A group of women from rural Muswodi in Mutale are rendering an exceptional service to their community by taking care of vulnerable and orphaned children in the area. At the Muswodi Dipeni Drop-In Centre, these women continue to offer their services for free on a daily basis, without expecting or receiving any stipends.
Their good deeds, however, have not gone unnoticed and talk of these woman's selfless acts soon attracted the attention of the local traditional leader, Vhamusanda Vho-Thiwelimulambo Rammbuda, who decided to give them a pat on the back in recognition of the good work they are doing for the community.
On Monday, 12 December, they received a surprise visit from the chief, who praised them and handed them a letter that allows them to seek donations for the organisation. "Our area is one of the least developed in the country, where unemployment and poverty have become a way of life. We have child-headed families with no breadwinners who need our help, and these women have taken up that role of caring for them. They give support to the vulnerable children and orphans who have no one to take care of them, and this is what we want in this community. We say thank you for the wonderful job they are doing," Rammbuda said.
Rammbuda called on businesses and the government to give the women the financial support they need to continue this good job.
The leader of the organisation, Ms Irene Nefolovhodwe, said they were working under difficult circumstances, having to look after 86 children with no budget at all. "We are really struggling as an organisation. We have to do piece jobs in order to finance the running of this facility. We have a site ready but no money to erect a structure there," she said.