BULAWAYO, Dec 13 (IPS) – At first, he danced for cash, however in a while, he realized the necessity to dance for sanitary pads with a purpose to assist poor women and girls. Now, 29-year-old Proud Mugunhu conducts dance tutorials that earn him 100 pads from every session.
Mugunhu began his business dancing in Zimbabwe’s Epworth casual settlement east of Harare, the nation’s capital, the place he mentioned he grew up seeing poor women and girls making do with out sanitary pads throughout menstruation.
Now, Mugunhu, who has become a preferred dancer, has grow to be famed for combating interval poverty.
He (Mugunhu) doesn’t solely dance to please onlookers, however has now chosen to bop with a purpose to be rewarded with sanitary pads to move these on to the women and girls pounded by interval poverty.
In and out of doors Zimbabwe, Mugunhu now dances at occasions the place he has struck offers to obtain sanitary pads as fee in his battle towards rampant poverty.
In consequence, his dancing has seen most of the women and girls graduate from utilizing rags to one thing that provides them dignity and confidence.
“I began dancing in 2015—dancing commercially at weddings. I solely started dancing for sanitary pads final yr, and I’m gathering as many sanitary pads as I can with a purpose to assist,” Mugunhu informed IPS.
“Rising up in Epworth, I noticed quite a bit by way of the ravages of poverty, particularly on women. So, what I do is that I conduct dance courses for peculiar folks, and I select to be paid utilizing sanitary pads to ensure that me to then use these to donate to poor women and girls.”
He claims that he will get greater than 100 pads per dancing class that he conducts.
“I simply need to assist these in want. I’m praying that I can get extra sanitary pads in order that I can give to many women and girls in want.”
The destitution Mugunhu witnessed as he grew up in Epworth compelled him to bop.
In 2019, Zimbabwe’s Finance Minister, Mthuli Ncube, made a shock announcement that US$12.5 million had been allotted to accumulate sanitary pads for poor rural women within the nation who had reached puberty.
Apparently, the information introduced pleasure to Priscilla Misihairambwi-Mushonga, the then chairperson of Zimbabwe’s Parliamentary Portfolio Committee on Major and Secondary Schooling.
For a few years, she (Misihairambwi) passionately lobbied for the supply of sanitary pads to schoolgirls, whereas she additionally made requires a tax regime that made sanitary put on reasonably priced to each girl within the nation.
Whether or not or not the poor women ultimately obtained free sanitary pads from the federal government stays unclear to this present day.
However a prime authorities official in Zimbabwe’s Ministry of Girls Affairs has claimed that subsequent yr they’re set to supply sanitary pads freed from cost to the nation’s poor ladies and women.
“Subsequent yr, we now have plans to work with ladies who’re into stitching to stitch reusable sanitary pads, which they are going to give to women and girls without charge,” the Chief Director of the Ministry of Girls Affairs, Lilian Matsika, informed IPS.
With interval poverty the norm in poor communities, ladies’s rights activists like Bridget Mushayahanya referred to as on the federal government to finish the disaster.
“What we would like is for our authorities to grasp that menstruation is one thing that girls don’t select to have. If it have been potential, Mushayahanya mentioned, “I would really like for our authorities to work with different regional governments that do ‘pink tanks,’ which signifies that all objects wanted by ladies throughout menstruation can be found for very low costs or freed from cost.
Chipo Chikomo, founding father of a company referred to as Nhanga Belief, which manufactures reusable sanitary pads for women, bemoaned poverty, which she blamed for forcing many to be absent from faculty throughout their menstruation.
“We see many ladies strolling lengthy distances to high school; which means throughout their month-to-month menstrual cycles, they don’t then go to high school as a result of they received’t have pads to make use of when they’re having menstruation,” she informed IPS.
But many, like Chikomo, complained of persistent interval poverty. For others, like Anna Sande and Sharon Naked, heroic people similar to Mugunhu stand out as saviors for poor women and girls hammered by interval poverty.
Following this yr’s elections, at 23 years of age, Sande grew to become Epworth’s youngest mayor, taking cost of a poor native authority the place interval poverty is widespread for a lot of.
“I’m so grateful for the assistance I’ve obtained from Proud Tatenda Mugunhu, who gathers sanitary pads utilizing his dancing expertise to assist poor women and girls in my neighborhood throughout their month-to-month durations,” Sande mentioned in an interview with IPS.
Even peculiar Epworth residents like Sharon Naked can’t cover their pleasure as Mugunhu thwarts interval poverty of their midst.
“I actually admire every little thing that Mugunhu is doing. I’m so proud he’s doing a superb factor to assist poor women and girls get sanitary pads throughout menstruation,” Naked mentioned.
Peace Hungwe, who’s the founding father of Peace Hub Zimbabwe, a company that handles psychological well being circumstances in Harare, additionally showered Mugunhu with reward for his initiative to assist poor women and girls surmount interval poverty.
“At first, I need to thank Proud. Like his title suggests, he ought to be happy with himself. There are only a few individuals who do what he’s doing. Menstruation is a tough time for a lot of poor women and girls, which leads them into intercourse work to merely get sanitary pads to make use of throughout menstruation,” she informed IPS.
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© Inter Press Service (2023) — All Rights ReservedOriginal source: Inter Press Service
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