Zimbabwe Multi-Talented Youth Association (Zimtaya) will next month hold the Miss Rural Heritage 2016 at Mahusekwa High School in Mashonaland East province.
BY Nicola Gibson
The pageant, to be held on August 13, targets the much-deprived rural youth. Last year’s pageant was held in Goromonzi where 21-year-old Callin Nyabunze was crowned queen.
“Zimtaya is an endeavour to foster empowerment to these most vulnerable, underprivileged orphaned rural girls through this pageant,” said event organiser Christine Matizha.
“The association has run preliminary runs in Mashonaland East province and now preparations for the provincial session are in progress.”
Matizha said her organisation designed such programmes to empower the girl child, targeting those in rural areas.
“The girl child in the rural areas should feel as equally important in the society as her urban counterpart,” Matizha said.
The girl child in the rural areas is so disenfranchised to the extent that they cannot afford proper sanitation.
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“Some because of lack of resources do not go to school or dropped out of school at an early age and are then forced into early marriages. This exposes them to unhealthy off-spring, unhappiness as well as HIV and Aids. These are the situations that we want to avoid as an organisation,” she said.
Matizha said Miss Rural Heritage had given the rural girl child a new world, self-worth and self-actualisation.
Zimtaya also trains and offers scholarships to pageant winners and other rural girls.
“We get the girl to be involved in cultural exchange programmes with neighbouring countries. We also liaise with other foreign organisations for these girls’ to get scholarships,” she said.
Matizha said Zimtaya partnered doctors who gave girls free medical advice, hence creating awareness among the rural girl child.
She said Zimtaya would launch a similarproject that would target the rural boy.
“The launch of the boy child programme is born out of the need to teach boys at a tender age on issues of harassing girls and making them realise that they should respect the girls,” Matizha said.
