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George Maponga in GUTU
First Lady Amai Auxillia Mnangagwa continues to be an example to the nation with her philanthropic work after she donated blankets and groceries to the elderly, widows, widowers and the disabled from Masvingo province over the weekend.
Beneficiaries were all smiles at Maungwa Secondary School in Gutu after receiving rice, cooking oil, soap, sugar and a blanket each from the exemplary First Lady who is on a crusade to inculcate, into the nation, the importance of assisting the underprivileged and vulnerable.
They expressed profound gratitude to Amai Mnangagwa for assuaging their plight that has been worsened by the prevailing Covid-19 pandemic.
In a speech read on her behalf by the Minister of State for Masvingo Provincial Affairs and Devolution Ezra Chadzamira, Amai Mnangagwa exhorted the nation to spare a thought for the underprivileged and vulnerable members of the society.
Amai Mnangagwa underscored the important role played by elderly members of the society, especially in preserving the nation’s culture and tradition.
She implored the elderly to continue offering mentorship to the young generation if society was to stem ills like early marriages and unwanted pregnancies.
“I am appealing to you the elderly to continue giving mentorship to our young children today so that we curb some of the societal ills we are seeing today because our young people have abandoned our culture and tradition.
“We now have ills such as unwanted pregnancies and early marriages that are on the rise, but these can be stemmed if we go back to our culture and you as the elderly have an important role to play,” said Amai Mnangagwa.
She challenged Zimbabweans to lend a hand to others especially the underprivileged and vulnerable if everyone is not to be left out.
Amai Mnangagwa reiterated the need for communities to embrace vaccination against Covid-19 saying it was the surest way of winning the war against the pandemic with the country angling to achieve herd immunity.
The First Lady said she had already received her two jabs and urged other Zimbabweans to follow suit and not be dissuaded by purveyors of myths about the vaccine.
“I urge you all to embrace vaccination against Covid-19 so that we can win the war against this virus that has changed the way we live. We need to get vaccinated for our country to achieve herd immunity and contain the spread of the virus and its damaging effects on our day to day lives,” she said.
The First Lady also wanted to establish how well-informed about Covid-19 the elderly were and asked volunteers amongst them to come forward and explain the importance of getting inoculated.
The crowd was stunned by how the Covid-19 message has penetrated within all facets of society with the elderly showing deep knowledge about the importance of vaccination.
An elderly woman who stood up to speak about Covid-19 vaccination got commendation and applause from the Minister Chadzamira and other people present respectively,after she correctly said inoculation does not stop one from getting infected with Covid-19, but reduces severity of effects by boosting the immune system.
The granny said wearing of face masks, practicing social distance and sanitising remained important and a must even for those who were vaccinated.
Another granny had also earlier on earned praise by blaming ills such as unwanted pregnancies and early marriages on way ward children who no longer listened to their parents and the elderly after being swayed by pursuit of modern ways of dressing and tasty new foods.
The granny said today’s society was riven by chronic diseases such as diabetes and hypertension because modern foods were only tasty, but unhealthy compared to traditional foods that she said are healthy and insulate the elderly from most common diseases today.
Earlier on Gutu South National Assembly representative Cde Pupurai Togarepi had in her welcome remarks paid tribute to Amai Mnangagwa for her unflinching commitment to uplift lives of the underprivileged and the vulnerable.
“Amai Mnangagwa is showing us the way and I challenge all legislators and other community leaders to draw lessons from what the First Lady has been doing to assist underprivileged and vulnerable members of our society after the advent of the New dispensation.”
The First Lady was also hailed by other legislators at the gathering for spearheading rehabilitation of street children in the country’s towns and cities after making sure they were taken to Chambuta Children’s Home in Chiredzi.
Online Reporter