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Hundreds pay homage to girl child activist

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HUNDREDS of mourners paid homage to girl child Aids activist, Stephanie “Chacha” Pike (23) who died last week at the Avenues Clinic

HUNDREDS of mourners paid homage to girl child Aids activist, Stephanie “Chacha” Pike (23) who died last week at the Avenues Clinic after suffering various complications.

By Ropafadzo Mapimhidze Features & Supplements Editor

Mourners described Pike, who is niece to Veronica Mugabe, the wife of Leo Mugabe, as a loving, cheerful and bubbly person who counselled many people living with HIV and Aids.

Speaking at her funeral, Mugabe said he personally raised Pike from the time she was a young girl following the death of her parents.

“The day she died, I asked God for a miracle. But when God calls a person, no matter what miracle you want him to perform, his decision is final,” Mugabe said.

“Stephanie was born with HIV and she experienced a lot of problems as a young woman, but she had a personality that was unique. I had a very close bond with her and we shared the most intimate details of our lives like friends do.

“I drove her mom to hospital when she went into labour and little did I know that I would become her father nine years later, following the death of her parents.”

Mourners said Pike had bade farewell to most of her friends and relatives before she went to hospital.

“We are all so sad because she seemed to have given up on life. She sounded depressed just before she died,” said one of her close friends.

Pike attended Moffat and Avondale primary schools before she went to Tynwald High School in 2003.

She enrolled with Rainbow Tourism Group School of hotel and catering, fulfilling her passion for cookery and baking.

The British Embassy sent a message of condolence through her pastor Langton Gatsi of One Way Ministries. Pike had recently won a tender to cook food for staff at the embassy.

Pike was laid to rest at Warren Hills Cemetery on Saturday