Tendai Rupapa recently in MOSCOW

INSPIRED by life-transforming work being done by First Lady Dr Auxillia Mnangagwa across Zimbabwe, an international television network TV BRICS has signed a Memorandum of Understanding with her Angel of Hope Foundation to air her philanthropic work in humanitarian, cultural and social sectors.

BRICS is an economic bloc of the world’s five leading emerging economies which are Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa.

When the First Lady visited Moscow recently, TV BRICS officials invited her for a meeting  where they asked to interview her in relation to her charity work.

Touched by her extraordinary hard work, the officials further requested to sign an MOU with her Angel of Hope Foundation.

During the signing ceremony, the foundation was represented by its patron and founder Dr Mnangagwa while TV BRICS was represented by its chief executive Ms Janna Andereevna Tolstikova.

Ms Tolstikova described the MOU as useful in showing Dr Mnangagwa’s works to the world.

She said they were inspired by the work being done by Amai Mnangagwa which deserves wide recognition.

“We signed the MOU with Angel of Hope Foundation.

“It’s very useful for our TV network because we are trying to further our relationship with the Angel of Hope Foundation which is doing an excellent work in uplifting and empowering lives.

“It is a very good organisation giving hope to the people and we are going to promote this initiative by the First Lady. We are going to include materials about some of her activities in our daily reports on TV BRICS Media network in Russian, English, Chinese and Portuguese languages.

“It will help promote her humanitarian works in BRICS countries. We are also honoured to have an interview with the First Lady,” she said.

The First Lady said the MOU will create opportunities for women in Zimbabwe by showcasing their various initiatives through Angel of Hope on an international platform.

“The signing of the Memorandum of Understanding is very good to me and my foundation in that it is going to tell more about what I am doing and all the people who didn’t know what the First Lady of Zimbabwe is doing, are going to see and hear from this cooperation that now exists between the two of us.

“I am saying to the women of our country Zimbabwe, it’s an opening for them to be known what they are doing.

“Those that are in business, all the women empowerment projects we are doing including our youths. This is going to help them. TV BRICS is going to talk about everything that we are doing, that the women of Zimbabwe are doing through the Angel of Hope Foundation,” she said.

The First Lady granted the station an interview on a variety of issues and activities that she is undertaking.

Ms Tolstikova started the interview by asking Dr Mnangagwa what it meant to her to be the First Lady.

“Being a First Lady is what you do for the people and for your country. It also defines who you are as a person. In my case, I am a hard working woman and I would want to see many families including women and girls working for their own good,” the First Lady said.

Asked how she came up with the idea to launch Angel of Hope Foundation in 2018, Dr Mnangagwa said: “I thought of coming up with this foundation to enable me to know what is happening and affecting the people in urban centres and rural areas. That’s how I came up with the foundation which led to what I am doing today that is helping people especially the less-privileged.

“I found out that from urban centres and rural areas, there were two different lives there, there was a gap which I am trying to bridge through my foundation by empowering the marginalised communities. By going around the country, this helped me to see what kind of work I was going to do given the two scenarios,” she said.

The First Lady said through her foundation, she advocates and bring awareness to communities about all leading communicable and non-communicable diseases through the Ministry of Health and Child Care.

“As a patron of Angel of Hope Foundation, I make sure that the foundation works closely with the Ministry of Health and Child Care to address the health challenges especially concerning women,” she said.

True to her assertion, Dr Mnangagwa, who is the country’s health ambassador occasionally teams up with health personnel and uses her mobile clinic to screen people in remote areas for cervical cancer, breast cancer, prostate cancer and other non-communicable diseases.

Amai Mnangagwa played an active role in raising awareness during Covid-19 where she also mobilised resources to keep the pandemic at bay.

The mother of the nation also fought during this period to curb domestic violence and teen pregnancies which were on the increase.

Asked the sort of changes she sought to realise from enhancing people’s access to education, Dr Mnangagwa stressed that education opened pathways to development.

“Education brings development, first and foremost and it also promotes success,” she said.

She talked of the partnership between her Angel of Hope Foundation and the Zimbabwe Open University (ZOU) to train people in various fields through short courses to be able to market their products and services.

The courses have come in handy for various people who failed to attend school due to many factors as they can now access education.

She further spoke about her national school feeding programme which reduces the number of children dropping out of school owing to hunger and malnutrition.

The First Lady said she was committed to her work and will not tire when it comes to empowering the disadvantaged.

The First Lady told Ms Tolstikova that she did not start charity work when she became the First Lady, but has always had a soft spot for the vulnerable members of the community.

“I used to help the elderly by performing their household chores when I was a little girl. It’s in me and when I do it, I do it whole-heartedly.

“As Chirumanzu-Zibagwe legislator, I was also instrumental in the roll-out of many income generating projects for women in the area.

“They started by pooling their cash to do various works (mikando). The women started buying and selling of various commodities and managed to realise income to build shops, houses, buying cars and sending their children to school.

“I have always wanted to encourage women to work hard and make them see that they can improve themselves by merely working hard using their hands,” she said.

A hands-on person, the First Lady continues promoting the welfare of women by introducing them to income-generating projects and offering them training in detergent-making, petroleum jelly production, sewing and poultry, among many other projects.

Dr Mnangagwa has also been working with former ladies of the night whom she encouraged to quit the oldest profession and use their hands to earn clean money.