The Sunday Mail
Tendai Rupapa
Senior Reporter
HEALTH ambassador First Lady Auxillia Mnangagwa on Friday took her cancer screening outreach programme to Impala Downs in the Doma area of Mhangura, on the peripheries of Mashonaland West province, bordering Zambezi Valley to the north and Kanyemba to the east.
This was in commemoration of World Cancer Day that is held on February 4 annually.
She took her Angel of Hope Foundation’s mobile clinic to the farming community where people benefited from cervical and breast cancer screening, HIV testing and other health checks.
The programme was a continuation of the First Lady’s all-inclusive national empowerment programmes, under which no one is being left behind.
There are no health facilities in the area, making it imperative for the community to travel long distances to access treatment.
Therefore, the mother of the nation frequently reaches out to marginalised and remote communities to ensure they have access to healthcare.
Distance is not a barrier to her.
Amai Mnangagwa seized on this opportunity to address social issues and spoke candidly against domestic violence, teenage pregnancies, child marriages, promiscuity and disunity in the community, among other issues.
FLASHBACK . . . First Lady Auxillia Mnangagwa cradles the then three -week-old twin girls in April last year when she brought them infant formula, feeding bottles, diapers, baby clothes, baby blankets among other things for their upkeep following the death of their mother
The gathering confirmed that these problems are rife in farming communities.
Sometime last year, the First Lady visited families at Impala Downs Farm Compound and gave them clothes, groceries and other provisions while on a mission to assist the then three-week-old twin girls who were born in a maize field and orphaned at birth.
During that visit, the First Lady was told about the rampant moral decay and social ills in the community.
She was also told about difficulties with accessing healthcare.
Amai Mnangagwa then promised to return with her mobile clinic so that people are screened for cancer and other ailments, including HIV testing.
She fulfilled her promise on Friday and went with her foundation’s mobile clinic and health experts.
The First Lady also had words of advice for men, who he warned against dating juveniles.
“But such men who impregnate children, do you not see that they are still young, and why is this happening?”
In response, one of the men, Mr Lazarus Chigere, admitted that married men were bedding minors and blamed the minor girls for “provoking” men.
“These children are walking in the nude.
“They consider themselves grownups and they lead men into temptation.
“Some mothers are also forcing their children into prostitution due to the love of trinkets and this often leads to children dropping out of school,” he said.
First Lady Auxillia Mnangagwa holds the now grown twin girls she has been taking care of after they were born in a maize field and orphaned at birth in March last year. — Pictures: John Manzongo
Another elderly man also blamed some men in the compounds for bedding children and bribing the parents to sweep the cases under the carpet.
“Some of these men lure children from underprivileged families with money or food and bed them. People in the farming community misbehave, including both the parents and the children. Some parents are given money so that they do not report to the police, yet their daughter would have been raped. Some of the children are copying from their parents who are bringing different partners every day at home while the children watch,” he said.
Binge Primary School headmaster Mr Tavengwa Gaza fought back tears while narrating how Grade Six or Grade Seven learners at his school were dropping out to get married.
He said when he tries to engage the parents, they end up on his case.
At one point, he said, he was saddened after an intelligent girl who had passed her Grade Seven was married off.
Mr Gaza said he went with other teachers to the parents to discourage them from marrying off their daughter but they were threatened with witchcraft and unspecified action.
“We are afraid as teachers to fight for these children,” he said.
The First Lady, who has a passion for the welfare of the girl-child and is fighting child marriages, urged the community to use her national GBV support toll-free line (575) to report such issues.
“Parents, do you know that marrying off a girl at a tender age destroys her future? Let her go to school, grow up and realise her full potential and build her future. Once you marry off a child at a tender age, you would have destroyed her future.
“I heard that some mothers send their children to their boyfriends who end up impregnating both the mother and her daughter,” the First Lady said.
She also asked why domestic violence was on the increase.
“Couples are fighting because there is too much prostitution. Some men take goods being worked for by the whole family to give their girlfriends, triggering violence. The married women are also cheating a lot and this results in violence in the homes,” one of the discussants said.
The First Lady said she would start income-generating projects for the ladies of the night in the area so that they start using their hands to earn a living.
“I am doing this in all the provinces because diseases will not end if we do not find solutions,” she said.
Prior to her visit, the First Lady had donated sewing machines and other accessories to women in the compounds so that they start sewing projects.
On Friday, she was shown dresses, shirts, shorts and undergarments sewn by the women.
The First Lady was elated to see the twins she once visited and has been looking after.
She said she was excited to interact with women and promote access to and utilisation of health services among them.
“I am also excited that you have been able to congregate here in large numbers despite the weather, which remains ominous. I am humbled by the fact that you have taken your time to be here even though we are in the midst of the farming season. It shows me that you are concerned as I am about the scourge of cancer, which is mostly affecting women.
“Given the fact that we are meeting in altered circumstances due to Covid-19, I would like to emphasise the need for us all to correctly wear face masks, sit one metre apart and sanitise our hands in line with WHO and Government Covid-19 control measures,” she said.
While the country has been scoring commendable gains in response to HIV and Covid-19, the First Lady said, non-communicable diseases and cancers were fast becoming prevalent.
“Zimbabwe records 7 000 new cases of cancer per year, of which 60 percent are associated with HIV. Of these cases, 60 percent affect women with cervical cancer, accounting for 33,5 percent. In the majority of the cases, women die from cancer as a result of ignorance and lack of access to diagnostic services,” she said.
The First Lady said women were also affected by breast cancer, which accounted for 11,7 percent of the national cancer burden, followed by Kaposi sarcoma, eye and non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma in that receding order.
She said the cancer burden was worsened by its close association with HIV, which also disproportionately affects women.
She said though she was focusing on women, men were not being left out.
“I am very happy that you also came out to support women today. You may be pleased to know that I also have a programme that promotes utilisation of health services by men.
“My passion is to see increased coverage and utilisation of screening and treatment of various cancers among women; total eradication of all forms of gender-based violence, including child marriages, rape and denying of opportunities. We cannot address cervical cancer in isolation as it is related to HIV and the intricate issues of gender-based violence,” she said.
As leaders of families and communities, men were urged to serve as positive forces for social and health revolution.
“That is why I focus on men too and bring them on board to address gender-based violence, including issues of marital rape, child sexual abuse, early marriages and others. Men have a special role to play in facilitating access to and utilisation of health services by women. Men can do a lot more, such as accompanying their wives, partners and children to clinics and hospitals, paying for health bills and eradicating gender-based violence in all its forms,” she said.
Amai Mnangagwa said she would bring back the mobile clinic so that men are screened for prostate cancer.
Mashonaland West Provincial Affairs and Devolution Minister Mary Mliswa-Chikoka thanked the First Lady for the outreach programme which benefited hundreds of women who were screened for cervical and breast cancer free of charge.
Mhangura National Assembly representative Precious Chinhamo Masango was so happy with the First Lady’s programme, which she described as a blessing.
“We have been blessed to be warmed up by our mother’s visit and we are grateful that she brought her mobile clinic.
“When she first came here, she asked whether there was anyone who had been screened for cancer or other ailments and it was clear the people from these compounds had no zeal to visit hospitals or clinics. Our mother then promised to bring health teams to conduct cervical cancer screening and today she did. She is a woman of action,” she said.
“Her teachings are essential and people have fully embraced them because she is setting a very good example for the nation,” she said.
Also elated was Ms Nelia Chenyika (35), who said she had undergone her maiden health checks, courtesy of the First Lady.
“I am grateful for this. I had never gone through cervical cancer screening and today I have done so free of charge because of our caring mother. We want to thank her for her mission, which has helped us because we never knew this was important in life. Today we have learnt a lot,” she said.
Another member of the community, Ms Ever Mashutu, who is living with a disability, was grateful to the mother of the nation for the health checks and the sewing project.
“On behalf of people with disability, I am thankful to the First Lady for coming up with this programme. Most of us were being affected because of lack of funds to travel to towns for the tests. The situation is worse for us disabled persons who have nowhere to get the money and without a project one has no way of succeeding. However, today we are grateful for the project introduced to us by Amai. We have been given sewing machines, materials and all other accessories so that we can sustain ourselves.
We are also thankful for her teachings; she taught us a lot,” she said.
Mrs Tendai Simaunjani said she, too, was glad to have been screened for cancer for the first time in her life.
“I am happy to have undergone the checks and for the lessons she gave us. I would just watch these things on television, but today I am happy because I saw it with my own eyes. When I leave this place, I will look for something to do using my hands to look after my family because Amai taught us that as women we should use our hands to work. May God protect and bless her,” she said.
Ashely Smoko said: “Here in the farms we did not know what cancer screening entails. We would just give birth continuously without being checked, but our mother has shown great love for us. We love you Amai, please keep it up.”
