By Tendai Chisiri
POTRAZ director general Dr Gift Machengete said hosting of Charity Golf Tournament on Day of the African Child is no coincidence but is a small way of the organisation’s contribution to the cause of the African child.
Speaking at the prize presentation ceremony of the POTRAZ Charity Golf Tournament held at Newlands Country Club in the capital city Friday, POTRAZ director general emphasised the need to support the vulnerable children and those groups less privileged.
“Today is a very special day for all of us on the African Continent. Today is the International Day of the African Child, ” he said.
International Day of the African Child is commemorated on June 16 of every year and honours the memories of students who were massacred in Soweto, South Africa, in 1976 for protesting against education injustice and inequality in the apartheid regime.
It was designated as Day of the African Child in 1991 by the African Union with the aim of promoting children’s rights.
According a few facts and statistics shared by POTRAZ director general about the African Child, thirty million of the world’s 57 million children who are out of school are in sub-Saharan Africa.
Also, one in six children born in sub-Saharan Africa do not live to their fifth birthday and one in three girls in sub-Saharan Africa are married by the age of 18.
Moreover thirty million girls in Africa are in danger of undergoing Female Genital Mutilation in the next decade.
Dr Machengete said while golf is about patience and determination, discipline and effort, business and networking and of course exercise, on the charity tournament it is about something way bigger than all this.
“Today, golf is about celebrating the African Child. Today, golf is about supporting the vulnerable children and those groups less privileged than we are. Today, golf is about charity”, he explained.
“This tournament is, therefore, significant to us as it speaks to our commitment as an organization, to improve the lives of vulnerable groups such as orphaned children, child headed families, and children with disabilities”.
” We also note that some children are being raised by widows, widowers, the elderly and persons with disability. This day is about them too, as the hard sacrifices they make to ensure there is food on the tables and a blankets on the beds of children do not go unnoticed”, added Machengete.
“Our hope is that this small contribution of having you chase after a small white ball all day, will go a long way in changing the lives of these vulnerable groups”, he said.
He therefore thanked all, ladies and gentlemen, for their philanthropic gesture of paying to participate in the tournament where proceeds will be donated to charity.
” There is nothing more fulfilling than parting with your money and having fun at it”, he added.
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He congratulated the winners and all first-time golfers for the determination they showed.
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