Miss Rural Goromonzi Crowned

It was a day to remember for the Goromonzi community on Saturday after Callin Nyabunze, 21, was crowned Miss Rural Goromonzi at a cultural defined prestigious event held at Ruwa Primary School.

Zimbabwe Youth Council posted on Facebook  that Miss Miriam Gotora (17), Miss Zvikomborero Chirima (17) were crowned first and second runner up respectively.

"The beauty pageant ran under the theme "Empowering the Rural Girl Child and Promoting Cultural Identity".

Guest of Honour Hon. Petronella Kagonye (MP) for Goromonzi South said the Miss Rural pageant initiative was a step in the right direction in preserving the country's rich cultural heritage.

"What l like about this pageant is the fact we are celebrating the rural girl child and our culture. As a country we have lost our moral values leading to early child marriages," she said.

She commended the Ministry of Youth Indigenisation and Economic Empowerment for a great initiative to empower the rural girl child.

"I would like to applaud the Ministry of Youth for the sterling job there are doing in celebrating the rural girl child, empowering them with the pre-requisite skills that boost their self-esteem and confidence," she said.

However, Zimbabwe Multi-Talented Youth Association (ZIMTAYA) president Mrs Christine Matizha appealed to the traditional leaders for guidance on preserving cultural and national identity which has since been diluted by foreign culture.

"As the youth we ask for your guidance and wisdom on how best we can preserve our cultural values and national identity for future generation," she said.

ZIMTAYA president said rural girl child participation could help reduce vulnerability.

"As ZIMTAYA we saw it fit to design programs of this nature to empower her and at the same time build self confidence in her that she should feel as equally important in society as her urban counterpart.

"Rural girl child participation methodology is in this youth development initiative also helps reduce vulnerability and enhances sustainable development which eventually reduces poverty through self-confidence," she said.

United Nations secretary general Ban Ki Moon once said "Youths are more than victims of poverty and economic downturn they can be agents of change we need to do more to create jobs to young people and support young entrepreneurs so they can create jobs for others".

Also speaking at the same occasion, Chief Chikwaka, of Mashonaland East province urged parents, guardians and relatives to be responsible and monitor their young children when they reach adolescence and sexual reproductive age.

"We need to monitor our children when they reach adolescence age.

"The girl child between the age of ten and eighteen is facing painful challenges. They are facing a challenge which most of you ignore but l looked at it and figure out that you (fathers) are not playing your role of protecting the girl child when there are at school.

He said he was shocked to hear and witness that young girls were no longer performing well at school because of lack of proper sanitary wear.

"Some of our children are failing at school because there cannot participate at sporting activities, and some could not participate at this beauty pageant because there had no proper sanitary wear.

He said most young girls had resorted to using traditional means which are not good for their well-being.

"Our young girls are now using items such as tree leaves, book pages, cow dung, sadza, school socks," he said.

He urged organisations that deal with children's issues to address these challenges and come up with solution that could help the rural girl child.
He also urged the Ministry of Youth Indigenisation and Economic Empowerment and the Zimbabwe Youth Council to come up with programs that specifically deal with sexual and reproductive health of young children.

The winners walked away with sanitary hampers, pocket money and other items.

At least 48 participants took part at the prestigious event, drawn from twenty-five wards of Goromonzi District.

Miss rural is meant to empower the rural girl child through talent development in modelling as well as reviving our Zimbabwean cultural identity which has been diluted by foreign culture.