By TARIRO MUSHORE
Epworth – The reigning Miss Ireland International, born Blessing Mutamba donated sanitary pads last Friday to Matthew Rusike Children’s Home and the Methodist Academy in Epworth. Katswe Sistahood and Girl up Zimbabwe also contributed some of the materials that were handed over.
As a response to the harsh economic conditions in Zimbabwe which have seen the prices of sanitary pads rising, Miss Ireland International partnering with Katswe Sistahood and Girl Up Zimbabwe took it upon themselves to donate the sanitary pads to the underprivileged girls at Matthew Rusike Children’s Home and the Methodist Academy in Epworth.
Epworth is a largely marginalized residential area located in the south east edges of Harare. The levels of poverty and prostitution are generally high, with some recorded cases of girls engaging in commercial sex work at a tender age due to poverty. To most residents of Epworth buying sanitary pads is a luxury since some families cannot even afford to send their children to school or to buy sufficient food for their own survival.
Blessing Mutamba revealed that during her stay in the United Kingdom she has been strongly involved in campaigns to market the various aspects that Zimbabwe has to offer on a global level particularly in the entrepreneurship and tourism sectors. Community engagement and meeting up with decision makers has been part of her homecoming tour. It seems she has done perfectly well in engaging with the young girls, particularly students and the less privileged.
‘As a young girl you don’t have to be affected by harsh economic conditions and other factors but you have to keep your head high focusing on your goals’, said Miss Ireland International.
Miss Ireland International created a platform where girls could freely discuss the problems and challenges they are facing as young girls in Epworth, focusing on the theme ‘End period poverty’.
She also made a contribution towards the fees of underprivileged children at Methodist Academy. This kind gesture was appreciated by many teachers and even children because not all successful ladies in the diaspora remember to make a contribution to their home country.
