Woman to walk barefoot for Zimbabwe charities

Wales, UK – A Zimbabwean woman is preparing to walk 22 miles without shoes to highlight the plight of women in her native Zimbabwe. Martha Musonza-Holman, 39, will walk from Brecon to Llanfoist along the canal in a bid to raise £5,000 for community projects.

Mrs. Musonza-Holman, of New Court Farm, Llantilio Pertholey said she’s doing it because many women in Zimbabwe have to walk miles for water with shoes as they are too expensive.

“As a child growing up in Chinamhora, in the Domboshawa region my father could not afford to buy me shoes so I went everywhere barefoot,” said Mrs. Musonza-Holman, who was forced to leave her two children, Taurai, 20 and Tafadzwa, 19 behind in Zimbabwe in 2001.

“I became a teacher and pledged to make a difference there,” said Mrs. Musonza-Holman, now a Fair Trade entrepreneur.  She regularly returns home with husband David, 53, and has set up Love Zimbabwe, a charity which works directly with communities in Zimbabwe to help them be self-sufficient.

She also runs a community interest company that pays crafts people in US Dollars which means they can buy things that they need. “The situation has never been so bad as it is at the moment. The Zimbabwean Dollar has ceased to exist as a currency and unemployment is about 90 percent,” said Mrs. Holman.

The walk starts at Brecon Theatre at 9am on December 12 and funds raised will go towards setting up a community centre and installing showers and toilets at nurse’s homes in a rural clinic. Anyone wanting to part or all of the walk or sponsor her should call Mrs. Musonza-Holman on 07879400897.  – Angus South Wales