Widows And Single Mothers Support Programme (WSMSP)

The Widows and Single Mothers Support programme was established  “to help women develop themselves” through capacity building and the unleashing of existing untapped potential while utilising locally available resources within their communities.

The program seeks to fulfil one of CTT’s major tenets of service to orphans and vulnerable children. Guided by and adhering to the Biblical Verse James 1:27 “Religion that God our Father accepts as pure and faultless is this: to look after  orphans and widows in their distress and to keep oneself from being polluted by the world.” 

Objective

• The negative effects of the micro-economic situation in Zimbabwe has left women in the peri urban  areas marginalized, poorer and more desperate. The women possess a general feeling of hopelessness, lack of purpose and low self-worth.  The effects of the HIV and Aids as well as the COVID 19 pandemics and  gender discrimination have also increased  their vulnerability.  It is against this backdrop that CTT started a Widows and Single Mothers Support program to empower women socially, physically, spiritually and emotionally
• The program seeks to mitigate the effects of poverty, HIV and AIDS and sudden onset debilitating events such as death, divorce, abandonment, disability and infectious diseases, such as the Covid 19 pandemic on the women’s’ livelihoods.
• In the context of poverty, food shortages and poor health WSMSP builds on and strengthens existing social and economic survival strategies and helps establish new ones, while building community, and encouraging collaborations.
•  CTT  believes there  is power in a group. Through support groups, women have the opportunity to provide support for other women, develop leadership skills, set boundaries, gain respect and grow their self-esteem and confidence. Through the support group women will learn that they are not  alone – they have a family to support regardless of living with HIV and other problems.