Dendera Kings front man, Sulumani Chimbetu has been appointed the Goodwill Ambassador of the Braille Association of Zimbabwe and will perform shows to raise fund for the refurbishment of Bulawayo City Library.
Speaking during a press conference where representatives of the Visually Impaired People of Zimbabwe met Minister of state for Provincial Affairs in Harare Metropolitan Province, Miriam Chikukwa, Sulu said he was gratified to be bestowed with such an honour.
The Sean Timba hit maker said he had already hit the ground running by staging shows around the country in an effort to raise funds for the refurbishment and purchase of braille material for the Bulawayo City Library.
“After realizing that these people need our collective love and care, I thought it will be humane to do something for them as a way of raising funds for the material they need.
“Too often as artists we ignore and overlook this special group of people but there is great need for us all to stand with them, show them our support through all means necessary,” said the captain, as he is affectionately known by his legion of fans.
He added that he will be staging shows and fundraising campaigns with different artists such as Somandla Ndebele.
Sulu was conferred with the ambassadorial role together with upcoming gospel musician, Clarence Garura, also known as Kirah in the music circles.
The youthful musician said no one had taken an initiative to fight for the rights of the visually impaired hence he found it suitable to take the first step together with Ambassador Sulu.
He said “the time is now that we have to tackle this as a rights issue rather than a charity case. The visually impaired people need our love and support. It is not the time to stand up for them but let us stand up with them so that we speak the gospel of inclusion.
“Access to information is a basic right hence we need to do something with those that need our assistance, so that inclusion does not only start when they have to access information but they get included in all activities,” said Garura.
The two will be sharing the stage around the country in an effort to raise close to $6000 which will be channeled towards the acquisition of materials needed to set up a state of the art braille section at the Library.
Bulawayo City Library is the oldest library in the country having opened its doors over 120 years ago and was also the first library to have a braille section in 1995.
However, some of the useful materials have become antiquated hence the need to replace them with modern day ones.
Sulu urged the business community and individuals to chip on board and help in this noble cause.
