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George Maponga in Masvingo
Chivi Rural District Council chairman Dr Killer Zivhu has resolved to forego his monthly $230 allowance from the council and channel it towards the upkeep of a 13-year-old heart patient.
Dr Zivhu, who is also the president of the Association of Rural District Councils of Zimbabwe, ordered Chivi RDC to pay his allowance to Tawanda Shoko of Mudadisi Village in Chivi North, who is battling a cardiac ailment.
Tawanda’s plight caught the attention of Dr Zivhu after his father, Mr Tapiwa Shoko, was recently hospitalised at Chivi District Hospital where he is receiving treatment for tuberculosis.
Mr Shoko and his wife Mrs Maria Chigidhani are unemployed and have been surviving on donations from well-wishers until Dr Zivhu intervened and offered his monthly allowance from council to mitigate their plight.
Tawanda was diagnosed with a defective artery valve and left school in November last year to have the artery valve replaced at King Edwards IV Hospital in Durban, South Africa, courtesy of well-wishers.
However, after successfully undergoing the operation, Tawanda’s parents struggled to provide food for him.
He quit school owing to fees problems and regular medical check-ups that became a challenge to his parents.
Speaking from Chivi District Hospital where he is hospitalised, Mr Shoko appealed for help to pay for his son’s medical bills.
He said they had since transferred Tawanda from their rural home in Mudadisi to stay with his uncle in Zvishavane because of poverty.
“My situation is very dire because I have been living on Dr Zivhu’s benevolence since my son and I got sick. My son needs good food so that he can fully recover from his operation. I cannot fend for him because of sickness, and I am appealing to well-wishers to help my family start a small business that will generate revenue for us to look after our ailing son,’’ he said.
“My son dropped out of school at Grade Seven level because of poor health, but I want him to return to school again. I do not know where God got Dr Zivhu from because if it were not for him my son and I would be dead by now.’’
Mr Shoko said his family was almost thrown a lifeline by the local embassy of an EU country that pledged $12 000 to cater for his son, but the pledge was never fulfilled.
Dr Zivhu played down his assistance to Mr Shoko and his family saying he took solace in helping those in need.
“As long as I have something to eat, I will always make sure that anything extra that I get goes to help my fellow countrymen in need. We might have wealth on this earth, but if we do not use it to change the lives of others, we will not be doing anything. After all, we will not take whatever wealth we have with us when we eventually die,’’ he said.
“My appeal to fellow Zimbabweans is that please let us join hands and help the Shoko family to have decent shelter, pay medical bills for their child and also send him to school. Let us sacrifice the little that we have to make the lives of others better,’’ added Dr Zivhu.
Dr Zivhu is paying school fees for scores of children, mainly orphans.
Online Reporter