Communities welcome First Lady’s initiatives
LIKE a baobab seed which grows from a tiny piece into a giant tree with countless benefits, programmes being spearheaded by First Lady Auxillia Mnangagwa are being welcomed by the community as game-changers.
The First Lady is traversing the length and breadth of the country with her traditional meal cookout competition which promotes indigenous dishes that have proven high medicinal and nutritional value.
She is running another programme called Dzidziso yaamai munhanga/ mugota/ixiba yevachiri kuyaruka which dovetails and complements Vision 2030’s overarching goal of transforming Zimbabwe into an upper middle income country by the year 2030 from a human and cultural standpoint.
In addition, the initiative also speaks to the African Union’s Agenda 2063 Aspiration 5 which desires the realisation of “an Africa with a strong cultural identity, common heritage, values and ethics.
An inspiring factor is that the mother of the nation is leading from the front to ensure both programmes benefit the people.
Academics, culture and arts experts, nutritionists, traditional leaders, and ordinary people have all come out in full support of the programmes which help achieve a better Zimbabwe for all.
Her apolitical stance has given both programmes a national outlook as she has conducted the programmes without bias towards one’s religious outlook, colour, creed and political orientation.
Some people were no longer taking traditional dishes favouring exotic dishes which exposed them to obesity, diabetes, cardiac problems, cancer, among many other illnesses.
The First Lady’s interventions come at a time when youths had lost morals as exemplified by the rise in drug abuse, alcohol abuse, promiscuity, teenage pregnancies, dis-respectfulness and many other issues affecting youths.
So eye opening have been the initiatives that they have spawned a police crackdown on drug peddlers and syndicates netted 143 suspected drug dealers with their bases being destroyed.
In the raids, police recovered different types of illegal drugs.
Some youths allegedly bunked school to buy intoxicants at various illegal selling points that had mushroomed.
During the First Lady’s interactive session with pupils in Bulawayo last week, they openly admitted that their peers were letting their cereals ferment under beds at boarding schools to get high while others were selling mbanje cakes at school as others hid cellphones in violation of school regulations.
“Amai, this programme is a timely intervention because some of our peers in boarding schools are now very naughty and taking intoxicants at school. They are taking certain cereals, mix them with water and leave them for some days to ferment under the bed before drinking it and get high while others bring weed scones and cakes,” one of the nhanga participants said.
She said some unruly pupils were also crushing tablets and smoking them.
The no-holds barred sessions highlighted that most youths engaged in premarital sex due to peer pressure, but the mother of the nation warned the children against this saying it exposed them to diseases, unwanted pregnancies, caused them to drop out of school and affected their health.
She said mischief made it difficult for children to achieve highly in life.
If the youths put into practice the things they are being taught through “Dzidziso yaamai munhanga/mugota/ ixiba yevachiri kuyaruka”, the country will soon witness a radical shift in the way they behave and interact.
Her Cook-out Traditional Meal competition also comes at a time when the younger generation was favouring processed foods and takeaways at the expense of traditional dishes which are rich in nutrients and have medicinal properties.
What is intriguing is that the traditional dishes can be packaged in many