by Elijah Chihota
The advent of the Second Republic saw the First Lady Amai Auxillia Mnangagwa retiring from mainstream politics choosing to focus on charity work. In her compassion, Amai Mnangagwa saw that there were some members of the society and other aspects of life which were not being attended to and this created an anomaly which needed to be corrected to bring normalcy. Some armchair critics started castigating the First Lady on her projects which is unfair criticism.
Angel of Hope Foundation
Upon venturing into charity work, Amai Mnangagwa went on to create the Angel of Hope Foundation as her empowerment vehicle. This empowerment vehicle is the one which now directs her activities and seeing where there is need and channelling resources towards those issues.
Extended families
In the African culture we have extended families where we cater for members of the larger family. Over the years, when sanctions started taking a toll on the people, members of the extended family were neglected. The First Lady realised that because of this, our society was becoming more fragmented and there appears to be a trend where the elderly were now being neglected. Through her outreach programmes she educated members of society about hunhu/ubuntu and why it is important to look after our elderly people.
To show her true Africaness and down to earth approach in dealing with the elderly, Amai Mnangagwa could be seen washing clothes, cleaning houses and cooking for the elderly. As President Emmerson Mnangagwa always says “Cleanness is next to Godliness”, the First Lady has put it into practice. The First Lady has humbled herself to such an extent that she sits down with these elderly people and hears their concerns.
Cancer screening
Cancer has become the leading killer disease in Zimbabwe. It has also been noted that women especially the rural folk did not have this vital information. As a stop gap measure to create awareness, Amai Mnangagwa became a real angel of hope as she took cervical cancer screening to those who were being affected with no-one giving them such information. Due to her benevolence, most women have immensely benefited.
Promotion of hygiene at home
On 5 December 2018, President Mnangagwa declared the first Friday of each month, the National Environment Cleaning Day, in order to ensure a sustainable clean environment and waste disposal systems. Amai Mnangagwa went a step further and took up the clean-up campaign to rural homesteads. As the old adage says “charity begins at home”, the First Lady decided to skilfully drill the concept at household level.
Promoting traditional foods
Upon attaining independence in 1980, most Zimbabweans started to shun traditional foods preferring more refined foods which they assumed represented a higher status. However, over the years it was seen that refined foods were not good for our health at all. Amai Mnangagwa has now taken it upon herself to impart this vital information to the majority of Zimbabweans in remote areas to revert to eating traditional foods for the good of their health.
Food Security
When children want food in a house, they normally approach their mother and also when there is hunger in a family, it is women who are mostly affected and bear the burden of making sure that the family is well fed. Like a true mother, the First Lady strongly advocates for food security at household level, hence she called for the continuation of the Zunde raMambo food security concept at community level. In this regard, Amai Mnangagwa is working closely with the wives of Chiefs and Village Heads.
Perceived marginalised communities
Some misguided people had been blaming Government for allegedly neglecting certain communities and only visit them during election time. The First Lady defied odds and visited far flung areas such as Kanyemba and Binga to get first-hand information on concerns affecting their communities. These concerns were later presented to relevant authorities for redress.
The First Lady’s visits to Kanyemba resulted in the community benefitting from castor bean, orchard and fish farming projects as well as opening of a health centre. Above all, she also handed over an assortment of groceries which includes maize, rice, cooking oil and kitchen utensils.
Health ambassador
“I went to Mashonaland Central and found some pharmacies empty,” said Amai Mnangagwa in May 2019, during one of her tours in Mashonaland Central Province. Her report culminated in a visit to the National Pharmaceutical Company (NatPharm) resulted in improved drug distribution to affected clinics and hospitals.
Conclusion
Amai Mnangagwa’s projects through the Angel of Hope Foundation have proved that she is really an angel of hope and communities are so eager to be visited by her. Once she visits they know that their challenges will be addressed sooner than later because she can easily convey the message to President Mnangagwa and other relevant authorities.
