THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: Twenty-five-year-old Samantha Mudiriro from Zimbabwe had to live on the streets with her mother for the first two years of her life. Soon after, she was placed in a home with an SOS Children’s Village in her country. She realised that children like her were denied access to proper education, job opportunities and health facilities.
Samantha is a participant of the International Fest for Social Change titled ‘Spread the Spice-TryVanDrum 2019’ to be held at Manaveeyam Veedhi in collaboration with Manaveeyam Theruvorakoottam on Sunday.
In the event, Samantha will focus on the state of orphanages and stigma attached to orphans.
“Having grown up in an orphanage, I’ve always wanted to do something for my community. One day I’d come across a boy who asked me for food. Upon buying food, I took the contact details of his relatives so that I could meet them. But I discovered that he lived within a community in a poor state. Since then, I started learning about the difficulties of street children,” she says. Samantha yearned to uplift such children and provide a better life.
One of her friends introduced her to 'Kanthari', an organisation in the city which equips participants with techniques and ideas to help them bring about a social change. Samantha applied for the Kanthari leadership training programme last year and is currently working towards the betterment of street children.
With the skills that she acquired, she wishes to start a recreational centre for street children in Zimbabwe.
“Every day is a struggle for them. Most orphanages have no facilities for effective counselling or support of children. This prompted me to start the centre. Such a recreational centre will make children and teenagers access to better education and also facilities regarding as music and dance,” she said.
As part of her course at Kanthari, she plans to associate with the orphanages in the city. She also wishes to improve the sanitation facilities of women in Zimbabwe.