MISS Curvy Zimbabwe 2018 finalist Joy Tapuwanashe Nemaungwe is seeking funds to help a Kuwadzana woman born intersex.
BY ALBERT MASAKA
To make the issue more complex, the woman has developed a complication in her leg which now continually bleeds following an operation to remove the male organ.
Nemaungwe, who is from the same neighbourhood with the woman, told The Standard Style last week that the best part of the pageant was the charity work, which she already had a passion for.
Her theme for the project is Meet Susan.
Susan uses self-made crutches for support, and even goes to fetch firewood in that condition as her family cannot afford to pay for electricity, let alone her treatment.
The 28-year-old model said Susan was staying with her mother and sister under conditions of extreme poverty and had never been to school.
“Those interested to help can get in touch with me on Facebook on the link: https://www.facebook.com/Miss-Curvy-Zimbabwe-2018-Finalist-Joy-Tapuwanashe-Nemaungwe-320848435407165/,” she said.
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“I have known Susan since 2006 and she has been like that. She cannot afford proper medical care, hence dresses the wound herself daily using the medicines, which are almost always out of supply.”
Susan is always in pain and survives on painkillers.
“She doesn’t even know her age and thinks she is above 15, but her ID suggests that she is 29… an estimate from the time it was issued,” Nemaungwe said.
After hearing of Susan’s plight, Nemaungwe decided to go to local radio stations to highlight her plight and listeners responded well by paying for her consultation fee at Borrowdale Trauma Centre.
However, due to her condition the wound specialist at the hospital referred them to an orthopaedic surgeon as the infection had spread to the bones.
“We could not manage to continue to go as a sponsor had told us to wait and we are still waiting, so now we keep appealing to the public for her to see the orthopaedic surgeon for proper consultation,” said Nemaungwe.
Nemaungwe, a University of Zimbabwe graduate, said she never dreamt of modelling because of her huge body as she thought it was for the tall and slim.
She began her modelling career a year ago by accident after she walked into a shop where a photographer was taking pictures of a young model and was having problems with the girl who could not fit well into the clothes.
“He asked me to try on, I hesitated but I did and he took pictures of me and called me after two weeks asking if I wanted to pursue a career in modelling,” she said.
“I reluctantly said yes and from then on, thanks to the Miss Curvy pageant, I successfully auditioned for the pageant.”
Nemaungwe says she is full of energy and loves to laugh. her hobbies are travelling, eating, debating and playing chess while her favourite sport is netball.
