The Hunan (province) Business Association in Zimbabwe, a collective of Chinese business people in the country, has pledged to upscale efforts towards introducing an array of sustainable initiatives to help underprivileged local communities.
This comes amid revelations that Chinese investments in Zimbabwe shot to US$3 billion in the first nine months of this year, pointing to a gradual increase in the number of businesses from the Asian country operating locally.
Speaking on the sidelines of a festive season celebration ceremony where donations of foodstuffs were handed over to members of the Zimbabwe Parents of Children with Disabilities in Harare recently, the association’s chairperson Zhuolin Song said the group was committed to assisting locals as part of its broad corporate social responsibility drive.
“We do such donations twice a year, in June and in December (because) Zimbabwe and China are one family, so we are doing this to help out since we are engaged in business here we have to carry out some corporate social responsibilities to the country and communities where we operate,” said Zhuolin, adding:
“While we will continue helping in this way, we want to do more than just a donation for this target group so we are starting the process of planning strategically to see whether we can do something that ensures that they continue to benefit beyond donations.”
During the event, a group of medical doctors from the same province in China also provided free medical service including check-ups and consultations for children with disabilities.
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“There has been a medical cooperation between the two countries since 1985, ours is the 21st China Medical Team dispatched by the Chinese government to come here and help local communities as well as train medical staff for free,” the team captain, Dr Tan Jianlong said.
Zimbabwe Parents of Children with Disabilities coordinator Theresa Makwara expressed gratitude to the local Chinese communities for bringing cheer to the often sidelined children.
“Most times, children with disabilities are underprivileged and largely spend their time at home as they hardly attend school because of the disabilities,” said Makwara.
“Most of them are severely multiple disabled so it is something that has made us happy that they got a chance to go out today and enjoy the festive season like other children do.”