Just who is a father?

Mother’s touch . . . Marondera community services manager Mrs Kumbirayi Kundiona cuddles abandoned 10-day-old baby Runako Tsimba.

By Phyllis Kachere
STARK naked and clutching her dangling umbilical cord still attached to her tiny body, abandoned new-born baby Runako was 10 days ago found lying a few steps from the entrance to a beerhall in Marondera’s high-density suburb of Cherima around 5am on a freezing morning.
Today Runako Tsimba turns 10 days old and has been surnamed after the famous Tsimba Beerhall, in line with the law which demands that for purposes of reintegration an abandoned child should be named after the neighbourhood where they were found.
Showing severe signs of hypothermia owing to excessive exposure to the cold, little Runako was rushed to Marondera District Hospital by a group of women known locally as “community mothers”.
“Runako was found crying and stark naked near Tsimba Beerhall in Cherima.
“The ‘community mothers’ — a group of volunteer women who assume motherly duties in their neighbourhoods to orphans and vulnerable children — quickly mobilised warm clothing for her,” said Marondera Municipality community services manager Mrs Kumbirayi Kundiona under whose supervision the “mothers” do their work.
The “community mothers” initiative is one of the social welfare programmes run by Marondera Municipality with support from Save the Children.
Today, Ward 2 of Marondera District Hospital has become Runako’s home and will remain so as social workers battle to find a home for her.
And as Runako celebrates her 10 days in this world today, Zimbabwe is also commemorating Father’s Day, an occasion to celebrate fatherhood.
And how the bouncing 3,5kg Runako would celebrate that day today, and in future, remains anybody’s guess as she has suffered the double tragedy of being abandoned by both her father and mother.
“We may never know why Runako’s mother abandoned her but there could be a number of reasons. And we must not be quick to judge her.
“Her mother could have been a victim of rape who concealed the pregnancy due to the shame suffered by those who disclose that they have been raped.
“Or she could have been abandoned by the man who made her pregnant and hoped to marry. Or yet still, she could have abandoned Runako for fear of being rejected by her own family for having a child out of wedlock,” said child rights activist Mrs Christine Mupande.
And Mrs Mupande.wondered: what exactly is society celebrating on Father’s Day?
“What is there for the men out there to celebrate this Father’s Day when almost half of Zimbabwe’s children are being raised by their single mothers? Just who is a father? Does fertilising an egg amount to becoming a father? Isn’t fatherhood all about raising and moulding a child?” wondered Mrs Mupande.
Marondera community mother Mrs Thokozile Mbizi explained that her group was mothering the community’s needy children while the community fathers were nowhere to be seen.
“Shouldn’t we as community mothers be working alongside community fathers? But they are just not there. Our communities need fathers.
“Our children lack the input of their fathers as we raise them and until men realise they have to stop being male and become men, we are going to be stuck with mothering our children without their fathers,” said Mrs Mbizi.
Mrs Kundiona said Marondera Municipality would continue to support vulnerable children through its district and ward child protection committees.
The municipality yesterday donated       formula milk and clothing for baby Runako.-The Sunday Mail