The Harare Junior Council has organised a choral music festival to be rolled out in schools and churches, a campaign that aims to raise one million pads for donation to the underprivileged girls in rural Zimbabwe.
The campaign, brainchild of a Mufakose 1 High School student, Wellington Munashe Dimba who is also a Harare Council Junior Councillor will see choral groups from primary and secondary schools as well as churches competing for prizes
In an interview with 263Chat, Dimba said the Million Pads Campaign choral fiesta seeks to involve every Zimbabwean including males in raising one million pads which will be donated to rural girls.
“As Junior council we are trying to raise sanitary wear for the underprivileged girls in Harare and furthermore rural areas, We dearly need the involvement of males to participate in providing and raising sanitary wear.
“We have therefore organised an event called Million Pads Choral Fiesta whereby there will be a competition for different choirs, singing a provided set piece entitled Mwanasikana Wekumarowa Mwanawo about the importance of a girl child while main focus is on the rural girl child,
“Those who want to join they will give us one packet of pads as an entrance condition and each choir pays $10 registration fee, hopefully my brothers, sisters, fathers and mothers will come and support my idea which has full support from both the Council and my own youth contingent, the Youth Council,” said Dimba.
He added that all proceeds from the choral competition will go to fulfilling the desire for the million target of sanitary.
Speaking to 263Chat, Bagdadiy Mwanyali, composer of the song, said the campaign will start with primary schools on the 27th of July before proceeding to Secondary school and churches on the 28th and 30th respectively.
“The million pad campaign will be held of the 27th, 28th and 29th of July this year. We will start with the primary schools on the 27th, Secondary on the 28th and churches on the 30th of July 2018,
“We are hoping to raise as many pads as possible, the Junior Councillors have not given feedback as yet but have already started collecting the sanitary wear,” explained Mwanyali.
The Junior Councillors have also partnered Katswe Sistahood who have a sanitary wear bank where people donate pads.
Last week, various women’s organizations who met with President Emmerson Mnangagwa handed him a petition signed by over 40 000 people demanding free sanitary wear.
