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George Maponga Masvingo Bureau
First Lady Amai Grace Mugabe’s chicken rearing training programme has received an overwhelming response in Masvingo, as more than 250 women from the ruling Zanu-PF’s Women’s League turned up to be trained in poultry production and management.
Thousands of women, mainly Zanu-PF members, from across Masvingo province will benefit from the programme that would see an initial 3 000 chicks being distributed across the province.
The training programme is part of a new thrust to empower women, mainly from rural areas, by imparting skills in poultry produc- tion.
Training of some of the beneficiaries started in Masvingo City yesterday, with an inaugural group of more than 250 leaders from the ruling party’s Women’s League undergoing training at Rodger Halman Hall.
The women were drawn from five of the province’s seven districts, namely Bikita, Gutu, Masvingo, Chivi and Mwenezi.
Training of an additional 100 women from Zaka and Chiredzi will be held at Rupangwana Training Centre in Chiredzi today.
In an interview, Zanu-PF Masvingo provincial Women’s League chairperson Cde Veronica Makonese said the training covered ruling party district leaders who were in turn expected to train their colleagues at ward and cell levels.
“We are expected to have about 200 Zanu-PF women leaders here today (yesterday), but the numbers have been overwhelming because no one wants to be left out from programmes spearheaded by our mother, Dr Amai Mugabe,” she said.
“Our mother, Amai Mugabe, has shown us that she is one person who is always thinking about how to improve our lives. We are lucky to have a caring mother who is not lazy and relaxed, but will do everything to make sure that her flock is well catered for.”
Cde Makonese said women in the province were grateful to have Amai Mugabe as their leader.
“We also want to thank our father, President Mugabe, for supporting our mother so that she can in turn help us,” she said.
Cde Makonese said they expected all leaders in Masvingo province up to the cell level from the revolutionary party to receive training in chicken rearing.
“The Zanu-PF women leaders who are undergoing training will become trainers who are expected to also train others who are not here,” he said.
“We expect all our women party leaders and members, up to cell level, to undergo training so that everyone benefits from what our mother is doing for us.”
Zanu-PF Masvingo Women’s League provincial secretary for administration Cde Susan Madzivadondo heaped praise on Amai Mugabe, saying what she was doing was testament to her deep love for the people.
“We thank our First Lady Amai Mugabe for seeing to it that women undergo training in chicken rearing because it will empower us,” she said. “All the women who are undergoing training here will be able to run successful chicken rearing projects and help their spouses to look after their families.
“In some cases, women are actually the ones who are paying school fees for their children, rentals and buying food to sustain the family, so we are indeed grateful to the First Lady for her vision and foresight to make sure women are empowered.”
Masvingo Zanu-PF Women’s League political commissar Cde Muchareveyi Chamisa said Zimbabweans were lucky to have a First Lady like Amai Mugabe.
“We are short of words to describe how we are feeling as Masvingo women because most of us were struggling to run successful poultry projects owing to lack of expertise,” she said.
“We would like to applaud Amai Mugabe for the work she is doing and our appeal to her is to never despair and continue assisting us.”
Irvine’s Zimbabwe technical sales representative Mr John Mukota, who conducted the training programme, said the courses covered included setting up of proper housing for a chicken rearing project, business management and the financial side of the business.
The programme also covered handling of diseases that normally affect the chicken rearing business.
“I must point out that the issue of housing was particularly important because those in chicken rearing have to know the requisite housing, especially now as we are approaching the summer season when it will be very hot,” said Mr Mukota.
The training programme is running until the end of the month and each of the country’s 10 provinces will benefit from a donation of 3 000 chicks from Amai Mugabe to kick-start small-scale chicken rearing business.
Online Reporter