The Sunday Mail
Theseus Shambare recently in BINDURA
AFTER falling pregnant at the age of 16, Everjoy Nyariri from Chiweshe was forced to drop out of school.
At 17, she was already a single mother and struggling to provide for her baby. Her ordeal began after she started dating a man from Rushinga, whom she had met in her village while visiting a relative.
In a few months, she had fallen pregnant. Upon breaking the news to her “lover”, he denied responsibility for the pregnancy. It was only after the intervention of village elders that he relented.
He then took his new bride to Rushinga, where the couple lived at his mother’s homestead. Before long, he abandoned his young family.
“He hid his real intentions by telling me that he was going to work,” she told The Sunday Mail recently.
“He went on to marry another woman in Karoi, where he is staying now, leaving me to fend for our baby.
“He left me with his widowed mother, who was also unemployed.”
Everjoy Nyariri a 20 year old and a single mother from Nyariri village in Chiweshe – Picture by Kudakwashe Hunda
Everjoy resorted to part-time menial jobs in neighbours’ fields to put food on the table.
“I tried to get hold of him, only to realise that he no longer had interest in me,” she said.
“My parents decided to take the issue to the traditional court. However, my husband said my parents had to send him bus fare for him to attend the court.
“That is when I decided to go back to my parents’ place.”
Bad luck, however, continued to stalk her.
As she prepared to go back to Chiweshe, she learnt that her parents’ homestead had been razed by a veld fire.
She literally had to build her life from the ground up.
She built her own one-roomed house, where she now stays with her baby.
“I have learnt that in life, it is better to let go than live with hatred.
“Currently, people are harvesting soya beans, so that is where I am working.
“I am paid US$3 for threshing soya beans that fill a 50-kilogramme bag.
“When I leave my baby with a friend home, I can do up to four bags, but when I go with my baby, I can only do two bags,” she said.
Sadly, finding such jobs is becoming increasingly difficult as more farmers are mechanising their operations.
She said most farmers are using combine harvesters to harvest their crop, leaving her and many others in a lurch.
For many young women living in farming communities, such as Everjoy, life is increasingly becoming difficult to navigate as opportunities for seasonal work on farms diminish by the day.
Her predicament mirrors that of many of her peers — young single mothers living in rural communities.
Anxiety has naturally set in, as she does not know what the future holds.
Restoring hope
A recently established women empowerment group, Concord Young Women in Business Global (CYWBG), is working towards restoring hope for young women like Everjoy.
President Mnangagwa being assisted by Concord Young Women in Business Global President Ms Apphia Nyasha Musavengana in handing over certificates to women who excelled in the Phase one training at a graduation ceremony held at ZITF Hall in Bulawayo recently
It is currently rolling out free information communication technology (ICT) training programmes targeting vulnerable young women aged 15 years and above.
CYWBG has offered training to over 20 000 women since last year. The programme, now in its second phase, is being expanded to include training in goat rearing.
Recently, it held a training workshop in Bindura that was attended by over 250 women drawn from Mashonaland Central province.
A similar workshop was held in Manicaland province, attracting hundreds of participants.
Speaking to The Sunday Mail after the Bindura workshop, CYWBG founder and president Ms Apphia Nyasha Musavengana said: “Training the rural girl child syncs well with the President’s mantra of leaving no place and no one behind; in fact, we are leaving no woman behind.
“A woman who is digitally empowered can stand up for herself using her computer literacy.
“We are also helping them get training in goat rearing so that they can venture into this lucrative income-generating subsector.
“We are in this drive because we found that women in Zimbabwe were raised only to get married, while being excluded from developmental programmes.
“However, when the marriage fails, that is when the challenge comes; some resort to prostitution.”
The initiative, she said, is geared towards equipping women to use social media to market their business enterprises.
Participants who survive through selling vegetables, floor polish and clothes were excited about the training.
Ms Kerina Fisolight Kangara (31) from Glendale — a single mother of three, who is a vegetable vendor — welcomed the programme.
She was widowed at a young age, after her husband succumbed to a chronic illness.
“After being widowed, I began to rely on donations,” she said.
“I regret depending on my husband for everything.
“Now, I have opened my stall, where I sell vegetables and fruits.
“With the knowledge that I have acquired at this workshop, I am now able to grow my customer base using online platforms.”
Shalom Mwarimo (16) of Dotito said she was impressed by the goat-rearing training.
“Our area is good for goat production but my parents do not have much knowledge about commercialising the trade,” she said.
“Now that I have been given the knowledge, I want to go back and do my best in helping them so that I relieve them of their burden of paying my school fees.”
To date, phase two of the programme has covered nine provinces.
President Mnangagwa is expected to be a guest at the graduation ceremony for all the participants in Beitbridge this month.
Graduates will be given laptops, while the outstanding students will receive awards.
