THE Chinese embassy in Zimbabwe, through the Hope Harbor project co-organised by Teen Rescue Mission, yesterday donated school fees and stationery to some of the traders who lost their wares in an inferno that ravaged Mbare Musika market last month.
A total of 4 695 traders were directly affected by the inferno that engulfed the market place, impacting the livelihoods of 23 000 people.
Speaking at the handover ceremony at Mbare Stodart Hall, Chinese ambassador to Zimbabwe Zhou Ding said the embassy wants the children of the affected traders to continue with education “as they are the future and the torchbearers of our dreams and aspirations”.
“I would like to pay my tribute to the hardworking and persevering people of Mbare who are recovering from the misery caused by the inferno one month ago,” he said.
“The Mbare Musika market has long been a symbol of resilience and entrepreneurship. It is with great sorrow that I learnt that a devastating fire has destroyed the Mbare Musika last month, leaving thousands of traders in despair with losses amounting to millions of dollars, which resulted in President (Emmerson) Mnangagwa declaring this devastating fire a state of disaster.
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“To compliment the government’s efforts for a speedy recovery of livelihoods, our embassy decided to support the schoolchildren from most affected families in Mbare with school fees and stationeries, to ensure that the schoolchildren here are able to continue the education that they deserve, without being bothered by the hardship caused by the sad incident,” he said.
Mnangagwa declared the fire incident a state of disaster, under section 27 of the Civil Protection Act [Chapter 10:06], highlighting the gravity of the fire that destroyed the popular trading hub.
Teen Rescue director Abraham Matuka 100 traders who were hardly hit by the inferno were selected.
“We were targeting parents with primary level children, who are in the government schools because if these children do not go to school, they will end up being on the streets and end up being into drugs and end up in early pregnancies and into crime,” he said.
“We will continue the journey of trying to reach out and make sure that we have young people also assisted.”
Each parent walked away with US$35 and stationery (counter books, exercise books, plastic and khaki covers).
Harare Metropolitan Province acting head in the Youth Empowerment, Development and Vocational Training ministry, Simon Jengwa, applauded the Chinese embassy and Teen Rescue Mission for the partnership which has enhanced the livelihoods of the Mbare traders.
“This smart partnership with the Chinese embassy that we are witnessing today is a great achievement as we scale up our future leaders’ school programming efforts as a ministry,” he said.