AT the age of 85, Sesulelo Mubaya’s mother, Lakela, lost her eyesight due to diabetes. This inspired the Canada-based to establish a charity foundation.Being the only daughter, Mubaya became the only caregiver to her mother, witnessing and appreciating the associated challenges for people living with disability.
Mubaya became a source of inspiration in the establishment of the local charity organisation, Chiedza at Sesu Foundation.The idea of Chiedza at Sesu Foundation was conceptualised in 2021 and in August last year, Mubaya, who is also a lawyer, became serious with the project.
She joined hands with visually impaired local gospel musician John Munodawafa to launch the foundation.It was launched in December last year at Mutongerwa Hotel in Murombedzi, Mashonaland West. In attendance were government officials, among others.
The foundation has four board members, Sesulelo, Munodawafa, Noble Chibanda (living with disabilities) and Tariro Zenda also living with physical disabilities. It has more than 100 members.
The Bulawayo-born philanthropist who is funding the project told NewsDay Weekender that charity work is her calling and establishing the foundations was an answer to the call.“When my mother lost her sight that was when I realised how challenging it is to live with a disability. So being the only daughter, I became the caregiver. When I mean caregiver, I have to make sure my mother has somebody that takes care of her and she has everything that she needs,” Mubaya said.
“At the time my mother lost her sight, it was very challenging because not everyone had actually realised that she had gone blind. So, from the challenges I encountered, I was inspired to come up with Chiedza at Sesu Foundation just to extend the love that I am giving my mother to other disadvantaged members of the society.”
She continued: “Starting this initiative does not mean that I have money, no, I could just take care of my mother and make her comfortable, but I decided to extend the love that I give to her to other people that are in her predicament. If two or three of us do that, then this country will be a better place.”
Mubaya reckoned it was not that rosy to set up the foundation as she had to work for a couple of seasons out in the cold in Canada to raise funds.“Indeed, it has been a challenging road to the launch of the foundation, but amid all the encounters we are getting through each stage and I am glad it is a learning curve,” she said.“Through teamwork and reaching out to other people with experiences in charity work have been the cornerstone of solving some of the challenges [we faced].
“With the little that we are offering as I am self-funding this, I just want to make a difference in one or two people. My wish is to see many of our people living with disabilities live a better life through self-sufficiency than living on aid.”
The philanthropist foundation was catering for the beneficiaries’ needs while they are at their homes, due to limited resources.“We are trying to provide some of the basic immediate needs of those in our books. There are items like canes. We have about 23 visually impaired people who need the canes and I have so far given five,” she said.“On the day of the launch we had 15 people who needed some crutches and I managed to give seven. We also have four we took on board who need wheelchairs and so far, measurements have been done by a rehabilitation therapist to get them the appropriate wheelchairs.Her wish is to start projects for the foundation’s beneficiaries so that they will not entirely depend on donations.“Starting some projects like poultry for them would go a long way in helping them get some of their needs we might be failing to offer due to our limited resources. The plan is to have them sustain themselves rather than waiting for handouts,” Mubaya said.“Some of these people need places to live, which is, however, beyond my capability at the moment. There is a serious need for accommodation as some are actually living on the streets where there is also high substance abuse. There is a need for counselling for this population.”Apart from sourcing donations from well-wishers, Mubaya said they will be resorting to fundraising initiatives that will include live music concerts headlined by Munodawafa.
“We are planning many concerts, some in schools around Murombedzi. I have visited a couple of schools that are welcoming that. So, the initial plan is to fundraise through school children.“Depending on the population of the school, if it’s a school with 800 children, we can say the kids can go and ask for US$0,50 from parents for the concerts. From the proceeds, we leave half of it to the school to use for their needs like benches, broken windows, or painting,” she said.“Also, we find out the children that are in the school from our population as well, physically challenged or visually impaired will be assisted for their needs as well like food, clothing and any resources they can be assisted with.”A mother and grandmother, Mubaya was born in a family of five. She did her primary education at Monte Cassino before enrolling at Nagle House for secondary education.She migrated to the United Kingdom in 1992 where she pursued a Bachelor of Arts in Law at Middlesex University in 1997. Later, she migrated to Canada in 2001 where she switched to nursing.
