Beauty queen leads COVID-19 initiative
FORMER Miss Ireland International Blessing Mutamba ( pictured) has set up a syndicate of influential Zimbabweans to deliver online one-on-one sessions in different fields of specialty, with proceeds from the initiative channelled to disadvantaged families in Mbare and Epworth whose income flows have been stemmed by the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic.
The pandemic saw President Emmerson Mnangagwa putting the country under a 45-day lockdown to curtail its potential spread and consequently immobilised the majority of citizens who earn their keep through informal trade.
The beauty queen, who recently donated a food hamper to Matthew Rusike Children’s Home in Harare, said she wanted to scale up the initiative.
“In return, we will be asking people for a donation of any amount of their choice and the money raised will go to EatOut community outreach delivering food hampers in Mbare and Epworth as well as other charitable organisations in Zimbabwe,” she said.
“I have already donated one food hamper to Matthew Rusike Children’s Home in Harare and now we want to scale up the operations to make it into a national project.”
An analyst at the International Stock Exchange, Mutamba said the motive behind the initiative was to ensure provision of food and other necessities for families trapped in the current COVID-19 lockdown.
“A lot of people in Zimbabwe depend on daily incomes and do not have any savings, so lockdown means people stay at home but with no food or other supplies,” she said.
Initial focus, Mutamba said, would be on Harare before branching out to other parts of the country including her hometown of Mutare.
“In the first instance, while we are focusing on Harare, some of the money will be used by EatOut movement based in Harare who will be the ones doing all the work on the ground and will try and reach as many families as possible,” she said.
“In Mutare, there is a company called Business Connect which has developed a WhatsApp chat platform where people message what supplies they need, then delivery will be made to as many families as possible. It is mainly aimed at families in the less well- off, high-density areas.”
To make the workload easier, Mutamba said she had roped in several partners including renowned choreographer John Cole, consultant Edgar Muzvidziwa, sexual health reproductive rights expert Rudo Shumba, EMEA software delivery director at Foxconn CZ, Emmanuel Jefrey, success coach Jonah Mungoshi, entrepreneur and actor Albert Chigiya and Clirtual Assist founder Clive Masarakufa. Mutamba said individuals interested in booking for the sessions should first make a donation to crowdfunding page gf.me/u/ xznsgs and leave a comment with their Instagram or Facebook handle on the GoFundMe page's comments section.
She would then contact the participant to identify the training session they would like to benefit from and co-ordinate the time and date. The session host would then deliver the session through Facebook or Instagram video call at the agreed time and date. Blessing Mutamba graduated with a degree in events management before attaining a first class bachelors’ degree with honours in creative enterprise and then a master’s degree in entrepreneurship.