He is using the proceeds of his company, Eureka Marketing, to fund the trust and has embarked on some fund-raising activities, including a car wash and talent shows, to make empowerment projects a reality for the targeted beneficiaries.
“Among the members of the trust are professionals with skills in engineering, ICT, agriculture, food production, music and teaching. These skills will be imparted to the targeted groups free of charge. Thereafter, we hope to provide them with basic equipment to start projects,” said Magaya.
“We realised that many disabled people in both urban and rural areas possess talent that can be tapped for the benefit of the individuals and the nation. We will identify at least five beneficiaries from each district and town, with a bias towards rural areas, and the first training will begin soon.”
The goal is to set up offices across all districts of the country in the next five years and provide shelter at every district to accommodate participants during the training and grooming period. This would complement efforts by institutions such as Jairos Jiri Centre and Danhiko.
As an extension of its social responsibility, Dandare has introduced an environmental management programme in Norton. “Residents will be taught how to manage and preserve the environment through refuse collection, proper care for vegetation and so on,” said Magaya.
Zimbabwe has an estimated population of two million disabled people. Lynne Featherstone, the UK parliamentary undersecretary for international development, told a conference in London last year that: “It’s a sad truth that in many developing countries people with disabilities simply don’t count. The absence of concrete evidence on disability makes it easy for governments and others to ignore those who are already among the most neglected in society.”
Post published in: News