“I almost thought of committing suicide. I could not just sit and wait for people to tell me what to do, what to wear and what to eat,” she told The Zimbabwean.
But now she can see again, thanks to the Help Age pilot programme that arranged an operation to remove the cataracts. “I sang and danced. The hospital staff had to stop me. I was overjoyed,” she said.
The organisation has transformed the lives of many old people here, giving them inputs and training lead farmers in conservation agriculture.
“We have been trained in seed multiplication and storage, community gardening and management, livestock management and training of paravets, together with veterinary packs for paravets,” said one farmer.
One senior citizen of Machina Village said people were now able to access water because the organization helped them to drill boreholes.
“People were fetching water from the nearby dam and surrounding streams. Some people were traveling up to three km to the nearest water, especially around October. Help Age rehabilitated five boreholes in our area and we now access safe water,” he said.
Although beneficiaries only receive $20 a month in cash, the organisation’s executive director, Priscilla Gavi, said it was making a difference in their lives.
“Though some people have said the money is too little, it is making a difference in transforming lives. Some people have even bought livestock,” said Gavi.
The Director of Social Services in the Ministry of Labour, Sydney Mhishi, agreed the money was helping people. “We are talking of a group of people who have no other means of income. They wait eagerly for the money and are now able to buy basic commodities,” he said.
Post published in: News