Private school supports First Lady’s work through scholarships

Tendai Rupapa Senior Reporter

IN a first of its kind gesture, a private high school in Mutoko has unveiled 10 scholarships to First Lady Auxillia Mnangagwa’s Angel of Hope Foundation to benefit disadvantaged girls who are academically gifted.

The school also donated single-seater desks to Amai Mnangagwa for onward distribution to a school of her choice.

Beneficiaries from Angel of Hope Foundation will be learning at the school which offers tuition from Form One up to Form Six in a development which dovetails with the mother of the nation’s zeal to empower the girl child through education and curb early child marriages largely attributed to idleness and lack of funds.

The Principal of Munashe Private High School, Mr Edwin Tinofa Muronzi, said his institution chipped in to bolster the work being done by the First Lady to ease the plight of vulnerable members of society.

“We have been touched by the way the First Lady, our mother has been helping vulnerable people, the old, the young ones, suffering women from all walks of life. So we realised we cannot let her walk it alone. We saw the need to extend our hand as a school. We are still a small school though but we are growing and we can afford to sustain what we have offered to Amai. The school furniture we have also donated to her, the First Lady can hand over to any school of her choice,” he said. Mr Muronzi added: “We are going to take the girls from Angel of Hope Foundation no matter where they are coming from because next term we will have boarding facilities. We will hand them back to Amai when they are going to university. We hope to increase the number of desks we have donated as time goes on.”

Mr Muronzi said he subscribed to the President Mnangagwa’s view that “Nyika inovakwa nevene vayo (a country is built by its owners)”.

“We are the people, we have to join the song and dance with our mother. Some of us lost our mothers and the mother of the nation is now our mother and we are there to support her so that she achieves her vision. We know the struggles and the pain she is going through in trying to cater for the needs of all citizens and this is why we came out and extended a hand so that she can bring comfort to many families in need of help in this country.

“We encourage the private sector to join hands and support such gestures. People of Amai’s calibre are rare to come by so we have to support her left, right and centre for the betterment of our nation,” he said.

The First Lady said she was humbled by the private school’s gesture which will benefit children from deprived backgrounds and offer them a chance to realise their dreams.

“I thank the school heartily for the scholarships it has offered. This will help us as Angel of Hope to realise our goal of empowering the girl child through education. Our nation needs more organisations of like-mind so that we empower those in need. This will certainly go a long way in ensuring that Angel of Hope Foundation realises its dream of creating a better future for all,” she said.

The mother of the nation is fighting tooth and nail to ensure girls have access to education just like their male counterparts to unleash the potential in them. Recently, Angel of Hope Foundation rolled out scholarships for children from humble backgrounds to study in Russia.

So particular is the First Lady for the provision of access to education for all that her foundation and its partners paid fees for children at some primary schools in Seke and Zvimba and donated school furniture and other essentials like uniforms and stationery.

She has also been running a feeding scheme at schools to ensure children did not pull out due to hunger.