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Tendai Rupapa in MASVINGO
Empowering women is key to the health and social development of families, communities and countries.
When women lead safe, fulfilled and productive lives, they can reach their full potential contributing their skills to the workforce and can raise happier and healthier families.
It is with this vain that hundreds of women, who included female pastors and spouses of church leaders drawn from 15 denominations in the seven districts of Masvingo, gathered at Mutendi High School to be equipped with detergent-making skills courtesy of First Lady Dr Auxillia Mnangagwa’s empowerment programmes through her Angel of Hope Foundation.
To ensure the knowledge and skills are shared for the benefit of many women, Dr Mnangagwa applied a train the trainer concept where both female and male pastors and wives of bishops were given the responsibility of teaching fellow congregants, families and other community members.
The women received starter-packs and certificates after the two-day training course courtesy of Amai Mnangagwa who was ever present during the training exercise.
Under the First Lady’s all-encompassing initiative, which is leaving no place and no one behind, the women were trained to make petroleum jelly, thick bleach and liquid laundry soap.
Amai Mnangagwa’s quest is to see empowered and prosperous women in Zimbabwe, hence her successful implementation of various income-generating projects.
It is also her wish for women to work with love and unity. The women promised to hit the ground running, starting with their churches.
In her address, Dr Mnangagwa said she was delighted to share with the women skills and knowledge to help transform lives.
“I invited women who are wives of church leaders from different denominations so that I can assist a lot of women at once through a train the trainer programme. I thank you for accepting the invite and coming to learn. Yes, God protects us, but he gave us hands so that we work. The gospel says laziness spawns poverty therefore, we need to persevere and work. As you know, I go around the country with many programmes.
“I have come here to Masvingo to the churches where you are being taught to make detergents, free of charge. Let us take this opportunity to grasp what we have been taught for the benefit of our families.
“We have widows and those who are single. We are saying women must rise and work hard to sustain our families. This is not the end of the world, but as women, we can transform our livelihoods.
“Women have the capacity to be contributors to economic development. They should not be limited to the kitchen only, but can contribute in whatever way they can according to their ability, even up to boardroom level,” she said.
Women, the First Lady said, are helpers who also give life and they should use the power they use in the households to help achieve the targets set out under Vision 2030.
She implored women to never look down upon themselves.
“Never look down upon yourselves as you are leaders who can master things that others struggle to do. Let us not be accustomed to being looked after and being spoon-fed. As women let us find bricks that we lay in building the nation and not leave the whole burden on men. Let us be found being involved in projects like these ones,” she said.
Dr Mnangagwa urged the women to work in groups, while teaching others and to also focus on various projects.
“We must do projects like rearing layers and broilers, knitting, sewing and weaving jerseys. We need to be united as women and these projects bring unity amongst ourselves,” she said.
The mother of the nation spoke about the toll-free line in her office to end domestic violence which is on the rise in communities.
“My office opened a toll-free line 575 to curb gender-based violence. Some women are also bashing their spouses in the home. I urge you to live in peace and understand that peace brings about progress in the home. I look forward to being invited to see the progress you would have achieved,” she said.
Minister of State for Masvingo Provincial Affairs and Devolution Ezra Chadzamira said he was grateful for the First Lady’s empowerment initiatives, especially equipping women with skills in detergent making.
“Through these initiatives, educational gaps that existed between men and women are being narrowed as a result of equal opportunities that are being created by the First Lady. There is going to be a transformation of the livelihoods of women as Amai does not discriminate against anyone in her projects. I encourage those who have been trained to put to good use the knowledge they have acquired,” he said.
Zion Christian Church leader Bishop Nehemiah Mutendi likened the mother of the nation to the biblical Lydia, who was committed to empowering people and transforming their lives for the better.
He read from Exodus 31:2 and praised the First Lady for the work she was doing around the country in ensuring people were empowered and had enough to raise their families.
Bishop Mutendi further applauded the First Lady for cultivating unity, peace and love across the country through her various educative and socially constructive programmes.
By bringing women from different churches together and training them under one roof, Bishop Mutendi said the First Lady had brought values of unity and hard work.
“The First Lady does great work in our country, Zimbabwe. She has a gift to serve the nation through charity. Madzimai vaingoziva kubika sadza nekurera vana, but the First Lady changed the narrative vakati mudzimai wese ngatishande.
“She wants the women to show the world that they can do what men can do. Today she has come to empower wives of bishops and pastors with skills so that when they go back to their churches they also train other women,” he said.
Bishop Mutendi also read from Proverbs 31:16.
Those who received the training sang praises to the First Lady for the life-transforming opportunity she had availed for them.
Apostle Stella Mungwazi from Rivers of Life Tabernacle said: “We want to thank God for this lifetime opportunity and for leading our mother to us with this project. As a church leader, I will go back to my church, gather women and train them how to make detergents the same way I was trained through Angel of Hope Foundation.
“We are deeply thankful because a home without a mother is not a home. Our mother has today shown us great love and has brought unity among us. We are thankful for being taught how to make different types of detergents. She did not end on training us only but gave us starter packs.
“We will invite her one day to see where this project would have taken us as a church. This project will also lessen domestic violence in the homes because women have been economically empowered,” she said with a broad smile.
Another beneficiary of the training programme, Mrs Esther Gondoza, who is a member of the Zion Christian Church (ZCC), said she was thankful for the training she had received courtesy of the First Lady.
“I am thankful for the training we have received from our mother. In our homes we also look after orphans and we should learn to work because our mother has brought a project which will help us not to spend time gossiping.
“We are going to share this knowledge with other women from our churches and communities so that every woman benefits. She promised to bring us some more projects so that we acquire more skills. Our mother unites us as women and encourages us to work in love, peace and harmony.
“She has taught us to work together as members of various denominations without looking down upon one another depending on which church one attends. I urge other women here to take the lessons taught here to the communities in which we live,” she said.
Mrs Gondozo said the First Lady had also encouraged the women to plant trees to ensure they benefit from the fruits.
“We are also grateful as women that our mother brought to Zimbabwe visitors from Japan who are going to help us in the large scale production of rice through the New Rice for Africa (NERICA) initiative.
“With our mother as the Agric4She patron, we promise to work hard in this new agriculture venture. We know that there are some people who live in areas with abundant water like Gutu.
“Those people must enjoy planting this rice. We are blessed to have such a loving mother who draws us close to her. Let us pray for her and wish her a long life,” she said to applause.
Similar sentiments were shared by Madzimai Miriam Matikinya, a member of Johanne Masowe Chishanu apostolic sect.
“We were taught to make petroleum jelly so that our children attend school smart with radiant skin. Even when they cross rivers as it rains, their skin will not crack. When a teacher sees them, they will be presentable.
“So we want to teach our colleagues in our churches. We are thankful for the teachings we received and we look forward to showing the First Lady what we would have achieved,” she said.
Mrs Trishia Muparamoto, who attends Christ’s Fellowship church could not hide her joy, saying she intended to work hard and open shops and buy a vehicle for herself through detergent making.
“I am very happy for what the First Lady has done for us today. We were lagging behind but the First Lady came to uplift us. I am happy for the training we received today and we shall move around churches training other women since we have been trained to train others.
“We learnt to make liquid laundry washing soap which can be used for washing blankets, clothes and cleaning the home. We can also wash utensils with the soap. We also made bleach, which helps remove stubborn stains on children’s clothes and give them a good colour. I will share this with other women and grow this into a big business and end up buying our own cars and houses,” she said.
Online Reporter