The Sunday Mail
Harmony Agere in MHONDORO-NGEZI
First Lady Auxillia Mnangagwa has encouraged women to start income generating projects to fend off the current economic challenges.
Speaking in Mhondoro-Ngezi yesterday she also advised members of the community to be hygienic.
“The splendid job being done by women here, which I have also witnessed, move me to encourage you to keep your households clean. And this includes sweeping, adorning the walls using the traditional method of dung, if cement is not readily available, as well as cleaning the dishes,” she said.
As a way of recognising Yemurayi’s work, First Lady Auxillia Mnangagwa yesterday toured the groups’ projects and awarded some of the best-performing members in cleanliness.
“Members of Yemurayi Projects sometimes walk for distances to wash clothes for the sick and the elderly, including fetching water for them,” she said.
“We all know that since time immemorial, aunts and grandmothers did the important job of building marriages. Today, I am happy that Yemurayi members are also doing the same. All these projects under the jurisdiction of Chief Mushava clearly indicate the invaluable role played by chiefs’ wives in the welfare of their subjects.”
First prize winners in cleanliness in the old age, middle age and young age categories were Margret Sayine, Maria Kwirirai and Margaret Sengeya, respectively.
They each walked away with a bicycle and a food hamper comprising cooking oil, rice, washing powder and pasta. Gogo Mushava said she was inspired to start cleanliness projects by Amai Mnangagwa’s work as the patron and founder of Angel of Hope Foundation.
“All I needed was just one meeting with her as wives of chiefs to realise the amount of work we have in our communities,” she said.
“I was aware of the projects she was doing across the country and I also wanted to do the same here.
“In our community, we take care of the vulnerable by washing, cooking and feeding them.”
Yemurayi is, however, saddled by lack of resources, and the First Lady gave a helping hand by donating food stuffs, detergents and money to help the project in its operations.
Mhondoro-Ngezi Ward 7 and 8, like many other rural communities in Zimbabwe, have been plagued by multiple social challenges that include lack of decent sanitation, food insecurity and poor public health for several years.
Without proper public service infrastructure like clinics, water treatment plants and roads, the community has battled diseases and poverty.
Sadly, it is often vulnerable groups like orphans, the aged, the disabled and the less privileged who suffer the most. However, with community-based initiatives such as Yemurayi, the community has started to hope again.
Led by Gogo Mushava, wife to Chief Mushava, who presides over Mhondoro-Ngezi District Ward 7 and parts of Ward 8, Yemurayi has taken the initiative to care for the vulnerable and improve livelihoods.
The First Lady advised members of the community to keep their houses clean. She also encouraged women in the community to start projects in order to raise income.
Yemurayi is now working to register its work as a community-based project.
