The Sunday News
Delta Milayo Ndou
It is not often that one gets to revisit a column they used to pen, it feels like trying to rekindle a love affair and feeling anxious about how the other person will respond to the conciliatory overtures.
I think Adele in her music consistently captures that sense of apprehension and encapsulates the courage it takes to allow yourself to be vulnerable especially when you don’t know for certain how your return will be received.
I return to pen this column, in an Adele-sque spirit of hopefulness, vulnerability and reconciliation to say: “I hate to turn up out of the blue uninvited but I couldn’t stay away” so “I was wondering if after all these years you would like to meet and go over everything”? So, hello dear reader — it’s me.
Over the last three years, I have had many people ask me why I don’t write the ‘Heartbreak’ column anymore, some of them have invited me to take up the craft again because the column and the conversations I struck up were meaningful, important and insightful to them.
I have often proffered many reasons as to why I don’t write anymore and space does not allow, in this instance, for me to exhaust those reasons. But I can readily answer the question of why I am writing now.
The answer is that I would like to make an appeal, a plea for help and a call for solidarity on behalf of my former boss, mentor, colleague and friend whose baby urgently needs a liver transplant within a month.
I have been led to believe – and I hope I am being neither presumptuous nor misguided on the matter — that I had or still have a considerable following drawn from a cross-section of our society who enjoyed reading the Heartbreaks column.
So I have come up with an admittedly unusual fundraising proposal to aid in raising $43 000 for the liver transplant that Manqoba Mabhena, the nine-month-old daughter of Lawson Mabhena (a treasured friend) urgently requires. Manqoba was born with a condition called biliary atresia, diagnosed when she was five months old. Then, surgeons couldn’t perform any corrective surgery because the liver was showing signs of significant damage, leaving the only option being a liver transplant.
And the sad story is that her liver can fail to function any time from now. The doctors said the biliary atresia is life-threatening if uncorrected. And performing corrective surgery after 120 days of life makes it unhelpful.
My proposal to you dear reader, or rather, to you dear follower of Heartbreaks Column is as follows: for every $10 that is donated towards this cause, I will pen and publish a Heartbreaks article on the Sunday News website and Facebook page daily and on the print edition weekly. What this means is, if $100 is raised for example, then I owe our Sunday News readers, 10 Heartbreaks articles.
So in practical terms this is how it will work. If you would like to take up this cause and help the Sunday News family to raise funds for our Baby Manqoba Mabhena please make an EcoCash contribution of $10 to Econet number 0772935224 (that line belongs to the baby’s mother — Shamiso Yikoniko). Once you have made your contribution please send me a WhatsApp confirmation on 0718686240 so that I can keep track of how many articles I owe and how much we would have raised as we kick-start this unorthodox fundraising initiative.
You can also confirm your contribution by posting on the Sunday News Zimbabwe Facebook page or tagging Sunday News on Twitter (@SundayNewsZimba) using hashtags #SaveManqoba and #SundayNewsSolidarity.
You can email me on [email protected] or tag me on Twitter @deltandou or send me an inbox on Facebook (Delta Milayo Ndou) — I will endeavour to check my messages regularly and respond.
The gist of my appeal in summary, and to paraphrase Adele’s lyrics: Hello, it’s me, I was wondering if after all these years, you’d like to collaborate; and help me raise funds for Baby Manqoba?
Let’s bring back the Heartbreaks column, for a worthy cause.
The sum of money required to save Baby Manqoba is quite substantial but if we can pool our resources, amplify the plea of the Mabhena family, perhaps someone somewhere can make a contribution, no matter how small towards raising the $43 000.
Other ways to contribute or assist include:
i) Bank transfer or deposit to:
Name: Shamiso Yikoniko
Bank: FBC Bank
Branch: FBC Centre
Account Number: 3070070770125
ii) EcoCash whatever amount you can spare to Shamiso Yikoniko on 0772935224.
iii) Contribute online via GoFundMe campaign set up by Netsai Margareth Machingambi-Mhlanga. Just ‘Google’ the fundraising campaign titled ‘New Liver for baby Manqoba’.
) If you are corporate, you can sponsor the Walk For Manqoba campaign that is being spearheaded by Bulawayo journalists.
iv) If you are a well-wisher, you can take part in the above mentioned Walk For Manqoba sponsored walk on 1 October from the Large City Hall car park at 7am. You will need to make a small contribution of $5 (for adults) and $2 (for kids) to register and you will receive a free T-shirt.
v) If you are an artist and would like to assist, sign up to perform with other Bulawayo artists who will provide free entertainment at Hillside Dams at the end of the sponsored walk on 1 October.
vi) If you cannot take part in the sponsored walk and cannot make any monetary contribution — you can still play a huge role by spreading the word on social media and in your spheres of influence — we would greatly appreciate that.
Please Note: The Heartbreaks articles that you sponsor will be uploaded on to the Sunday News website at 2pm daily and shared on Facebook and Twitter using hashtag #SundayNewsSolidarity and #SaveManqoba. Please link up with me on WhatsApp (0718686240) if you are interested in taking up this noble cause.
Delta Milayo Ndou is a former Sunday News staffer who penned the hugely popular ‘Heartbreaks’ column. Reviving this column is her way of contributing towards the ongoing fundraising efforts to get Manqoba Mabhena a new liver.
