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First Lady Auxilia Mnangagwa

From Noah Pito in Hurungwe
First Lady Auxilia Mnangagwa’s visit to Hurungwe Children’s Home early last month has given a new lease of life to the institution after she facilitated the acquisition maize inputs enough for 15 hectares.

Hurungwe District administrator Ms Makepeace Muzenda said the home has since received the inputs in full. She said the home had also since started implementing recommendations the First Lady made during her visit, one of which was the rearing of free-range chickens commonly known as road-runners.

“There is a lot of stability at the home now, I mean food-wise. The foodstuffs donated by the First Lady are assisting the children in a big way. The children are all happy and maybe the only challenge at hand concerns school fees for two Advanced Level girls at the home. One of these girls is a genius. But we know some well-wishers will come in soon to assist these girls,” Ms Muzenda said.

Ms Muzenda said the home was ready to commence serious farming after the First Lady’s assistance.

“We hope this will bring self-sustenance to the home. Land is available for this project and we are sure this will guarantee food security for the children as well as a decent income for the home. All the inputs are now at the centre as we speak. On how the centre will provide labour for the farming project, we will engage Zimbabwe Prison Services for assistance,” she said.

“So far the centre has started a vibrant road-runner project as part of implementing the First Lady’s recommendations. During her visit she suggested this road-runner project, while also urging the authorities to utilise even the little land around the centre for farming and gardening projects.”

Hurungwe Children’s Home now boasts of abundant water supplies following the sinking of a borehole at the centre by ZESA late last month. Among the 25 boreholes sunk in different wards of the Hurungwe District under ZESA’s community assistance programme one borehole was allocated to Hurungwe Children’s Home.

The home had suffered severe food shortages before the First Lady’s intervention. The home has 59 children — 30 boys and 29 girls — with 21 of them attending primary school while the rest are in secondary school.