Story by Abigail Mvududu – Communicator
Bambelela! Hold on! Never give up! Christ is our hope!
In order to hold on and never give up, women in the Harare East District of the United Methodist Church came together for a one day workshop to get trained in preservation of
vegetables and fruits, jam and juice processing, decor and flower arranging. The workshop was graced by Rev. Ronnie Nyakuengama of Chisipite circuit who delivered the opening devotion.
To answer the clarion call of the World Federation of Methodist and Uniting Church Women (WFMUCW) to focus on three Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) of eradication of poverty and extreme hunger, prevention and cure of diseases, primary education for all, the district held the one day workshop to train women from the district’s circuits who will then go back to their communities and train other women.
This is not the first time that a workshop of this nature has been held in the district. The Conference Coordinator for WFMUCW, Mrs Patricia Mapani said in 2013 a workshop trained women on bead making. Some of the women went on to start making bags and baskets decorated with beads for sale. The coordinator took samples of the bags to the United States of America and the bags were well received. Mrs P. Mapani said, “We are in the process of trying to access that market and we are working on the modalities on how to export them.”
Not only have women been equipped with skills to eradicate poverty and extreme hunger, they have also been trained in herb gardening focusing on herbs to control blood pressure, insecticides and many others. They were also taught to utilise the little spaces they have available for vegetable gardening.
WFMUCW is also interested in the spiritual well being of its members. The members also hold revivals and fellowship activities.
In Zimbabwe three Methodist churches are members of WFMUCW, United Methodist Church, Methodist Church in Zimbabwe and African Methodist Episcopal. The three units each come up with activities to tackle the three MDGs and once a year they come together at a conference to give progress reports and to fellowship. This is a local arrangement for the three Zimbabwean churches.
The last conference for the three units was held at Africa University and was successfully hosted by the United Methodist Church. The last area conference however was hosted by Zimbabwe and the next one will be held in Cape Town South Africa from 31 October to 2 November 2014.
Mrs Mapani said WFMUCW day is observed in the last week of October each year with study day material which covers the whole world being provided. This year diseases are the federation’s focus she said. She encouraged women to observe this day. The District Superintendent, Rev. Tsitsi Madziyire was in attendance and she always gives her support to the women.