Women put faith into action across Zimbabwe

Key points:

• United Methodist Pamela Saungweme offered the church her Mutare home to use for programs aimed at fighting drug and other substance abuse.
• Another church member founded and operates an organization promoting the rights and welfare of girls and young women.
• A member of the Methodist Church in Zimbabwe offers free psychological counseling for women suffering from trauma.

When Pamela Saungweme addressed hundreds of United Methodist women who had just watched a panel discussion on drug and substance abuse, not a dry eye was left in the room.

Saungweme, a United Methodist from Mutare, was moved by the story of a family whose teen son became addicted to drugs and later began a long, arduous journey to recovery.

“I am offering the church a place (in my home) to use for programs designed for curbing drug and substance abuse,” she told more than 600 members of the World Federation of Methodist and Uniting Church Women at a national conference in Harare.

“We need to act on this social vice and assist families affected by this scourge,” Saungweme said.

This is not the first time Saungweme’s home has been used to support church social programs. About 25 years ago, she invited the church to use it to shelter about a dozen children who were living on the streets of Mutare.

“United Methodists had started a feeding program to ensure the children had nutritious meals provided by members,” she explained. “It did not make sense to feed the children and leave them without a warm and safe place to stay.”

In Zimbabwe, UNICEF reports substance abuse in children as young as 10 years old, with the average age of first drug abuse pegged at 18 years.

In 2014, Ekenia Chifamba, a United Methodist, launched Shamwari Ye Mwanasikana, an organization dedicated to promoting, protecting and advancing the rights of girls and young women across Zimbabwe. The goal is that they grow up in safe, supportive and empowering environments.

“Shamwari ye Mwanasikana was founded from a simple but urgent belief: Every girl deserves the opportunity to live freely, safely, confidently and with dignity regardless of where she comes from or the circumstances she faces,” Chifamba said.

“The organization was established in response to the many challenges facing girls in Zimbabwe, including gender-based violence, child marriage, abuse, poverty, unequal access to education and limited leadership opportunities,” she added.

Shamwari ye Mwanasikana was created to make sure that girls not only receive protection from harm but also are also equipped with the knowledge, confidence, skills and opportunities to become leaders, innovators and changemakers in their communities.

The nonprofit operates in Chitungwiza, Harare, Marondera, Murewa, Chiredzi and Manicaland, implementing programs across urban, peri-urban and rural communities.

“Over the past decade,” Chifamba said, “the organization has directly and indirectly impacted thousands of girls, young women, families and community members through its protection, health, leadership and economic-empowerment programs.

“Our passion is to see every girl fully enjoying her rights and privileges in safe spaces, while ensuring that no girl is left behind, regardless of her background or circumstances.”

The organization also actively promotes menstrual hygiene, especially for disadvantaged young women. Shamwari ye Mwanasikana provides dignity kits that include sanitary pads, towels, toiletries, undergarments and slippers. It also provides maternity kits with products for newborns and their mothers for use during and after delivery.

Rumbidzai Mutendera, a psychologist, preacher and member of the Methodist Church in Zimbabwe, experienced abuse during her childhood. Those circumstances shaped the woman she is today.

“When you sit down with people and really hear their life stories,” she said, “you realize that something happened to them and that’s how they turned out the way we now judge or celebrate, but they are still carrying wounds within them.”

Mutendera decided to provide a safe space for survivors of child abuse, gender-based violence, domestic violence, sexual abuse and other forms of childhood trauma. 

This initiative led to the creation of the Survivors Anonymous for Women project, which provides trauma counseling, psychological support, group support and psychosocial healing.

The organization, supported by the World Federation of Methodist and Uniting Church Women, provides free services designed to help women heal.

In Zimbabwe, the World Federation of Methodist and Uniting Church Women includes members of United Methodist, Methodist Church in Zimbabwe and Africa Methodist Episcopal churches.

“If someone is not healed, they continue to have trauma,” Mutendera said. “Trauma cycles … keep going around and around because now if she abuses someone else, they’re also doing that same harm that will damage the next person.”

Although Mutendera is an ordained preacher and psychologist, it took time to realize the trauma she suffered as a child. She was unable to tell anyone until she was 36 years old.

“It molded the wife that I was for eight years,” she said. “I was never able to tell my husband things that happened to me as a child. I could not tell him even the times where I would have flashbacks of the abuse whilst we were together, and it affected our relationship.”

Mutendera attributed her subsequent divorce to childhood trauma and other factors. She decided to support women who could not afford the high cost of consulting a psychologist by availing free services.

In Harare, the consultation fee for a psychologist is at least $80, prohibitively expensive for many women who suffer in silence. Some trauma is associated with tradition and cultural practices, and speaking out about them is considered taboo.

The efforts by Methodist women to address social ills are drawn from James 2:17: “Faith by itself, if it does not have works, is dead.” It is targeted at all members of their communities regardless of status or religious affiliation.

Chikwanah is a UM News correspondent based in Harare, Zimbabwe.

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