A boy child should be treated the same as girls in a move aimed to save them from perishing from drug and substance abuse.
This came during a post-International Boys Day commemoration, which was held on May 17.
Initially, the day is held every May 16.
For that noble cause, the Teen Rescue Mission (TRM) in partnership with Boys Engage, lit up the Epworth community with an exciting Fun Run event as part of the International Boys Day commemorations.
The day started with a Marathon, which had more than 300 boys participating, as well as soccer games.
Spicing the event, women from the community of Epworth joined the marathon as they stood to support the initiative.
The event ran under the theme, ‘Support the boy child, say no to drugs and crime.
Blessing Chikuvanyanga, a 14-year-old from Epworth who took part in the marathon, expressed his appreciation.
“Today, we are happy that we boys have been remembered.
“As you can see, we have managed to run and are now expressing ourselves on the challenges we face as boys.
“As young as we are, we are already facing challenges that can drive us to do bad things.
“I want to thank Teen Rescue Mission and Boys Engage, who have managed to bring this wonderful programme to us.”
Tinashe Mazunza, 22, said the day is important towards emulating the boy child.
“This day is a day we will always remember as it has brought excitement in our lives.
“The boy child receives less attention in families and in our communities.
“When we have issues, we don’t have our voices really heard.
“At the end, you see us getting into drugs because it is a way that we feel it helps us kill the mental health issues we will be going through.
“So this event has come with so much joy to us, and many thanks to Mr Abraham Matuka from Teen Rescue Mission and Mr Gillian Rusike from Boys Engage for organising this wonderful day,” he said.
Benard Moyo,23, also expressed positive feedback from the event.
“For sure, we boys we happy today.
“The gathering of today in the name of boys really brought some positivity in our lives that we are special.
“We have learned so much about the dangers of drugs and how to keep ourselves well in this life.
“Teen Rescue Mission and Boys Engage have done something we will always cherish.”
Grace Mupanze, a young mother from Epworth, expressed her joy over the programme.
“We are so thankful to this programme as it is targeting the real issues affecting our community.
“Remembering the boys today is something we need to keep doing.
“Here in Epworth, young boys as early as 10 years old are already getting into drugs and substance abuse, and crime.
“The situation is so bad and stressful as a parent.
“So I had to come out in person to support the programme, and I want to applaud Teen Rescue Mission and Boys Engage for this programme.”
Abraham Matuka from Teen Rescue Mission expressed his joy at the event.
“We are so excited that this event has drawn a large number of boys from Epworth and Chitungwiza to run and to engage among themselves.
“Working with young people surely they have been a rise in young boys committing suicide, and after doing research, joining hands with Boys Engage.
“We saw that it’s because boys had no open place for them to speak about their challenges.
“We celebrate that this has become a success as we create the environment for them to speak about their issues, as we listen to them and embrace them.
“This is one of the ways we fight drug abuse among the boys as we create harmony among families.”
Matuka extended his appreciation to the Chinese Embassy in Harare for supporting the programme.
Mr Zhang Yi, Counsellor of the Chinese Embassy, was present to support and march with the boys in Epworth together with the Chinese Medical Team led by Doctor Gao Juhua.
Mr Gillian Rusike of Boys Engage also had time to express his joy at the success of the programme.
“As Boys Engage, we are so excited to see this programme it has been successful. “Coming with this move on boys, it was after seeing the challenges that boys are going through in today’s life.
“The boy child is being left behind while the girl child is above there
“So we have come with this programme so as to challenge the boys to be positive, look after themselves and encourage them to work as they are the future fathers of our tomorrow.
The event was also attended by the Zimbabwe Prisons and Correctional Services Brass and Instrumental Band.
During the event, young boys received over 300 buckets and toiletries as a way to encourage boys to be hygienic and be positive on themselves.
The event also had the Zimbabwe Youth Council, the Chinese Embassy in Harare, partnering, and the Chinese Medical Team, providing free medical services to the people of Epworth.
