TAZI rescues Nyangani twins’ family

THE Twins Association of Zimbabwe (TAZI) has come to the rescue of the family of eightyear-old twin boys who died last week after spending the night stranded on Mt Nyangani.

Following the story published in The Herald, TAZI followed up with the family and has pledged to work with it in the future.

The association made a cash donation of $1 700 and pledged to buy tombstones for the twins’ graves.

Tanatswa and Tendai Matsiwira had gone onto the mountain in search of stray cattle with their father Shingirai and cousin Anesu, but the weather changed and they could not find their way back. Narrating the ordeal, the twins’ father said the boys were the family’s only children and he was gutted by their death.

“While we were on the mountain, there was a hailstorm and we tried to go down, but we couldn’t go far because it suddenly became misty and we could not see anything so we waited for the mist to clear so that we could go back home,” he said.

“We could not move until the next morning, but by then, the children could not walk due to the cold, so I had to go and look for help, leaving them there since I could not carry them on my own.”

Mr Matsiwira said when he got home, he failed to go back with the search party and had to give them directions and hoped that help would get there on time. But that was not to be, the children had already developed hypothermia and Tanatswa was pronounced dead on arrival at the hospital and his twin died the next morning.

TAZI was co-founded by twins Mayor Tendai and Lawyer Farai Katonha. Mayor said although the Matsiwira twins were not members of the association, they had been touched by their death. “TAZI is an association that is meant to uplift the livelihoods of twins in Zimbabwe, especially those from vulnerable communities,” he said. “We are deeply saddened that the Matsiwira twins passed away before they had the chance to be part of our movement. “We will continue to assist the family whenever we can. Our members made contributions that we have passed on to the family. We are also going to provide tombstones and cement for the late twins’ graves.” Lawyer, who is the co-president of the association, said there were a lot of families with twins or triplets across the country who were struggling to make ends meet.