adminHerald Reporter
Government has been urged to allocate more financial resources to the Department of Social Welfare to cater for the increasing number of orphans and the elderly whose plight has been worsened by the HIV and Aids scourge. Chivi Rural District Council chairman Cde Killer Zivhu exhorted Government to allocate more budgetary support to the department, saying tens of thousands of orphaned children and the elderly were struggling to put food on the table owing to a dearth in the support. Cde Zivhu, who is also the director general of the Zimbabwe Amalgamated Housing Association (Zaha) was speaking at Nyengere village in Madyangove communal lands in Chivi last week where he donated 20kg bags of maize each to over 500 orphans from the area. He also handed over a three bedroomed house which he built for nine orphans who live with their 82-year-old grandmother Ambuya Ndambakuwa in the area.
“Our appeal to Government is for more financial resources to be allocated to the Department of Social Welfare so that vulnerable people like orphans and the elderly can also benefit because at the moment there are tens of thousands of such people who are struggling to eat even a single meal a day because of acute poverty,” said Cde Zivhu.
“The plight of orphans and the elderly continues to get worse every day, especially as more bread winners and able-bodied people continue to succumb to the scourge of HIV and Aids. It is really sad that deep in the remote areas there are hundreds of orphans and the elderly who are suffering owing to lack of support and help.’’
Cde Zivhu challenged the private sector to play a role in cushioning vulnerable members.
“It is a fact that every day there are orphaned children and the elderly who are surviving on selling termites or who just eat the Amarula fruit and drink a cup of water every day before they go to sleep,” he said.
Cde Zivhu said he would continue to source food to feed orphans and the elderly and also build decent housing for selected vulnerable people in Masvingo, Tsholotsho and Chipinge under Zaha’s Charity Homes Programme.
Online Reporter