The ManicaPost
Tendai Gukutikwa
Post Correspondent
AT least 200 women in Mutasa District received a consignment of 700 reusable sanitary pads through the First Lady, Amai Auxilia Mnangagwa’s Angel of Hope Foundation last Saturday.
The donations which had been sourced from the foundation by the late Minister of State for Manicaland Provincial Affairs and Devolution, Dr Ellen Gwaradzimba just before her untimely death, saw the beneficiaries celebrating her unique motherly role.
Dr Gwaradzimba succumbed to Covid-19 last month and was declared a national heroine.
Each woman received six re-usable and eco-friendly pads.
The material is washable and can be used for 18 months.
Disposable pads cost between $100 and $200, thereby leaving most rural women and school going girls resorting to unhygienic sanitary pads.
In an interview, a beneficiary, Ms Patience Matere (19), said most girls in Muchena Village end up missing important lessons at school during their monthly periods as they cannot endure the embarrassment of being jeered by peers after soiling their uniforms.
“Our male counterparts usually laugh at us when we soil our uniforms during our monthly periods. Some girls cannot endure that embarrassment and end up dropping out of school. This also led to some early marriages as getting married and having someone buying the sanitary pads for you looked like a good idea. I would like to thank the late Dr Gwaradzimba for engaging the First Lady to avail these sanitary pads,” said Ms Matere.
Dr Gwaradzimba’s brother-in-law, Mr Brian Gwaradzimba who handed over the donations, said it was the late national heroine’s wish to see the girl-child’s social needs being met.
“The late Minister Gwaradzimba actually sourced around 1000 pads and the remaining will be donated in Mutare Central constituency among needy girls mainly in children’s homes. We are continuing with her legacy of being there for the needy. Her legacy will live on and we will do everything that we can to ensure that her aspirations come to fruition,” he said.
Zanu PF Mutasa District Coordination Committee secretary for women affairs, Cde Evelyn Magwede, said the 700 pads will be shared among beneficiaries from Ward 26’s 16 villages.
She said first preference will be given to orphaned girls and the most vulnerable.
