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Sharon Chimenya in MASVINGO 

THE First Lady, Amai Auxillia Mnangagwa, through the Angel of Hope Foundation, has donated 1 200 day-old broiler chicks to Masvingo Province as part of her efforts to boost household incomes and uplift livelihoods in line with Vision 2030.

The chicks that were handed over on her behalf by Masvingo Minister of State for Provincial Affairs and Devolution Ezra Chadzamira are set to empower women and the youths in the province.

The donation is part of the proceeds from a fundraising dinner that was hosted by the First Lady a few weeks ago. 

The project is one of many empowerment initiatives that Amai Mnangagwa has launched in Masvingo province, which include the household detergents making programme and the popular Angel of Hope and ZOU community empowerment through education initiative, among others.

In a speech read on her behalf by Minister Chadzamira, the First Lady implored the beneficiaries to start more projects through the proceeds from the sale of the broilers.

Some of the beneficiaries display the chicks they received as part of First Lady Dr Auxillia Mnangagwa’s intervention to improve household incomes and uplift livelihoods

“Today I’m going to give to women and the youths day old broiler chicks and feed so what’s left for you to do is to feed the chickens.

“The start of this project means that in the next six weeks, the chickens would have reached the slaughtering stage but I urge all the beneficiaries not to spend the profits from this project, I expect you to start new projects,” said Amai Mnangagwa.

She urged the beneficiaries to embark on empowerment projects to help sustain their livelihood and the nation in the drive towards the attainment of Vision 2030.

“Ladies, let’s work with our hands and avoid unproductive habits such as gossiping and being lazy. As women of today we should learn to work hard for our families and avoid the dependency syndrome which results in a culture of begging,” Amai Mnangagwa said.

The beneficiaries thanked the First Lady for the project and promised to grow their projects.

The broilers were distributed to ordinary women, the elderly, sex workers and youths.

One of the women present at the event, Ms Mucharevei Chamisa, applauded the efforts by the First Lady in empowering women.

“We want to thank the First Lady for this initiative because as women we face a  lot of challenges when it comes to starting income generating projects. 

Some of the beneficiaries display the chicks they received as part of First Lady Dr Auxillia Mnangagwa’s intervention to improve household incomes and uplift livelihoods

“This project will ensure that each one of us has something to do so that as we don’t rely on men even when we need to buy vegetables.”

Meanwhile, with the country having declared war against drug and substance abuse, the project is set to drive the youths off the streets and help them generate income.

One of the youths who was part of the beneficiaries said the empowerment drive by the First Lady will help them shun drugs and encourage them to do better in the communities.

“We are grateful for the efforts being done by Amai. Gone are the days when we used to sit in street corners smoking dagga.”

Another beneficiary, a former sex worker, said since they left the streets, they have been benefiting from the projects that are being initiated by the First Lady and such projects will help them fend for their families.

“We would like to thank Amai for what she is doing for us. This is not the first time that she has come with empowering projects. We left the streets because of the projects that have been implemented by Amai.”