The Sunday Mail
Tendai Rupapa
Senior Reporter
GUESTS were on Friday night taken down memory lane through yesteryear fashion and music at an enthralling fundraising dinner for First Lady Dr Auxillia Mnangagwa’s Angel of Hope Foundation to spearhead community development projects.
Angel of Hope Foundation is not a State-funded institution and relies on various partners to undertake its countless philanthropic and empowerment programmes across the length and breadth of the country.
Themed “Old school dressing blast from the past”, the dinner’s guests included President Mnangagwa, Vice President Constantino Chiwenga and his spouse, Colonel Miniyothabo Baloyi-Chiwenga, Cabinet ministers, senior Government officials and other dignitaries.
First Lady Dr Auxillia Mnangagwa share a lighter moment with Vice President Dr Constantino Chiwenga and his wife Colonel Miniyothabo Baloyi-Chiwenga who were dressed in the yesteryear fashion style during the fundraising dinner at State house on Friday.
The dinner was oversubscribed, proving that Zimbabweans and even those from outside the country appreciate work being done by the First Lady and feel compelled to extend a helping hand.
Guests were resplendent in yesteryear outfits, including Afro hairstyles, wide-legged trousers popularly known as “berry-bottom” or “marivho” and pleated dresses, bringing back sweet memories of the past.
Some of the male guests who participated in a fashion show with their berry bottom trousers, viscos shirts, tennis shoes, rosary and afro hairstyles among other things that dominated the 1960s fashion during the dinner at State house on Friday.
Others wore dresses called “matererini”, georgette, the popular tennis shoes for women called “matommy” matched with colourful socks and platform shoes which were fondly called “Buruka mumango” in street lexicon.
The dinner was packed with an assortment of activities, including a fashion show for men and women with prizes galore.
Prizes included business class air tickets to South Africa, courtesy of Air Zimbabwe and the Zimbabwe Tourism Authority (ZTA).
Winners were also offered holiday packages at Chengeta Safari, A-Zambezi, Rainbow Towers as well as meal vouchers at Cresta Hotel and Gava Restaurant.
Entertainment was provided by musicians Killer-T, Iyasa, Diana Samkange, Songs of Queen Lozikeyi and the inimitable Police Band.
Iyasa dance and drama group entertains President Mnangagwa, First Lady Dr Auxillia Mnangagwa and guest while dressed in yesteryear fashion during the fundraising dinner on Friday.
One highlight of the event was auctioning of President Mnangagwa’s trademark scarf, which feverishly aroused the interests of guests.
Amid the stampede for the President’s scarf, it was Dubai-based billionaire Mr Nawab Shaji Ul Mulk, chairperson of Mulk Holdings International, who outbid all to claim the scarf for a handsome price.
In addition to his monetary donation, Mr Mulk also gave 200 oxygen concentrators to Angel of Hope Foundation.
President Mnangagwa was not to be outdone, as he also made a hefty donation towards a worthy cause.
The First Lady has, since time immemorial, been working closely with vulnerable communities, including those in remote and hard-to-reach areas where she spends nights in tents as she works hard to improve their welfare and start life-changing income-generating projects for them.
A hands-on person, the mother of the nation has often left communities awestruck by her humility and effortless adaptation to various situations.
Among those who have benefited from her projects are orphans, widows, the elderly, those with disabilities and youths, to mention just a few.
Philanthropy and hard work have been consistent in her life.
Amai Mnangagwa set the bar high in women empowerment and community development even when she was a Member of the Parliament for Chirumanzu-Zibagwe constituency.
Apart from helping families achieve self-sufficiency, the projects being initiated by the First Lady help curb gender-based violence arising from squabbles over resources from one income source and enhance women’s participation in the country’s macro-economic development.
The foundation’s board member, Mrs Chipo Mtasa, told guests that philanthropy was the act of doing good without expecting anything in return.
“We all want to become philanthropists. In practice it becomes very difficult to be selfless and consider others’ welfare above our own daily comforts in terms of time, finances and family. Yet this is the very foundation philanthropy must be built upon … Selflessness.
“As individuals and as organisations, we all want to be known for good acts, yet the time it takes or the cost of it makes it difficult for us to attain. The quest to do good has also resulted in establishment of the global Sustainable Development Goals by the United Nations, which aim among other things eradicating hunger, eradicating poverty, good health and well-being, quality education, gender equality, provision of clean water and sanitation to all communities; reducing inequalities. “When we look at these goals and compare to our daily activities whether in business or socially, I wonder how many of us here can seriously say they are daily committing time and resources towards attaining the goals and targets for the social good in our country?
“This is what makes tonight a very special night. We have all come together and are reflecting on the good or the value we can bring to our communities. We are coming together in a way to remember that we have a purpose. That purpose is to be a better person and uplift others who may not be in positions of privilege or honour such as ourselves. Even as organisations, we now need to rise up for the social good in communities we operate,” she said.
Organisations with clearly defined sustainable practices and good corporate social investments, she said, were rated highly and investors were invariably attracted to such organisations.
The issue around sustainable practices and shared value have become critical in the way businesses are run.
“The needs in our country are many, just like most countries in Africa and the rest of the developing world. We must address social and economic inequities. We must address issues of climate change, issues of pandemics that are thrust upon us such as Covid-19. We must start at individual level to improve and uplift where we came from … kumusha. All of us have roots somewhere. For organisations, there is a high price to pay for looking the other way. The responsibility is now upon us to embrace social change and philanthropy.”
Mrs Mtasa said in Zimbabwe, the Angel of Hope Foundation had become an outstanding beacon of philanthropy, an unparalleled champion for good across the country, touching lives in amazing and unimaginable ways.
“The patron of the Angel of Hope Foundation, who is the First Lady of the Republic of Zimbabwe, Dr Auxillia Mnangagwa, has since 2018 been at the forefront championing a multiplicity of causes. The First Lady is a hands-on and passionate philanthropist, who has served without fear or favour with amazing humility and dignity even to the most remote parts of the country. She is known to chiefs, she is known to village heads, she is known to “the ladies of the night “, to the battered woman, to the orphan, to the street kid, to the nursing mother in the maternity wards, to the prisoners, to the church congregant, to the widow, to the elderly.
“She has been a mother to the motherless, a provider to the homeless, a provider to the hungry. What has she not done, and she continues to do more! Touching so many lives including most of us in this room, we have learnt once again to respect our values as a people, to love our culture, to enjoy our traditional food. At Angel of Hope, we do not need to refer back to the Sustainable Development Goals. We are demonstrating them daily through our patron. As we celebrate tonight, we thank you all for accepting the invitation to participate in this dinner. Inasmuch as there are great achievements that I have narrated, we still have more work to do to empower the marginalised and address the needs around health, environment and self-sustenance.”
Mrs Mtasa said Angel of Hope Foundation will continue to work with relevant Government departments and organisations in addressing social ills of drug abuse that are now prevalent, teenage pregnancies and school drop-outs, gender-based violence and the general decay in our social fabric.
Angel of Hope Foundation also runs a shelter for women who have cancer coming from all over the country, especially remote parts of Zimbabwe and have nowhere to stay as they come to seek treatment in Harare.
“This facility is able to house more than 30 women and children at any point in time and the women are provided food and transport to the hospital for treatments. From today’s dinner, funds will be addressed towards all these programmes. We continue to call on organisations to partner Angel of Hope Foundation in programmes that bring good to our communities and our people. We cannot afford to leave anyone or any place behind. Let’s work together to improve lives and livelihoods. Nyika inovakwa nevene vayo,” she said to applause.
Mr Mulk spoke glowingly of the work being done by the mother of the nation in easing the plight of vulnerable citizens.
“I would like to thank his Excellency the President, Cde Emmerson Mnangagwa, for kindly giving me this scarf. This is one of the greatest honours I have ever received. We are happy to donate tonight because we know the donations would be put to good use through Angel of Hope. The First Lady is really doing a commendable work to the nation and it gives us great pleasure as Mulk International to extend a helping hand to the foundation,” he said.
Mr Exevia Maoneke, the chief executive of Executive Car Sales, highlighted that the First Lady needed assistance to continue with her work across the country.
“We have come to support the First Lady’s programme in appreciation of her work in looking after the country’s citizens. We have brought our donation alongside other guests with the aim of thanking her. She can’t do it alone and we need to help her,” he said.
Similar sentiments were echoed by Pastor Mitchell Angel from Spirit Embassy.
“I just want to appreciate our mother Amai Auxillia Mnangagwa, the First Lady of Zimbabwe, for the amazing philanthropic work that she is doing around the country. She has been helping orphans, women, the young people, the elderly and we have seen a lot of things happening through the works of her hands. As the church, we continue to pray for her,” she said.
Mrs Bethsheba Tungwarara, who was representing Prevail International, said she was charmed by various empowerment projects being spearheaded by the First Lady and spelt out the need to give her a helping hand.
“We are here pleased with the wonderful work Amai is doing countrywide. On behalf of women, we are so delighted by what she is doing. She is doing a lot of projects benefiting mainly women. We need to help her and as a nation we will achieve more,” she said.
The First Lady thanked her husband, the President, for supporting her philanthropic work and said all she does had the blessings of His Excellency.
The turnout at the dinner and overwhelming support shows that Angel of Hope Foundation resonates with aspirations of the nation.
