose roofs were blown away by strong winds.
“We were stranded not knowing how we would rebuild the schools and today our mother has brought us cement, roofing material and other accessories to repair the schools and allow children to learn well. We are entering a rainy season. We thank the First Lady and those who help her in the Angel of Hope Foundation for the assistance they have rendered,” he said.
Manicaland Provincial Affairs and Devolution Minister Advocate Misheck Mugadza praised the First Lady for her gesture and congratulated her on her recent graduation with a Doctor of Philosophy degree in Tourism and Hospitality Management.
“Our First Lady recently shone like a beacon when she graduated with a PhD. We thank our mother for persevering with her education and we shall follow suit as her children. I am overjoyed to stand before you Amai here in Makoni in Manicaland to welcome you to Handina School in Makoni South. You once visited this place alongside the President.
“Here, we encountered a disturbing occurrence where 10 schools were destroyed by strong winds. Over 79 homesteads were not spared and this troubled us. We ran about with the Civil Protection Unit until we decided to approach you for assistance.
“Today, we have gathered here to welcome you as you bring materials to rebuild the homes and roof the schools. Our mother has come to assist us and brought us food hampers as well.
“I thank you, Amai for the hampers you recently brought for orphans, widows and the elderly in care homes. Our mother has a warm heart and is a visionary. She has many programmes like Agric4she, Teen Mothers Empowerment Programme, Gota/Nhanga/Ixhiba Programme, National GBV Call Centre, Vulnerable Population Empowerment programme, Cookout competitions, Girl Child Scholarships, Street Persons Empowerment Programme, Environment Protection Programme, Short Courses programme, Former Ladies of the Night Empowerment programme, among many other programmes aimed at transforming the lives of people,” he said. Makoni South legislator Hon Albert Nyakuedzwa thanked the First Lady for her kindness.
mbulelo smpofu
