Victor and Anna grew up facing extreme segregation from society due to their age. Their lives have been a misery and they did not know what to do as their future seemed bleak.
BY SHADRECK MARIRIMBA
“I was hopeless and used to live like a vagrant” said Victor (75).
In some sections of society, most widows are seen as a curse and shunned by many. Depending on the circumstances, they are often ignored by even their close relatives.
This has been the fate of Victor and Anna if it wasn’t for the intervention of Christ Alive Gospel Ministries Trust.
The Trust’s chairman Bishop Tichaona Maume said: “Due to the Aids scourge most breadwinners passed away in families, leaving mostly their aged parents with no one to fend for them. It was this vision that pushed me to help people.”
Bishop Maume described Victor and Anna’s story as only a tip of the iceberg as many widows and the elderly needed assistance.
He also said many children have been left with noone to care for them when parents passed away.
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“Abandoned children face extremely difficult conditions. On their own, they search for food in waste dumps and make their homes with trash and rubble,” he said.
Bishop Maume who was speaking at a function celebrating the Trust’s 10th anniversary at Chikwana Business Centre touched on the need to share and help eachother in things we have in life.
“I love giving and for the past ten years we have been giving,” said Bishop Maume in emphasis.
Bishop Maume said his Trust was involved in a lot of charity work including sending orphans to school, looking after widowsand offering cash to couples who wanted to start their own income generating projects.
“The celebrations are a way of remembering the good things the Trust has done for the past years. My calling lies in giving. I would rather starve my family than letting a neighbor die of hunger,” he said.
The Trust is an affiliate to Christ Alive Gospel Ministries, an international church headquartered in Zimbabwe. It was founded in 2007 and has branches in South Africa, Mozambique, Botswana and Malawi.
The celebration saw the Traffic Safety Council of Zimbabwe and different other church denominations partnering with them.
Anna (50) who was among the widows who received groceries on the day described her life as a widow as hell.
“I was on my death bed, ill and starving, when Bishop Maume noticed me and offered me assistance,” she said.
Anna, who stays in Epworth,said the Trust was paying her rentals and providing food to the children under her care.
She was now involved in a poultry project courtesy of the Trust which she says has helped her live a normal life.
Victor said the Trust was helpinghim with many things like fertizers, school fees for his children and he has since started some income generating projects.
“The Trust has helped me. Even my health has changed for I am able to fend for my family,” he said.
The Trust, which has started constructing a school and a hospital in Zaka, Maume Village is expected to give scholarships to most of its students who are under its care in different schools around the country.
The celebrations saw Bishop Maume encouraging people not to wait to be given assistance but to search for opportunities to establish income generating projects.
Another widow, Magaret Mupunga (75), thanked the Trust for allowing God to use it to assist people in her situation.
“I had nothing. Poverty had rooted in me that I was like a street mother. I think God directed you to me,” she said, tears flowing down her cheeks.
The celebrations ended on high note with most people seeing the need to help others.
