A Calling Beyond Comfort: The Story Behind Zimbabwe’s Senior Citizens Association

By Evans Jona

MUTARE – As the world prepares to mark the International Day of Older Persons on October 1, one man in Mutare carries a story shaped by faith, compassion, and a burdened heart for Zimbabwe’s elderly — a story that gave birth to the Zimbabwe Senior Citizens Association, a beacon of hope for vulnerable older persons.

For Patrick J. Ndlovu, the founder of the association, it was neither wealth nor privilege that stirred his soul into service, but a deep, spiritual conviction planted decades ago. In the early 1980s, while grappling with his own family’s limited resources, Ndlovu found himself drawn to the plight of street children through a program run by the Presbyterian Church in Mutare. When that initiative transitioned into what would later become Simukai, his calling did not wane.

“I never had much,” Ndlovu recounts. “But God kept putting people in need in my path, first the street kids, then the blind. I knew I was meant to serve.”

In the years that followed, he began sourcing food, blankets, and clothing for the blind, supported by a small circle of generous local businesses like Kassims Fabrics, Dr. C. Mugweni, Mitchell’s Bakery, and Mutare Mart. However, the devastating Murambatsvina operation in 2005 turned everything upside down.

But if hardship silenced many, it only deepened Ndlovu’s resolve. In 2009, appointed as a Commissioner of Oaths by the Ministry of Home Affairs, he saw a new avenue to revive his mission. Charging only token fees for his services, he used the modest earnings to support the vulnerable. By 2010, operating from a corner at Meikles Park, he began inviting blind individuals every Friday morning, gradually building a circle of about 30 beneficiaries.

Then, in 2016, a new, heartbreaking chapter began.

 

“Elderly people, frail and forgotten, started coming too, not for certificates, but for help,” he recalls. “I told them the programme was only for the blind, but one old woman, maybe in her eighties, began to cry. And my heart broke.”

That day marked a turning point. Ndlovu welcomed them, and by the following Friday, their numbers multiplied. Soon, about 70 elderly men and women were regularly receiving food, clothes, and care from Ndlovu’s meager proceeds. It strained his resources, but he refused to turn them away.

The defining moment came on the night of July 26, 2020. Ndlovu had a dream he still vividly remembers.

“In that dream, I found myself in a cemetery, surrounded by elderly people, hundreds of them, crying, ‘You see us here? We died because no one cared for us in our old age,’” he narrates. “I woke up drenched in tears, trembling. My wife asked what was wrong, but I couldn’t speak. I knew God was sending me a message.”

The very next morning, on July 27, 2020, Ndlovu established a WhatsApp platform he named Zimbabwe Senior Citizens Association. He invited a few trusted friends, shared his vision, and was met with overwhelming support. Guided by scripture, Exodus 20:12, Proverbs 19:17, Deuteronomy 15:7, and Matthew 15:4, Ndlovu registered a formal organisation with the Government of Zimbabwe.

Today, the Zimbabwe Senior Citizens Association stands as a growing force advocating for the dignity, welfare, and rights of older persons. The association is non-political, its mandate firmly rooted in charitable work, offering moral and material support to elderly Zimbabweans often neglected by systems and society.

As the nation joins the world in celebrating older persons this October, Ndlovu’s story is a timely reminder that the call to compassion requires neither abundance nor influence, just an open heart and unwavering conviction.

“This work was never about me,” says Ndlovu quietly. “It was, and always will be, about answering God’s call to care for those society forgets.”

And in a world often too busy to notice its frail and forgotten, men like Patrick Ndlovu keep hope alive.

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