Zimpapers Logo

Fairness Moyana in Hwange

The Rotaract Club of Hwange last weekend held a fun run to raise funds for the purchase of sanitary ware for over 100 vulnerable girls as part of efforts to end the period stigma.

Members of the club ran and walked from Bypass filling station through town to Coalfields Primary School while raising awareness on the plight of the girl child when it comes to access to hygiene and sanitation.

The Club president Mrs Gladys Chawatama said: “This was a fundraiser meant to gather funds to buy sanitary wear for donation to less privileged girls. This activity is in line with our monthly themes and this time around it’s water and sanitation and we will have a campaign and career guidance. Rotary has calendar objectives and we were once doing a pad drive for an organisation called Good Hope Mothers. The issue of lack of sanitary wear really affects the girl child to a point that they skip school or end up having a yeast infection,” said Mrs Chawatama.

She said before the activity the club was working with a local children’s organisation, Good Hope Mothers for the provision of clothes, sanitary wear, and food items for vulnerable communities particularly girls in Sinderella Village.

“We used to leave things such as clothes and food where vulnerable people would come and collect. We collect clothes, pads, and food to assist the less privileged within our communities.

The youths also partnered with a grandmother in Lupote who was looking after nine orphans and helped the family venture into an income-generating project after buying them goats and chickens.

“We had a project in Lupote village where we took care of a vulnerable family. A grandmother was looking after 9 orphans and her grandchildren and we helped her venture into an income-generating project for sustainability. We bought her goats and chickens so they could be sustainable. Our mission is to help vulnerable members of our society so if we find someone like that, we do our best to help.” 

Mrs Chawatama said the club was in the process of initiating career guidance and social interaction sessions in school following a rise in the number of school dropouts especially girls.

“There is a high rate of school dropouts in Hwange especially for the girls most of them are getting married at a very young age and we noticed that there is no career guidance to help guide them through so that they appreciate the value of education We plan to do a career guidance so that we help to provide direction to our girls through the use of professionals that are within our club. We hope this approach will be able to motivate others to know that there is a better life.”

Another issue that the Rotaract Club aimed to help solve was the issue of alcohol and drug abuse amongst the youths which they argued was partly driven by the lack of recreational facilities in the mining town which kept youth idle resulting in them seeking illicit ways of entertainment.

Part of the fundraising activities outside of the fun run included Zumba and colour painting which allowed participants to interact while adorning various colour costumes.

Rotaract Club is a subsidiary of Rotary which consists of young adults from 18-30 years old with the mandate to provide service to others, promote integrity, and advance world understanding, goodwill, and peace through our fellowship of business, professional, and community leaders. The organisation is heavily involved in improving the livelihoods of communities and youths through the impartation of knowledge and skills.