WIDOWS in Zimbabwe commemorated International Widows Day on Friday amidst calls on government and the private sector to provide them with opportunities which keep them busy to quell the depression and other mental health disorders associated with being widowed.
By Kuda Pembere
Circle of Comfort founder Mrs Maurine Ngwenya on the s said widows being very hard working like to keep busy doing projects which can help them fend for their children. She said widows should be gainfully employed in factories while being afforded the chance to further their education.
We want industrial opportunities. We want the government to assist us on the issue of pensions, and estates. We want opportunities where factories are open for widows to work at. We also want these widows to further their education at universities. Some need capacitation workshops on what to do with what their husbands left them.
“There are times when widows get mentally disturbed and not to endure such is through the grace of God. If the government makes the Widows’ day a public holiday to recognize the widows. We need to be recognized and celebrated because taking care of children after the passing of their father is heroic.
“We endure challenges of relatives taking all the deceased’s estate, alongside even being stripped of our dignity,” she said.
Mrs Ngwenya also said, “We see from way back, widows did not have support. Once the husband dies, one would be left alone,disadvantaged, the support system collapsed, no one to understand her. It is like being buried with your husband.”
She said they meet every month noting they are set to travel to Zambia to inspire and motivate other widows.
“So we have come together to say no, no, no we are broken but still colouring. Moving on is surviving. We are survivors and we have come to create a net for supporting those who come onto our platform so that they don’t have to go through what we went through when there was no support.
“We meet every month and have a lot of exciting programs. We are everywhere-Gokwe, Marondera. Not only in Zimbabwe. We have an invite to go to Zambia in August. We are celebrating ourselves as we have survived and are still standing.
“Our objective is to help each other as widows as we understand one another better than anyone. When we assist each other, we get to understand that a widow is not an orphan despite what they go through. We want our widows to move on and take care of their children. If we rely on others who are as well burdened with life, but if we get these opportunities we can do better,” Mrs Ngwenya said.
Chaplain Phiri who was amongst the speakers at the event encouraged widows to give the deaf ear to doomsayers and concentrate on improving their livelihoods free from stress.
Mrs Priscilla Kusema-Muchenje a member of the group called on government to drop the taxing of estates which widows would have been left with upon the death of their husbands.