President’s donation changes lives in St Joseph’s

Bruce Ndlovu, Sunday News Reporter 

THE Catholic religious leadership at St Joseph’s Mission in Kezi, Matabeleland South Province has hailed President Mnangagwa for keeping his finger on the pulse of the people’s most urgent needs, after he made a series of donations that impact positively on the lives of people in the area. 

Last Sunday, President Mnangagwa attended the centenary celebrations of St Joseph’s Mission, taking part in a Catholic Mass and giving an ear to the challenges that the community is facing. Less than a day later, President Mnangagwa was hosting the parish’s leaders at State House in Harare, as they received US$50 000, 20 laptops, two cars and an ambulance to cater for the needs of the St Joseph’s community. 

The cash donation is meant to help revive the mission’s farm, while a solar-powered borehole is also set to be delivered to St Joseph’s to help supplement nutritional needs in a community that lies in an unfavourable agricultural region. 

Established in 1923, the mission, which has a hospital, a school and a church, has played an integral role in the life of the community that also gifted the nation with Father Zimbabwe, the late Vice-President, Dr Joshua Mqabuko Nkomo. Speaking to Sunday News, St Joseph’s Parish Priest, Father Innocent Ndlovu said the President’s donations, which spanned education, health and agriculture, touched almost every facet of the lives of people in the community. 

Living true to his mantra of not leaving anyone and any place behind, the donation of laptops to the school would allow the children at the parish school to compete with others in an increasingly technologically savvy world. 

“We got 20 computers for our school at the mission from the President and the great thing is that we had asked for 15 but his Excellency gave us 20 laptops. Those laptops will benefit learners from the St Joseph’s community. We are in an era where we really need to use technology and this will allow the children in the area to be in step with those elsewhere and not be left behind,” he said. 

Father Ndlovu said the donation of cars and an ambulance would go a long way in helping those in need of physical and spiritual deliverance. 

“We also received an ambulance from His Excellency and that is in perfect sync with the needs of the community here. We have a clinic here and also a hospital in Brunapeg and his grace Father Alex Thomas might decide that these institutions are served by this great resource allocated by the President. We also received two cars, one for the mission and the other for the clinic and this also pleased us a lot because these means of transport enhance our mandate, our pastoral activities. Things move very fast when there is a car around here and if we need to ferry people to Maphisa District Hospital, for example, it is much easier now. It will be much easier as well for me to make outreach services to places that require spiritual and moral support because of the help that we have received,” he said. 

Father Ndlovu said in an area which was sometimes hostile to agricultural production due to low rainfall, the President’s cash injection, which is meant to help in efforts to revive the mission farm, and the pledge of a solar-powered borehole would go a long way in improving nutrition in the area. 

“We also received cash to the tune of US$50 000. We had submitted a proposal on projects, particularly on how to maximise food production at the mission farm. Formerly the mission had a farm so we want to resuscitate that farm by fencing it and making other developments to make sure that by the next rainy season, we have something to get from it as a community and as a church. We are a part of this community and that is why we hope to maximise food production here through the grants we have received. We also look forward to receiving a solar-powered borehole that will improve nutritional values in the area by elevating our garden which supports the community and the pastors as well,” he said.