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Rumbidzayi Zinyuke Manicaland Bureau
A GROUP of women from Marange with disabled children have formed a cooperative that will allow them to do different projects and raise money for the upkeep of their families. The cooperative, which started with only 10 members, now boasts more than 20 women who are keen to work hard for their families. Each of the women has at least one child living with disabilities.

The women have been involved in goat and chicken rearing, as well as vegetable farming on a piece of land availed to them by Chief Marange. In an interview with The Herald last week, Mrs Angela Musaa, one of the founding cooperative members, said there were a lot of women in Marange struggling to raise children with disabilities.

“As parents, we realised that we cannot wait for Government or donor organisations to help us put food on the table for our disabled children,” she said. “We need to work for ourselves and our children.

“We also need to teach our children to work for themselves in those gardens and chicken runs so that they will not suffer much or fail to raise decent incomes in the eventuality that we die at some point.” Mrs Musaa said they hoped all the children living with disabilities in the community could benefit from the projects and learn how to earn a decent living from them.

“Our major challenge is that we have no money to grow this project,” said Mrs Musaa. “For now we only have a few chickens and a goat each, as well as small patches of vegetables,” she said.

Fellow club member, Mrs Maria Mugari, appealed for donations towards the registration of the club, as well as vegetable seed and more goats for the project to grow.

“Currently, our source of water is a shallow well, which sometimes runs out of water and we are appealing to well-wishers within the donor community to help us sink a borehole to enable the women to water their crops,” she said.