children – NEWSSPACE

Chipinge Vulnerable Children Intervention Programme: a beacon of hope for the less privileged

**Luke Mugobo, CVCIP Founder and Executive Director**

BY MUNYARADZI BLESSING DOMA

“I decided to give back to the community because I know how it is to be vulnerable, I know how it is to lack, I experienced that when I was young.”

These were the words of Luke Mugobo, the Founder and Executive Director of Chipinge Vulnerable Children Intervention Programme (CVCIP).

Despite the organisation being self-funded, Mugobo believes it is good to provide a helping hand to others in need.

And in their own small way, they have managed to give a cheer to some vulnerable people in Chipinge.

Established in 2008, the organisation has been giving assistance to those in need and they have remained determined.

“My role is to coordinate since the organisation is not yet sponsored. We don’t have donors as of now so my role is to see to it that we stay afloat and we move forward with success.

“The objective of starting this organisation was to help the vulnerable orphans, widows and the youth by aiming to empower them.

“Because the organisation is not yet funded, so far we only give food hampers to 20 old widows and we pay schools fees for only 10 primary school going orphans.

“We started this type of an organisation is order to plough back to the community. This is something that I experienced when I was young, so I thought it is high time we should now plough back to the community,” said Mugobo.

He however acknowledges that it hasn’t been easy, because without a donor or any external funding, it has limited the kind of impact they would want to make.

“Since we started it has been tough, it’s not easy to start and do these things without backing, without sponsors.

“But despite all this, the impact we have made in the community is very positive.

“Those orphans whom we are paying school fees for now have renewed joy, their self-esteem and confidence has really grown and in turn they have greatly improved in their performance.

“The old widows whom we provide with food hampers whenever do; are very appreciative. You can tell that this is going quite a long way in improving their livelihoods.

“And to the young widows and the youth; we give them psycho-social support and they have really been impacted positively because a lot has changed.

“We have positive talks like telling them to shun gender based violence, drug and substance abuse and we strongly encourage them to be self-reliant. If we get funding, we want our young mothers, young widows and the youth to be trained on sustaining projects like detergents making, cosmetology, carpentry, just all income generating projects.”

Mugobo revealed that they are looking for partners so that they can do a lot more to help the less privileged.

“We a properly registered organisation so everything is above board, hence all we do is done professionally. We need likeminded organisations to work with and collaborate on many spheres.

“We need to do exchange programmes and many can reach us on our social media platforms or better still even visit our office in Chipinge and see for themselves the work we are doing.

“We need all the necessary support so that we can do more because ever since we started, it is the management team that is funding the organisation,” said Mugobo.

He also revealed that their future plans involve expanding to other provinces of the country and currently they had been cleared to have an office in Mutoko.

“Our future plans are to make this organisation to be self-sustaining by having educational institutions and we also intend to be an agent for the Tourism Authority so that we advertise the Eastern Highlands and have visitors coming to support us.”

He added that their first exhibition at the just ended Harare Agricultural Show was quite an eye opener as they engaged with a lot of people, as some revealed plans for meaningful engagements for future collaborations.

“Many people were really impressed by our work and they encouraged us to keep working hard because they admired the vision.

“The only challenge we saw was that many people failed to access where we were stationed because of the stairs.

“So I suggest that in future, we will need to be placed where it is more accessible but as a charity organisation we are grateful because we had been given that stand for free.”

He added that they also give an opportunity to students who require attachment, something they believe is also part of giving back to the community.

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MCAZ recalls Benylin Paediatric Syrup

BY MUNYARADZI BLESSING DOMA

The Medicines Control Authority of Zimbabwe (MCAZ) has recalled Benylin Paediatric 100ml Syrup that could have been illegally imported into the country, following reports that some batches pose fatal effects to children.

The recall follows reports from National Agency for Food and Drug Administration (NAFDAC) of Nigeria regarding the recall of Benylin Paediatric 100ml Syrup, batch number 329304, manufactured by Johnson and Johnson, South Africa.

Also, the South African Health Products Regulatory Authority (SAHPRA) and the manufacturer further identified another batch 329303 that is affected; bringing the affected batches to two; 329303 and 329304.

The two batches are said to be causing abdominal pain, vomiting, diarrhoea, inability to pass urine, headache, altered mental state, and acute kidney injury, potentially leading to death.

“While the Authority confirms that this product was registered in 2023 for use in Zimbabwe, our import database does not show a record of the importation of this product and more specifically these two batches. “However, there is a concern that through illegal means, the aforementioned batches of Benylin Paediatric Syrup may find their way into the local market. As a precautionary measure, the Authority is issuing a recall notice of this product,” revealed MCAZ Director General Richard Rukwata in a statement issued this Monday.

Rukwata further revealed that following the reports, the “authority will intensify its market surveillance activities through strict premises inspections and public awareness to ensure that these products are not circulated.”

He revealed that “according to NAFDAC, recent laboratory analysis has revealed unacceptably high levels of Diethylene glycol in this formulation.

“Diethylene glycol is a contaminant which is toxic for humans when consumed. Toxic effects can include abdominal pain, vomiting, diarrhoea, inability to pass urine, headache, altered mental state, and acute kidney injury, potentially leading to death,” said Rukwata.

He however said it was unlikely that members of the public are in possession of and/or come across this product but if it so happens, he called on them to notify the authority and/or healthcare provider immediately and desist from administering them to children.

“The cooperation of all stakeholders is essential in ensuring the right of citizens to safe and good quality medicines is protected.

“The mandate of the MCAZ is to protect public health by ensuring that all medicines and medical devices on the market are safe, effective, and of good quality and will continue to monitor the situation in line with the WHO guidelines.

“The Authority also urges members of the public to access medicines from licenced persons and premises for easier monitoring. The Authority and law enforcement agencies continue to work together to eradicate any substandard and falsified health products,” he added.

Safe school zones needed for children

**school children using a pedestrian crossing**

BY MUNYARADZI BLESSING DOMA

Most of the road infrastructure that is near schools do not support the safety of learners, posing high risks of accidents resulting in injuries or fatalities.

Even on some of the school zones where there are clearly marked signs for the protection of children, unruly motorists have total disregard of such, further compounding the risks.

The call was made by Mcleo Mapfumo, Safe School Zones Zimbabwe-Project Manager in an interview with this reporter as he revealed the successful project they had in Glen View where children had been injured, some killed due to accidents in school zones.

“The project is all about star rating schools and measure to see how safe it is for children to walk to school, for children to cycle to school or even for children who come to school using motor vehicles.

“So what basically we are supposed to do on such a project, is first we go and assess the security situation or the safety situation around the school,” said Mapfumo.

He revealed that they had initially gone to assess Glen View 8, after a backdrop of children who had lost their lives on the same spot for the last three years.

Mapfumo further added that what exactly was causing the accidents was that the infrastructure was not supporting the kids.

“And when we did the assessment around the whole area, especially where the school is located; we found that it star rated to zero which clearly shows that it’s a high risk location.

“So we then did an assessment to see what exactly would actually work at this place, so we saw a recommendation of dealing with the street, dealing with the roads.

“And we put rumble strips, we put some humps, we put a raised pedestrian crossing point, we also put bollards.

“All this was to make sure that we introducing speed calming measures,” said Mapfumo.

He further revealed that as a policy issue, they also advocated for 30kms per hour speed limit around all schools.

This was to say any motorist approaching an area where there is a school, where there are school children crossing, who are using the roads to school, it has to be a safe school zone and all cars should drive at least 30kms per hour and below.

“We can also push as a policy that around all schools, it should be a three star or better safety standard around all schools.

“If we push for this, especially for schools that are in high density suburbs, we can actually reduce the number of deaths or the number of injuries that school children face when they are going to school.

“So this project was carried out in Glen View, this was at Glen View 8 Primary School but because of the improved infrastructure along Glen View Way and Willowvale Way, it also benefitted other five neighbouring schools.

“There is also another high school, another private college that is also benefitting from the infrastructure that was put along Willowvale Way,” he said.

Mapfumo further revealed that, “on Glen View Way we managed to achieve the objective because Glen View Way was more of a city council road and City of Harare is one of the major partners on this project.

“We managed to at least push for the 30kms per hour along Glen View Way, but along Willowvale Way, it’s more of a national road.”

He also added that they are also now trying to push and include the Ministry of Transport and Infrastructural Development to guide them on how to push for that speed limit zone around the national roads, major roads like Willowvale Way.

“From this now, we feel that the safety situation has improved.

“We also want to introduce road safety marshals, like parents can actually volunteer to make sure that they assist in the morning, wearing reflective vests and the lollipop STOP and GO signs.

“They should be visible to make sure that they control all the traffic because of the vehicles, especially the unregistered private service vehicles or the mushikashikas which are not obeying the signs or paintings that are on the roads.

“Paintings are not enough so they have to be there to make sure that in the morning they assist the children and in the afternoon they also assist the children on a rotational basis,” said Mapfumo.

He also revealed that they had also painted a road safety mural outside Glen View 8 Primary School “to remind the community and commemorate the lives of children who have lost their lives on the roads.”

Going forward, Mapfumo revealed that they are now looking at expanding the assessment aspect of the project, aiming to assess almost all the schools in Harare.

After the assessment, they are also looking at creating locations, showing the high risk locations in Harare which must be urgently attended to.

“And we can now recommend this to relevant stakeholders, Traffic Safety Council of Zimbabwe, Zimbabwe Republic Police, Ministry of Transport, Ministry of Health and also Ministry of Education to say these are high risk locations.

“Children in these areas are at danger with road crashes and something has to be done urgently,” he added.

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