Tendai Rupapa, Harare Bureau
ANGEL of Hope patron First Lady Dr Auxillia Mnangagwa joined an exclusive club of luminaries after being conferred with a Doctor of Philosophy in Law Honorary Degree by the University of Zimbabwe (UZ) in recognition of her life-changing philanthropic works, torching wild celebrations at the country’s oldest institution of higher learning.
It was a marvel seeing the mother of the nation resplendent in her academic regalia at the colourful ceremony where people ululated, whistled and clapped hands in appreciation.
The university is in the process of developing formal collaboration with the Angel of Hope Foundation in the areas of culinary arts, gastronomy, cultural tourism and promotion of traditional foods.
In his citation, UZ dean in the faculty of arts, Professor Fainos Mangena said the university recognised the First Lady’s personality, character and ingenuity as epitomised by her personal organisation and leadership skills at both the national and international arena, especially as she delivers in the areas of education, health, environment as well as in tangible and intangible cultural heritage issues.
Previously, the First Lady has been honoured by G D Goenka University of India which awarded her a Doctor of Philosophy Degree.
Russia State University for the Humanities followed suit and awarded her another Doctor of Philosophy honorary degree.
On home soil, Zimbabwe Open University (ZOU) awarded her yet another honorary doctorate degree for her philanthropic work.
The First Lady received another honorary doctorate award from Belarusian State Medical University in recognition of her charity work through her Angel of Hope Foundation.
Prof Mangena praised Dr Mnangagwa for her commitment to serving people whose hopes and dreams to realise opportunities had been extinguished.
“The target population of her programmes are the marginalised and vulnerable groups of people in society that include inter-alia with those orphans, the elderly, youths, women, men, people with disabilities, school dropouts and ladies of the night, thus living no one and no place behind. The person the university is presenting to you Your Excellency has demonstrated exceptional philanthropic instincts that go beyond the call of her duty as they encapsulate extraordinary levels of humility. To this end, the university of Zimbabwe is recognising her personality, character and ingenuity as epitomised by her personal organisation and leadership skills at both the national and international arena especially as she delivers in the areas of education, health, environment as well as in tangible and intangible cultural heritage issues. She is well-known for her advocacy work on the conservation of culture and denouncing child abuse, early marriages, teen pregnancies, gender-based violence (GBV), drug abuse, bullying and dropping out of school among other vices. The university is in the process of developing formal collaboration with the First Lady’s Angel of Hope Foundation in the areas of culinary arts, gastronomy, cultural tourism and promotion of traditional foods. Her work has resulted in her being made the ambassador and patron of several developmental organisations. She has also developed innovative models which are key to the attainment of Sustainable Development Goals, the development of priority areas enunciated in the Africa Development Agenda 263 in our National Development Strategy 1 2021-2025 and also Education 5.0 variables,” he said.
Dr Mnangagwa’s first innovation which yield a whole body of evidence to academics, industrialists, civic society organisations and Government ministries, Prof Mangena said was her personality which was selfless and she had deployed it not only in the preservation of culture but also in shaping how cultural institutions should work with international, regional and national development priority areas are to be attained.
“In her, the concept of servant-leadership, Your Excellency and Chancellor, is personified. Indeed, her character, personality, humility and high-level of intrinsic motivation have been game-changers in shaping both public service and servant leadership. Her philanthropic work in its diversity finds expression in her Angel of Hope Foundation whose objectives are anchored on her desire to change the lives of everyone. She has developed an innovative philanthropic model that has received national, regional and international acclaim. What is unique in her model, Your Excellency and Chancellor, is that it is bent at best providing a refreshing approach to social engineering that undergraduates sustainable development. Your Excellency and Chancellor, the person the university is presenting to you to confer with a Doctor of Laws Degree Honoris Causa is none other than the First Lady of the Republic of Zimbabwe, Her Excellency Dr Auxillia Mnangagwa,” he said.
In her acceptance speech, the mother of the nation said she was humbled by how her work was being recognised locally, regionally and internationally.
“Your Excellency and Chancellor, I would like to firstly take this opportunity to extend my gratitude to you not only as the chancellor of the University of Zimbabwe, but also as His Excellency the President of the Republic of Zimbabwe. Thank you very much for recognising the contribution of my efforts and innovative philanthropic models in the fulfilment of international, regional, national development priority areas and key variables of Education 5.0 philosophy. I would also like to thank the chairman of the university of Zimbabwe Council Mr Douglas Hoto, the Vice Chancellor Professor Dr Paul Mapfumo and the entire university community for extending this honour to me.
“This is quite humbling. I am indeed overwhelmed by this gesture which I never dreamt of. As I humbly receive this honour I would like to acknowledge and appreciate the support which I received from you as the chancellor of the university of Zimbabwe. You afforded me time and support for the fulfilment of my philanthropic models which are anchored on supporting and changing the lives of the marginalised and vulnerable members of society regardless of age, sex, marital status, level of education, religion, place of residence, occupation and race. I also extend my gratitude to the hardworking and goal-oriented staff members of the Angel of Hope Foundation without whom this achievement could not have been realised.
“All traditional leaders, Government ministries, non-governmental organisations, religious groups, partners and the entire academic community, thank you very much for the support you rendered to me and my foundation, the support which has culminated in this award. Ndinotenda, maita henyu,” she said to wild applause.
In an interview, Dr Mnangagwa, who is also the country’s patron for the environment and health ambassador stressed the need to curb the cutting down of trees and promotion of traditional grains to mitigate the effects of climate change.
“We want our people to appreciate that traditional grains promote food security at every given homestead. Parents and children must channel their energy towards the production of traditional grains. We also want our born and unborn children to know that traditional grains save in times of erratic rainfall due to climate change. Climate change has deteriorated into a climate crisis and we are already wading through it, hence the need to grow drought tolerant crops to mitigate its effects,” she said.
The mother of the nation said she is working with universities and humbly requested the University of Zimbabwe to look at traditional grains and assess the health benefits derivable from each and every traditional grains.
“If we know the benefits in each of the traditional grains, it helps in the health sector. When you are sick and eat these traditional grains, you quickly recover. We want the universities to analyse the health benefits. I humbly urge traditional leaders and their spouses to encourage their communities to focus on these grains. I started with the chiefs’ wives and now it has spread to even the chiefs themselves. They should continue talking about these traditional grains to their people so that we do not lose anything as we build our country. If you consume traditional grains together with medicines prescribed by doctors you recover well,” she said.
Traditional grains, the mother of the nation said, were drought resistant and could thrive even in adverse weather conditions.
“Traditional grains thrive in adverse weather conditions and if we grow them we will never lack in terms of food as this is a food security innovation. Our traditional grains can be incorporated into relish and even in confectioneries and we can have them across a wide selection of food we eat,” she said emphatically.