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<\/p>\nFrom Miss Universe to raising awareness about lupus,\u00a0a condition in which the immune system mistakenly attacks healthy tissues instead of protecting the body.<\/p>\n
MISS Universe Zimbabwe finalist Tatenda Madzinga has shifted her focus to advocating for victims of lupus, a disease that can affect the skin, joints, kidneys, heart, lungs, brain and many other organs.<\/p>\n
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Tatenda, who is based in the United States, is a lupus survivor.<\/p>\n
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She founded the Lava Foundation to raise awareness of lupus and other autoimmune diseases.<\/p>\n
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She was a finalist at the recently held Miss Universe Zimbabwe.<\/p>\n
\u201cI was part of Miss Universe Zimbabwe, and it was something that I didn\u2019t plan, but it came along my journey as I was advocating for lupus.<\/p>\n
\u201cI wanted to showcase my advocacy, and I managed to present the idea in front of many people, which was a great opportunity for me.<\/p>\n
\u201cI learned quite a lot during the process,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n
Tatenda went on to form Lava Foundation, with the aim of raising awareness about lupus.<\/p>\n
\u201cTwo years ago, I was diagnosed with lupus, and the journey was not easy.<\/p>\n
\u201cI struggled from the beginning, right from getting diagnosed, to treatment, and living with it.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhen I fell sick, I thought it was just a simple headache, and I want to encourage people that whenever you have a health issue, make sure you get checked; don\u2019t delay.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe symptoms include fatigue, joint pain, skin rashes, hair loss, fever, chest pain, brain fog, and sensitivity to sunlight.\u201d<\/p>\n
She added:<\/p>\n
\u201cThere was a point where that illness almost took my life, and it was only through prayer and treatment that I am here today.<\/p>\n
\u201cSo, because God saved my life, I decided to give back to Him by creating this platform where I encourage people and teach them how God was good to me.\u201d<\/p>\n
She started advocating about lupus through social media platforms.<\/p>\n
\u201cMy journey started when I was doing social media education and, from there, that\u2019s when the opportunity of Miss Universe came along the way.<\/p>\n
\u201cFrom Miss Universe, I was able to open my foundation, and I have been doing community outreaches in Epworth and Highfield.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe also managed to visit a few schools and, in the future, we will be able to visit health institutions.<\/p>\n
\u201cSo far, we have been able to reach over 600 people in Zimbabwe.\u201d<\/p>\n
She revealed why she decided to return home.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe reason why I decided to come home is that, as a Zimbabwean affected by lupus, I thought it just existed somewhere until I was diagnosed and started paying attention.<\/p>\n
\u201cSo, with that experience, I want to make sure every Zimbabwean gets to know about this disease and their health.<\/p>\n
\u201cIn America, a lot of people know about this illness, and they do a lot of research.<\/p>\n
\u201cBut, here in Zimbabwe, a lot of people seem to overlook issues related to health.<\/p>\n
\u201cSo, I decided to come home and educate my fellow Zimbabweans so that we can better understand and manage this disease.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe need to know what it is so that people get medical attention.<\/p>\n
\u201cI am still looking for more partners to make this dream a success.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe have been focusing on Harare due to resource constraints, but we need to expand to different parts of the country and even beyond the country.\u201d<\/p>\n
She also hopes to work on issues related to drug and substance abuse.<\/p>\n
\u201cIssues of drug abuse hit me hard, and I sympathise with victims.<\/p>\n
\u201cI am going to work on that because it affects many young people.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
From Miss Universe to raising awareness about lupus,\u00a0a condition in which the immune system mistakenly attacks healthy tissues instead of protecting the body.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":5986,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[33],"tags":[1227],"class_list":["post-5984","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-entertainment-and-arts","tag-tatenda-madzinga"],"yoast_head":"\n