MUTOKO — In a remote village of Pawandiwa, a 79-year-old Stella Chigweshe sits by the door of her hut every morning and ponders in what she will give her grandson and what the day will bring for her. By Vimbai Marufu Own Correspondent
Life has a way of slapping her in the face and only last month her kitchen was destroyed by torrential rain. Despite the good rains her maize crop wilted before it even reached the tasselling stage.
One look inside her only hut which she shared with her 13-year-old grandson is a telling example of extreme poverty.
With a cooking area on one side, a pile of clothes and old blankets hanged on a wire to make space on the floor and a 50kg of dried nyeve (African traditional vegetables) which is her relish through out the whole year; one can only sympathise with the old lady.
“My husband left me in the 90s and my children left for Harare a long time ago and I have never heard from them since then,” says Chigweshe with so much sadness written on her voice.
She added that she survived on piece jobs, struggled to send her grandson to school and prayed to God for a better day.
It is the plight of Ambuya Stella Chigweshe and other widows in Chivese in Mutoko under Chief Chimoyo that drove philanthropist and businessman Richard Musiyiwa to come to their rescue.
- Chamisa under fire over US$120K donation
- Mavhunga puts DeMbare into Chibuku quarterfinals
- Pension funds bet on Cabora Bassa oilfields
- Councils defy govt fire tender directive
Keep Reading
Since December last year, Musiyiwa has built four houses for underprivileged women in different villages, Chatiza, Musokowaya, Kapondoro and Pawandiwa.
Speaking to scores of people that had gathered for the handover ceremony of Chigweshe’s house last week, Musiyiwa urged villagers to take charge of their development initiatives and programmes.
“All I want is for our community to develop, to have good schools, children that attend school and to help those who are less privileged. We should not cry to the government all the times when we can join hands to solve the problems that affect us,” said Musiyiwa.
Musiyiwa, who donated foodstuffs to the underprivileged from time to time, also donated some basic commodities to villagers in Pawandiwa, in addition to building Ambuya Chigweshe a two-roomed house and buying a kitchen set and a bed for her.
His will to assist these women opened doors to all the community members including the chief, village head, headman, religious leaders, and members of Parliament for Mutoko East, a move that could see their community developing.
However, Chief Chimoyo last month indicated that a lot of girls are dropping out of school due to early pregnancies in Mutoko leaving them vulnerable, uneducated and unemployable.
Speaking to NewsDay at the handover ceremony of Chigweshe’s house in Pawandiwa village Chief Chimoyo said most of the cases he presides over are early and unwanted pregnancies.
“We need our children to get education first, but cases of early and unwanted pregnancies are on the increase and I am going to stiffen the penalty on perpetrators of such cases,” said Chief Chimoyo.
Speaking at the same event Mutoko East legislator Gertrude Hungwa said programmes to conduct workshops in schools and with women will be implemented in order to educate them on sexual reproductive health.
Hungwa also identified a number of constraints that the rural women face and said they will be addressed by empowering them, providing skills so that they secure a sustainable income and enable themselves to be the agents of their own socio-economic development.
“As women we should also develop our communities and there are many projects that are lined up for women which includes soap making and potato growing.
“You only need to form small groups and we will come and distribute inputs in each ward to kick start these projects so that you can sustain yourselves,” said Hungwa.
Mutoko East Member of Parliament Ricky Mawere-Mubvumbi, who was also present at the handover ceremony hailed the villagers for working together and initiating developmental programmes.
“Mutoko district is one of the remotest areas in the country, but is the best in terms of discipline and culture, with such kind of developments we are heading for greatness.
“It is our duty as community members to develop our areas without waiting for assistance from donors and lets work as a team. Do not even chase also those from the MDC when you are doing these projects, work with them,” said Mawere-Mubvumbi.
He added that he would be introducing government’s economic blueprint, the Zimbabwe Agenda for Sustainable Socio-Economic Transformation (ZimAsset) starting in schools in his constituency, a move he said would educate students on the government’s position on the turnaround and development of the economy in the next five years.
