Thursday, 24 August 2017

Councillor Chinyanta’s ideal world for women…

By ANN ZULU

A WORLD where women are empowered to improve themselves, their families and the society as a whole, is a kind of world that Patriotic Front (PF) Matero ward 23 in Matero Constituency Councillor Annie Chinyata envisions.

Councillor Chinyanta handing over a bag of mealie meal

Ms Chinyanta, who is also the only female councillor in the constituency has sacrificed her monthly salary towards women empowerment in her ward.
Matero ward 23 has a population of about 60,000 and majority of the population are women.
Most of the women in area are widows and single mothers, who struggle every day to sustain themselves and their families.
Earlier this year, Government raised councillors’ allowances from K700 to K3, 000 to enable them discharge their civic duties efficiently and effectively.
But Ms Chinyata told this reporter that she thought extending this good gesture to her community and to women in particular who were in need more than she was, was the best thing to do.
She said she had decided to use her monthly salary to buy rice from Kasama and distribute it to women in her ward to sell as a way of empowering them.
“I have seen how women are suffering in my ward, most of them are widows, single mothers and for some who are married, their husbands are not doing anything.
“So when Government decided to start giving us salaries, I thought as a Civic leader it was my responsibility to try and do something for the women in my ward that would help them in improving themselves, their families and the country at large.
“I recently discovered that we have very good rice growing in Kasama, so I thought of bringing it on the market and distribute it to women to sell,” Ms Chinyanta said.
She said so far 30 women had benefitted from the project and intends to extend the number.
Ms Chinyanta also wishes to partner with the corporate world in the project, as she believes that the corporate world plays a vital role in uplifting the livelihood of the people.
“I have started with 30 women, but the number will increase as we go on with the programme. I am also looking forward to engaging the corporate world but I thought I should first lead by example by sacrificing my salary,” she said.
Ms Chinyanta noted that lot of women in her ward were uneducated due to lack of finances to access education.
She said the project would also help the women to take themselves to school.
“As I go round interacting with women in my community, I found that some of them have the zeal to go back to school but they have no means of financial support. So I thought by empowering them they would also take themselves to school,” she said.
She further urged people in her community not to be too reliant on Government, but instead find ways of empowering themselves.
“A word to my community is that Government will not do everything for us, and as much as government is creating jobs, it cannot cater for everyone.
“So I feel as community, we should be hardworking and we should stand up on our two feet’s and see what we can do to sustain ourselves and develop our community together,” she said.
And one of the beneficiaries Alice Tembo, who had been looking after her two grandchildren since her daughter died, thanked the councillor for initiating the empowerment project.
She said even though the project looked small, it would help her to provide for her grandchildren.
“The councillor has really come to my rescue by introducing this programme, because since I lost my daughter in 2014, I have been struggling with my grandchildren. I have pay for their school feels and provide food and clothes for them, so for me this will go a long way,” she said.
Another beneficiary, Mr Mary Sampa implored other civic leaders in the country to emulate Ms Chinyanta.
She noted that a lot of women in Zambia were suffering and needed empowerment.
Truly, there is no doubt that if all women in Zambia were empowered, a lot of can be achieved because they are agents of change.


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