Chronicle (Zimbabwe)

Mai Mwamuka counsellin­g initiative a hit on radio

- Mthabisi Tshuma

HAVING been off the stage due to the Covid19 pandemic, gospel musician Mai Mwamuka is utilising the lockdown period to reach out to her followers through her marriage counsellin­g and mentorship programme.

It all started after a public request from fans to have the artiste who will soon be celebratin­g her 30-year marriage anniversar­y, conduct marriage counsellin­g lessons online to share with them, tips on how to protect their marriages.

Realising she had a lot of free time due to the lockdown and that people were in great need of these services as they were now spending more time together, she took up the offer. She launched the programme on WhatsApp during the early days of the lockdown and now, the initiative has landed on three radio stations – ZBC’s Classic 263 and Power FM as well as Zimpapers’ Star FM.

Commenting on the rapid growth of the platform, Mai Mwamuka said she is overwhelme­d with the way the lessons are gathering momentum.

“I started going on air late last year on Classic 263 on a presenter-based programme hosted by Prominence Makaza. This happened once a month and now, we’re also on Radio Zimbabwe with Liberty Luphahla on Sundays.

“I’m also on Star FM where they have a programme that airs on Mondays to Thursdays at 4AM and usually, I have a slot on any of those days. I do the sessions named Bhaubhau Cation with DJ Ola on a program called Diaspora Link.”

She said she has been getting positive feedback from listeners, something she is grateful for as it shows she is doing a good job in helping people.

“A lot of people tune in and it’s quite an experience for me to be part of such a broadcasti­ng experience. It feels great to help people that you cannot meet physically spirituall­y,” said Mai Mwamuka.

She said the sessions were inspired by the need to assist those in marriages, mainly because of the lockdown which has led people to spend more time together.

“It was brought about by the challenges of the lockdown where couples were forced to spend more time together. In order for them to tolerate each other, it needs the grace of God and training on how to handle offences and resolution skills which is what my sessions are focused on.

“The mentorship and counsellin­g programme takes one from the ECD level of marriage upwards,” she said.

So far, she said listeners favourite topic has been “Dealing with small houses the Bible way”. Following the success of that topic, she is now working on introducin­g another hot topic on sex where she will unpack bedroom issues.

The musician said they are planning on having testimonia­ls in order to inspire others as they want people who are facing challenges in marriages to work them out as divorce must not be an option. – @mthabisi_mthire.

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