CommuTalk Reporter
BIKITA: The donation of scouring powder by Bikita Minerals has empowered communities and assisted heavily in this drought year, said Chief Marozva.
“We receive a total of 65 tonnes of scouring powder monthly from Bikita Minerals. The vim is shared equally by men and women. We are grateful for this kind of gesture, we know the company set aside time to produce the scouring powder for the community although it’s not their core operation,” he said.
Chief Marozva said the sale of scouring powder was mainly being done by women, but we also have men in our community who also needed to be economically empowered hence the decision to have both females and males in the programme.
“Once in a while we receive bulk random buyers of scouring powder, and this helps a lot as we have been using the proceeds from the sales to pay exam fees for orphans, pay salaries for clinic guards and currently we are building a classroom block for the students in the community, “he said.
Benefiting locals say the program has assisted them in many ways.
“The scouring powder enterprise has uplifted my life as I have managed to pay fees for my children and at the same time acquire some livestock,” said one Agnes Jaricha.
“I managed to fund my university education through this business and now I am a qualified teacher. I am so grateful to the mine initiative,” added another local Cecilia Basera.
Bikita Minerals provide the community under Chief Marozva with 65 tonnes of scouring powder every month and a total of 100 families benefit directly from the donation.
The initiative seeks to assist the communities to be independent economically, reduce poverty and to keep the youth busy so that they don’t end up engaging in drug abuse.
This is one of the many projects that is being done by Bikita Minerals to uplift the livelihoods of the people in Bikita.
