Online Reporter
Nyore Madzianike-Senior Reporter
Zimbabweans yesterday joined the rest of the world in commemorating Mother’s Day.
Mother’s Day is a global celebration honouring maternal figures through appreciation, gift-giving, and family gatherings, primarily occurring in March or May.
Common traditions include presenting flowers, cards and candies, alongside hosting meals, performing acts of service, and sharing heartfelt messages to honour maternal bonds.
On Saturday night, widows of liberation war heroes were treated to a special dinner hosted by the Children of National Heroes Constituency in Harare, in honour of the sacrifices they made during and after the liberation war struggle.
Held under the theme; ‘Mum & Me’, the event brought together widows of national heroes, children of liberation war fighters and women in a celebration of motherhood and patriotism.
The late nationalist Josiah Tongogara’s widow, Senator Angeline Tongogara, was the guest of honour at the event.
The special dinner organiser, Ms Belinda Cele, said the initiative was inspired by the need to recognise the often-overlooked contribution of women who played a significant role in the country’s liberation struggle.
She said the special dinner was also meant to appreciate their continued efforts to hold families together after the death of their spouses.
“First of all, let me take this opportunity to appreciate the leadership of our country. We have our father, the Head of State, President Mnangagwa,” she said.
“He is the father who has allowed us to be children and to be a child is to honour your mother.”
Ms Cele said the concept of the dinner was conceived after one of the widows suggested that a special gesture be made in recognition of their role in society.
“One of our mothers had just wanted a gesture to be made towards celebrating them and their role in their lives as widows of national heroes,” she said.
“So, we decided not just to honour widows only, but the role of a woman in its entirety. This is how Mum & Me got to be birthed.
“A dinner just to take our mothers out, to have a good time and to honour even the sacrifice that they have made in the past and in the present to keep our families together as widows.”
Ms Cele said the programme would be expanded to all the country’s provinces as part of a broader national vision to celebrate women and widows of liberation war fighters.
“The goal is to take this vision to the provinces of our nation and tell them to have honour bestowed upon mothers, widows and women in general for the role they played in the past to bring the nation to what it is today and to keep it what it is today.
“It is a national vision. We intend to take it to the provinces and districts across all the country’s 10 provinces. It is simply about celebrating your mother.”
She said women’s stories in the liberation struggle had largely remained untold despite their immense contribution to the country’s independence.
“These are the women whose story is never told. Whenever we talk about a hero, it is always about the father or the man who played a role in the struggle.
“I think it is about time that Zimbabwe paid attention to the fact that there are women who played a very significant, brave and bold role in the birth of this nation.
“There is no need to shy away from the truth that a nation is nothing without a mother. These women were girls, they were children, they became mothers and now they are widows.
“But we want the missing story of Zimbabwe to be told by those who participated in and experienced it first-hand.”
She said the initiative also sought to create a platform for women who participated in the liberation struggle to share their experiences from their own perspective.
“Our role as children is to open the road for our mothers to retell the story of the liberation struggle from the eye and voice of a woman,” she said.
“The journey has just begun. The women who liberated this country in the war deserve to be honoured not only when they are dead, but even now while they are alive.”
Senator Tongogara thanked the Children of National Heroes Constituency for organising the special dinner in recognition of their role and sacrifices made during and after the liberation struggle.
She said the gesture showed that the younger generation appreciated and valued the contribution of liberation war fighters and their families towards the country’s independence.
“I would like to thank the Children of National Heroes Constituency for remembering us and organising this special dinner in honour of the widows of liberation war fighters,” she said. “It shows that our children understand and appreciate the sacrifices that were made for this country to attain independence.”
Senator Tongogara also urged youths to preserve the country’s history and heritage by learning about the liberation struggle from those who experienced it first-hand.
“Young people must preserve our history and heritage because that is the foundation of our identity as Zimbabweans.
“At the same time, I urge them to desist from drugs and substance abuse, which are destroying the future of our nation,” she said.
She also called on widows of fallen liberation war heroes from across the country to unite and form one group that would advocate for their welfare and preserve the legacy of their late spouses.
“We as widows of liberation war fighters should unite and work together as one family.
“Forming one group will help us support each other, protect our legacy and ensure that the history of our departed heroes continues to be remembered by future generations,” she said.
