{"id":12708,"date":"2026-03-16T06:53:12","date_gmt":"2026-03-16T06:53:12","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/zimgbcnews.co.zw\/?p=12708"},"modified":"2026-03-16T06:53:14","modified_gmt":"2026-03-16T06:53:14","slug":"community-rallies-olinda-chapel-and-ashbragger-raise-us6500-for-chitungwiza-vendor-caring-for-10-disabled-children","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/zimgbcnews.co.zw\/?p=12708","title":{"rendered":"Community Rallies: Olinda Chapel and Ashbragger Raise US$6,500 for Chitungwiza Vendor Caring for 10 Disabled Children"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Monday 16 March 2026<br>Zim GBC News | Gender and Community<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Harare \u2013 In a remarkable display of social media solidarity, businesswoman Olinda Chapel and socialite Ashford &#8220;Ashbragger&#8221; Chimombe have exceeded their fundraising target to support Elias Chikwava, a Chitungwiza-based sadza vendor whose selfless story of caring for children with disabilities has captured the nation&#8217;s heart.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The pair launched a GoFundMe campaign with an initial target of US$5,000 after Chikwava was spotted cooking and selling sadza on the streets of Harare&#8217;s Central Business District. The campaign has now raised a total of US$6,500, surpassing all expectations.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Chikwava, believed to be a former science teacher, turned to street vending to sustain his household.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>However, it is not just his immediate family he is providing for. Moved by personal experience after their own child was born with a disability, Chikwava and his wife opened their home to other children facing similar challenges. Today, they are the primary caregivers for ten children living with disabilities.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>To sustain the household, Chikwava travels daily to the Harare CBD to sell sadza, while his wife remains at home managing the care of their own child and the nine other children under their protection.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Following the success of the fundraiser, an elated Olinda Chapel took to Facebook to thank the community.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>&#8220;I am very proud of my community, we reached our target,&#8221; Chapel wrote.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>&#8220;Tomorrow Mr Munetsi will give us his US$200 and I will add my US$1,200 as promised. US$6,500 pfeeee.&#8221;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>She confirmed that Ashbragger would provide an update regarding the logistics of withdrawing the funds from the international platform.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>&#8220;Ashford will update us on how long it takes for him to withdraw from GoFundMe, and once that transaction has been completed we will hand over the full US$6,500 peacefully,&#8221; she added.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The story has drawn widespread praise online, with many Zimbabweans applauding the initiative of the fundraisers and the profound compassion of the Chikwava family.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>&#8220;The real heroes are that man and his wife,&#8221; commented one social media user.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>&#8220;To take in ten children while selling sadza on the street\u2026 that is the definition of love.&#8221;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The funds are expected to provide much-needed relief and support for the family&#8217;s ongoing care of the vulnerable children.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Zim GBC News continues to follow stories of community resilience. For more updates, follow our social media platforms and channel<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Follow Zim GBC News:<br>\u00b7 X (Twitter): @ZimGbc<br>\u00b7 Instagram: @ZimGBCNews<br>\u00b7 TikTok: @ZimGBCNews_01<br>\u00b7 Facebook: Zim GBC News<br>\u00b7 YouTube: Zim GBC News<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Get real-time alerts on WhatsApp:<br>+263 773 820 323<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>For in-depth coverage, visit our website:<br>www.zimgbcnews.co.zw<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Zim GBC News | Global News From An African Perspective\u00a92026<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Monday 16 March 2026Zim GBC News | Gender and Community Harare \u2013 In a remarkable display of social media solidarity, businesswoman Olinda Chapel and socialite Ashford &#8220;Ashbragger&#8221; Chimombe have exceeded&hellip; <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":12709,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[128],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-12708","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-community-and-gender-affairs"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/zimgbcnews.co.zw\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/12708","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/zimgbcnews.co.zw\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/zimgbcnews.co.zw\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/zimgbcnews.co.zw\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/zimgbcnews.co.zw\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=12708"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"http:\/\/zimgbcnews.co.zw\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/12708\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":12710,"href":"http:\/\/zimgbcnews.co.zw\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/12708\/revisions\/12710"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/zimgbcnews.co.zw\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/12709"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/zimgbcnews.co.zw\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=12708"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/zimgbcnews.co.zw\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=12708"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/zimgbcnews.co.zw\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=12708"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}