…and looks after three
grandchildren
Beatific
Gumbwanda
CHIREDZI
– A
picture of an old woman hard at work using her bare hands to build a hut
recently circulated on social media and many people dismissed the picture as
fake news.
TellZim, however,
investigated the issue and found that the woman actually exists, and her birth
name is Patricia Mahinzu who stays in a resettlement area commonly known as ‘Kuma
3-Hectare’ some few kilometres behind Cottco Depot in Chiredzi.
With the help of
sources including former Zaka West Member of Parliament (MP) Festus Dumbu,
TellZim was able to track Mahinzu who is simply known as Mbuya Chisare.
The old woman’s farm
brick and mud hut is almost complete although it shows signs of poor
workmanship.
 |
| Mbuya Chisare and her three grandchildren at their new hut |
Mbuya Chisare provided
her national ID which shows that she was born in Baye village near Jerera in
Zaka district on the September 12 1942 meaning is 78 years of age.
“I was married to Jalisi
Maiza of Chijubana village in the Chitepo area of Chipinge South but he died in
July 2005. We were blessed with two daughters and a son but one of our daughters
is now late,” said Gogo Chisare.
Her second daughter,
who has two children of her own, is now a widow and is critically ill at her
marital home in Chipinge district.
Mbuya Chisare’s only
son illegally migrated to South Africa ‘many years ago’ leaving behind a wife
and three children and she has since completely lost touch with him.
She now looks after three
grandchildren including a 16-year-old girl who dropped out of school while
doing Grade 3.
After the death of her
husband, Mbuya Chisare went to live with her daughter and her son-in-law in
Chipinge but when the son-in-law died, she moved out as there was no more food
at home.
She said she worked in
the resettlement areas for several years without a salary, but just for food so
that she would not starve.
Three years ago, she
got a piece of land in the Kuma 3-Hectare area where she built a pole and mud
hut.
Gogo Chisare’s
daughter-in-law, who was abandoned by her husband when he illegally migrated to
South Africa, then heard that she had found her own place.
She sought and found
her; stayed for a short period of time before disappearing, leaving all her
children in the care of Mbuya Chisare.
“I have received
some food donations from the Church of Christ and it helped a lot. I have not
yet managed to get my name registered for the Social Welfare Department’s food
assistance programme so we don’t have enough food for most of the time.
When contacted for
comment, Chiredzi Rural District Ward 29 Councillor Keuswell Muvengi said he
had never heard about Mbuya Chisare and her plight.
“I don’t know
about that woman. I will summon village chairpersons to find out more about her
and how we could assist her,” said Muvengi.
Mbuya Chisare told
TellZim she looked forward to finish building her new hut before the onset of
the rains.
