It was a day to remember and a memory that will forever remain for 26 year old, Melissa Mapfumo, of Crowborough who walked away with a brand new Ford Ranger Wild track at the glittering 2016 OK grand challenge event held at Borrowdale race course.
For the bubbly National Railways of Zimbabwe (NRZ) apprentice, it was destiny as she says she had spent two weeks prior to the event, displaying the picture of the car on her whatsapp profile.
“I don’t know how best to describe this feeling. I know God has blessed me all because of my unshakable faith.
I always knew I was going to win this car. I spent the last two weeks displaying it as my whatsapp profile picture. I had faith that I would win it but I somehow doubted myself because I thought a man would win it as is the norm.” said Melissa trying to hide her tears of joy.
“I just cannot describe the feeling right now. When I came here, I told my friend that lets just go and see what happens. We came with a bit of faith but you know how tough it is to win this competition.
When my name was announced, it took time to sink in because I could not believe my faith had paid off,” she said as she shows off the keys to her brand new monster.
Melisa is the first woman to win the Grand prize since the inception of the OK Grand Challenge in 1988, with some however, having won in different categories.
She will however, need to start driving lessons as soon as possible as she is not a holder of one.
“I do not have a driver’s license but I have to start working on it right now. Need to be driving this baby as soon as I get it, so I will be taking driving lessons’’ said the tearful winner.
The day itself was a glowing one with different winners taking home cars from different suppliers.
One lucky winner Elias Muchemwa who walked away with a ford ranger single cab courteous of Delta Beverages could not hide his joy as he described it as a dream come true.
‘I cannot believe what has just happened here. I just bought a few groceries and I dropped my slip. When I came here, I thought it was just a family outing and I decided to take my whole family with me.
“This is great, this is a life changing moment for me and my family” said the jubilant Muchemwa
The Borrowdale race course was filled to capacity as thousands of people waited in anticipation to see if lady luck would smile on them.
Although OK’s payoff line is “shop at ok where everyone is a winner” not everyone could walk away with a prize.
Maybe they did win on the entertainment part as Killer T and Winky D entertained fans who remained until the late hours of the day. The two artistes did not disappoint as their well-polished acts wowed fans in the chilling night.
