‘Inspired’ Zivhu launches foundation
RENOWNED philanthropist Dr Killer Zivhu has called on Zimbabweans to emulate First Lady Amai Grace Mugabe, whose works in assisting the underprivileged have inspired him to set up a foundation to mobilise financial and material resources to help the vulnerable.
The foundation, to be officially launched during Dr Zivhu’s birthday celebrations on February 8 at Tamuka Children’s Home in Kuwadzana, Harare, will be called The Killer Zivhu Foundation.
Dr Zivhu, who is the president of the Association of Rural District Councils in Zimbabwe and chairman of Chivi Rural District Council, praised the First Lady for leading the way in philanthropic work.
“In coming up with this Foundation, I first looked at what the First Lady Amai Grace Mugabe is doing, especially in that she looks after so many orphans and children who are not hers,” he said.
“She is touching so many lives and changing them. Whenever I have meetings with her, she always helps on philanthropic work, she always encourages people to take care of the underprivileged wherever they are, shun corruption and take good care of children.
“In fact, the First Lady has been donating school uniforms and shoes to schools around the country, apart from looking after so many children at her children’s home in Mazowe. Let us take up her initiatives and help the underprivileged among us. I am inspired by her works and she is my role model,” Dr Zivhu said.
Dr Zivhu announced the setting up of the Foundation on Friday last week while making an appeal to individuals and local corporates to offer a helping hand to one of the vulnerable children he adopted.
He adopted Edwell Fuma, who is now 19-years-old.
Fuma is seeking financial assistance to study for a Mechanical Engineering degree outside the country after Dr Zivhu paid for his education and upkeep when he dropped from Chamananzva Secondary School in Chivi South owing to lack of fees. His blind father and elderly mother could not raise the school fees.
Dr Zivhu went on to pay his fees until he wrote his Zimsec O-Level examinations in 2014 and attained 9 As and a B.
He took him to Mwenezi Government High School where he scored As in both Mathematics and Physics and a B in Chemistry at A-Level.
“How many of such children are underprivileged, but still have the potential?” said Dr Zivhu. “As a country we are losing potential doctors, engineers, professors some of whom end up working on farms in South Africa because they would have dropped out of school because of lack of fees.
“Others end up taking to the streets soliciting for men, while others even resort to crime due to lack of opportunities to realise their dreams because of the circumstances they would have found themselves in.
“My appeal to fellow Zimbabweans is that please let us spare part of the little that we have and help those in difficult circumstances to also reach their dreams. I will be very proud if Mr Fuma can become successful in life and help others the way I helped him.’’
Dr Zivhu said the Foundation he will be launching will target helping orphans, the elderly, the physically-challenged, together with other disadvantaged groups.
“I will be launching The Killer Zivhu Foundation at Tamuka Children’s Home in Kuwadzana on February 8 and I am saying to all my friends and relatives who want to bring me gifts for my birthday that they should not look for gifts to help me, but bring anything from old clothes to anything, so that we can help our brothers, sisters, children and parents who are finding it difficult to make ends meet because of unfortunate circumstances in their lives,’’ he said.
“I want the Killer Zivhu Foundation to spearhead mobilisation of material and financial resources to help underprivileged members of our society from all the four corners of Zimbabwe, that is my dream.’’
Dr Zivhu challenged fellow Zimbabweans to help those in needy and said he was prepared to pay for Mr Fuma’s university education locally.
“My hands are already full with scores of other vulnerable children that I am paying school fees for and as such I cannot afford to pay for his education outside Zimbabwe where he intends to go and learn,” he said.