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Tendai Rupapa
Senior Reporter
YOUTHS in Mabvuku on Friday came out in their numbers to take part in the First Lady Dr Auxillia Mnangagwa’s educative and empowering Gota/Nhanga/Ixhiba programme as she spearheads the search for solutions to challenges of drug abuse, unwanted pregnancies, child marriages and prostitution, among others problems affecting the nation today.
The session in Mabvuku showed that Dr Mnangagwa is not leaving no one and no place behind with her programmes cascading the whole country.
The mother of the nation interfaced with the community where everyone was free to ask questions.
The First Lady was in the Nhanga with elderly women from the community where she held heart-to-heart discussions with the girls while boys were in the Gota with elderly men and Deputy Minister for Youth, Sport, Art and Recreation Tino Machakaire.
Amai Mnangagwa said girls were supposed to be properly dressed at all times and not put on clothes that expose their bodies .
“You stature as a girl is the same stature we have as mothers and grandmothers and if you walk in the nude you cost us our dignity as women. You shall be a mother in the future, a care-giver and this is only possible for someone who grew up well-mannered. This is why I have come with elderly women to mould you. We did not do this so that you rush to get married but we are after moulding your future. If you combine education and good manners you are assured of a bright future,” she said.
Gogo Teriza Mbirimi bemoaned drug abuse that is now rife in communities.
“My daughter if you get drunk among men and they realise that you have lost your senses, what do you think will happen? That is when you are raped without your knowledge and you have no clue of who to report to the police. You become pregnant for someone you do not know and expose yourself to diseases. We say no to the consumption of intoxicating substances,” she said.
Gogo Joyce Tumbare taught the girls the importance of respecting elders in the community.
“Even when counselled by a woman next door, accept because everyone is your mother and they mean good,” she said.
She also taught them the importance of valuing their bodies.
“Refuse to be fondled by men to the point of being given names in the community because of loose morals. You have no-go areas on your body therefore guard them jealously,” she said.
The First Lady taught the girls menstrual hygiene before giving them reusable sanitary pads that she is sewing through her Angel of Hope Foundation.
She also advised the girls that they were now her ambassadors who were supposed to share the information with their peers.
“You are now my ambassadors at your schools and communities and we expect you to invite us to hear you counselling each other. Each and everyone of you has a duty to teach others before you meet as a group. You may see this as child’s play but what you have learnt here is what brought up your grandmothers and mothers,” she said.
Mutsawashe Marange (18), promised the First Lady that as girls they would practice what she taught them. She said they had learnt that a girl must protect herself as they were important and to treasure their education to have a brighter future.
“Amai you taught us to concentrate on education which is our first husband and we are grateful to you for giving us theee life lessons and as girls we promise to practice what you taught us,” she said.
Sekuru Samuel Jingini, who was in the Gota with the boys, said he was happy to share wisdom with young people.
“I was gratified to speak to the children and share with them how I grew up until I reached my age. I told them that I am now 75 years of age and I want them to reach that age but to achieve this they should stay away from harmful drugs which are destroying today’s youths. As young people, respect yourself, honour your parents and speak well with others even on the way. Be a child who can answer elders respectifully which shows you are well-cultured. We do not want children who say bad things before elders. Leave mudhombo, mutoriro, guka, twumbwa because this is not good for your health. I was lucky to meet young boys who asked us so many questions that puzzled us as elders a sign that they are so eager to learn. We really want to thank the First Lady for coming up with this eye-opening educative programme. This programme empowers us to train our children properly and for it we are thankful,” he said.
A 14-year-old boy who was part of the programme, Best Kachori, could not hide his joy.
“I wish to thank our mother Amai Mnangagwa for what she has done for us this day. We were really looking forward to this and we learnt a lot of things from our elders and this was made possible by the First Lady. As a young child I learnt that respecting elders is a good thing and I now know what to do when my mother wants me to slaughter a goat. In the communities in which we live, boys are gambling and missing school because of this. They are even assaulting teachers because of taking mbanje and engaging in sexual immorality before the time is ripe,” he said.
Deputy Minister Machakaire spoke highly of the First Lady’s teachings.
“We have today come here to Mabvuku where we are learning our culture through our First Lady. If we look at it as the Government or ministry that is responsible for Youths and Culture there are many things we have learnt through the programmes being done by the First Lady. If you look at us or even the leaders in Government, there are places where we get and refuse to queue like for example ij the shops where there will be elderly people in the same queue. But the First Lady is saying no to this. She wants us to remain on our tradition of old so that we know elders are respected despite your status in society and position in Government. Wherever you go and see elders, you must give them due respect and we look forward that these programmes will give us a good image. She also leads by example by kneeling for elders and we hope others will learn and stand with our culture as Zimbabweans,’ he said.
After the Nhanga/Gota/Ixhiba sessions, the First Lady then addressed thousands of Mabvuku residents who had gathered to tap from the First Lady’s words of wisdom.
However, in the crowd, the First Lady picked two youthful boys, one appeared drunk and was wearing many trousers with some dropped and a hat covering half of his face while the other one was smartly dressed,l.
The First Lady invited them forward and asked the crowd the difference among the boys.
An elderly woman said: “The one with dropped trouses and a hat covering his eyes is not properly dressed. He is visibly drunk and that is undignified. Mapfekero akadai anoshoresa, anonyadzisa Amai. We applaud the one who is properly dressed.”
Youthful Pinniel Chigwiko said: “The one with a dropped trousers Amai does not even have a mask which fuels the spread of Covid-19. Because he is intoxicated, he will never think of wearing one that is why we are saying no to drugs. We are thankful for this progamme Amai because the boys were in the Gota including the one who is not properly dressed and we hope they have learnt some lessons and will change where they were lost.”
Amai Mnangagwa thanked the boys for accepting to show an example and that they accepted to be corrected.
“We are happy today we have taught our boys and girls our culture and manners in the Gota and Nhanga, respectively,” she said.
On courtship, she asked the kind of boy girls looked for when they come of age and vice versa.
“I want a boy who dresses properly who does not drop trousers, is of sober habits and capable of looking after the family,” said one girl.
On the other hand, a boy said he would love to marry someone who was God-fearing and well-cultured.
The First Lady weighed in, imploring mothers and grandmothers to teach children good manners at all times.
“Mothers and grandmothers, what behaviour are you teaching your daughters? Fathers and uncles, what are you teaching the boys? churches as well, what are you teaching boys and girls?”she asked.
A female pastor said she used Ephesians 6 Chapter 1 which implores children to heed their parents instructions and that their bodies were the temple of Christ which needed to be treated well.
A male church elder said they taught boys about the dangers of drugs and sat down with them for lessons at the church on selected days.
In her address to the gathering, the First Lady decried the collapse of the extended family unit with siblings now dragging each other before the courts of law.
“People of the same ancestry are taking each other to the courts and fining each other cows. This is now common these days and it requires a mother who reminds people that a family cannot live that way. As we come mothers, we also come as daughters-in-law to rebuild the broken bits in the family and not to start a conflagration where there is already a fire. Do not take sides but help to build that family and tomorrow they will say good things about you. Isn’t it so?” she said to applause.
She spoke candidly against alcohol abuse by both boys and girls.
“Both boys and girls are getting drunk and from what I don’t know because the rate is now excessive. Now as a girl you become pregnant and we ask the person responsible and you fail to tell us because you conceived under darkness. Once you start doing so you never stop and the home will be filled with children of many totems. This home will get no rest because the children will know that they are not of the same father. This will start another war and this starts from the mother that is why we have brought the Gota and Nhanga so that we sit down and say to boys stick to one girl and not spoil many girls impregnating them. That child you are spoiling is not the one you will marry so you would have been cruel. Stick to one partner until marriage,” she said.
Amai were not meant to have children elope, but it sought to build children the Zimbabwean way.
She encouraged the children to share the valuable lessons they learnt from her and later invite her to hear what they would have shared.
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