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Tendai Rupapa Senior Reporter
First Lady Auxillia Mnangagwa yesterday spent quality time with female students attending the inaugural National Girls Boot Camp, where professionals drawn from different disciplines are imparting life skills to them.
The secondary school students come from different communities in all the country’s 10 provinces and the one-week camp has seen the First Lady interacting with the girls at a personal level.
Yesterday, Amai Mnangagwa first took the girls to a recreational centre — Birds @ 30 — in Borrowdale, where they went through a guided tour of the bird sanctuary which is run by Spar Zimbabwe.
Said the First Lady: “I hope this tour has been an eye opener to all of you my children as you have learnt a lot about different types of birds, fish and other animals here.
“There are different exotic bird species from around the world.
“This was part of education and recreation and you will go back home richer with knowledge of indigenous species of birds that are in Zimbabwe and other parts of the world.”
Amai Mnangagwa also took the opportunity to introduce the girls to Spar officials who donated part of the scholarships she awarded them.
Spar Zimbabwe chief executive officer Mr Darren Lanca pledged his company’s support towards the First Lady’s empowerment projects.
“As part of our vision and mission statement, we believe in empowering young people and giving back to the community so that they are self-reliant,” he said.
“We want to thank the First Lady, who is taking the leading role in empowering the girl child with life skills, we will continue supporting her.”
From the tour, the First Lady accompanied the girls back to their camp at Lake Chivero, a ZimParks facility, and upon arrival held discussions with the young ladies.
She listened to the girls as they took turns to air out their concerns and ambitions as young women.
Deputy director (reproductive and family health) in the Ministry of Health and Child Care Dr Davidzoyashe Makosa, who was among the panellists educating the girls, took them through the basic reproductive health issues.
“As young women, it is really important that you grow up with vital information on reproductive health,” she said.
“Sometimes you get symptoms that you do not understand and you will wonder where they would have come from. Some of the symptoms boil down to your hygiene, especially how you maintain your menstrual hygiene.
“It is a life skill to have knowledge. This was a good initiative by the First Lady, which is commendable.”
The First Lady organised the boot camp through her Angel of Hope Foundation.
Online Reporter