A HARARE widow has transformed the lives of many orphaned children in Epworth, where urban poverty hinges on the boarders of extreme, through providing them with supplementary food.
Madrine Mugweni has been providing meals to orphaned children since 2014 following the death of her husband in the dormitory suburb of Epworth.
The Harare widow, through her organisation Esteemed Children Trust, is running a project in Epworth where 50 orphans and other vulnerable children are provided hot meals every day.
Speaking to Zim Morning Post, Mugweni said regardless that she was now a widow, the death of her husband (with who she had started the project), had not detered her from her goal to provide meals to the needy.
“We started the feeding scheme in 2005 together with my husband, paying school fees to orphans who had excelled in various academic disciplines. Some have become pharmacists and others accountants,” she said.
“When my husband passed away in 2014, it was not easy to carry on with the journey alone but with God leading, I continued.”
Esteemed Children Trust operates around the Stopover area in Epworth where orphans receive one meal every day except on Sundays.
Mugweni runs the Trust with a complimentary staff of three, whose responsibilities include identifying children fit for the programme.
The three women also cook and take the children through their learning needs.
“Our work goes beyond just providing a hot meal. We also give them career guidance and spiritual education,” she added.
Just like a few other Zimbabweans, Mugweni’s dream is to continue helping children who are failing to navigate through the country’s faltering economy.
“I feed these children out of my salary due to lack of funding from donors and now the economic situation has limited my capabilities as my salary is losing value every day.I wish to offer these kids breakfast meals before they go to school because currently, we are only giving them lunches,” Mugweni said.
The feeding project has managed to assist those children who suffer from malnutrition, hence reducing the likelihood of opportunistic diseases affecting the beneficiaries in future.