The Sunday News
Bhekumuzi Ncube, Sunday Life Reporter
ONE of the country`s top female celebrities, who has stood tall and proved that women can achieve incredible feats if they dare to dream and believe in themselves, Ruvheneko Parirenyatwa revealed that she and other women had a special “woman to woman” chat with the country’s First Lady, Auxillia Mnangagwa.
The illustrious radio personality who has interviewed business tycoons from and outside the country said she met the First Lady during her “High Tea” occasion early this month in Harare, and discussed about the plight of women.
Ruvheneko said First Lady Mnangagwa advised women who were present to overcome the obstacles that have stood in their way and prevented them from being heard in the past years.
“The First Lady Mnangagwa welcomed us to her High Tea saying this is not a political meeting. It’s a platform for Zimbabwean women in media to socialise. You have the tools, you have the voice and to some extent, you have the power. She went on to talk about ice that needs to be broken within the fraternity, especially amongst female journalists,” she said.
Ruvheneko, who is a former ZiFM Stereo Programming Manager and now with Zimpapers radio section, didn’t only share her special encounter with First Lady but also took her time to slam unkind and biased cultural beliefs that have negatively affected people with albinism.
Countless myths surrounding albinism have endangered albinos. The common myths includes that albinism is contagious, it is a curse or punishment, albinos are evil, can cure HIV and their body parts possess magical properties, among others. All these myths have been proven false.
Ruvheneko shared on her official Facebook account that the myths surrounding people with albinism needed to stop as some have facilitated the spread on HIV and other diseases.
“Too many myths falsely represent people with albinism. A common African one is: Having sex with a person who has albinism cures HIV. In fact, this weird belief has led several HIV infections since some men with HIV rape women and girls with albinism. I encourage you to actively spread truths about albinism so that we fight stigmatisation and abuse against people living with albinism in our country and across our continent,” she said.
In some parts of Africa, albinos have suffered brutal attacks while others were killed as result of false myths surrounding them. For instance in 2016 it was reported that 18 people with albinism were killed for their body parts in Malawi as they were believed to bring good luck.
