Online Reporter
Zimpapers Arts & Entertainment Hub
Sipho Mazibuko, the fierce woman behind the Mental Voices Trust and the revival of Miss Rural Zimbabwe, is turning a year older on Monday, but there won’t be champagne, balloons, or a glitzy party. Instead, the mental health advocate wants just one thing: warmth for the women at Ingutsheni Hospital, Zimbabwe’s largest psychiatric facility, and a place she once called home.
In a heartfelt video message shared on social media this week, Mazibuko made an emotional appeal.
“It’s my birthday on Monday. Please, I don’t want any presents. My presents will be a solar geyser for the ladies in my former ward, St Mary’s at Ingutsheni. They bath with cold water and I want to assist them this winter.”
With temperatures dropping and winter biting early this year, Mazibuko is spearheading a fundraising drive to install a solar geyser, and donate blankets and Bale jackets to the female patients of Ward 1 at Ingutsheni, women she refers to as “forgotten queens in a safe, but cold, environment.”
She has asked the public to donate directly via her EcoCash, promising full transparency and accountability.
“Put anything into my EcoCash. I will account for everything. We will all go together as SMEs to present the geyser, blankets and jackets,” she posted.
Mazibuko’s advocacy is not just philanthropic, it’s deeply personal. The once high-flying pageant queen suffered a public mental health breakdown nearly two decades ago, which led to her admission at Ingutsheni. Since her recovery, Mazibuko has become one of the most vocal mental health advocates in the country, shattering stigma and using her platform to champion the rights and dignity of those living with mental illness.
Earlier this year, she hosted her now-annual Cake Day celebration at Ingutsheni, treating patients to cake, music, and care packages, bringing smiles and a sense of belonging to those often forgotten. At the event, she urged the public to continue donating essentials like sanitary wear, warm clothes, and basic toiletries for the patients.
“People don’t realise what a warm bath and a blanket can mean to someone in the middle of healing,” Mazibuko said in an earlier interview.
“Mental health isn’t just about therapy and medication. It’s about dignity, comfort and being seen.”
As the country celebrates her birthday, Sipho Mazibuko’s message is clear: turn compassion into action.
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