Staff Writer
She was all teary eyed when her name was called as the winner of US$1000 in the Harare province tourism innovation challenge on Tuesday.
The 26-year-old Gracia Bvute said she could not hold back her tears because the prize money was all she needed to boost her now thriving business.
“Pamusoroi (excuse me) guys I am nervous. I think why I am crying is that this is an already open business that has been running, and I have been running it for roughly two years now. At this very moment, I am about to get tenders, and I needed this US$1 000,” she broke into tears of joy.
“And I have no idea. Tsitsi if you hadn’t sent me a message, I wouldn’t have come today, because I have a lot of work that I need to do. So, I am very happy, and I know my team is going to be happy. I employ a team of very young youth, and I would like them to be off the streets from a lot of things like drugs that is happening currently.”
She continued: “And, I think for me, I do this for my mom as well, because she is the one that taught me to cook, but unfortunately, she is late now. I am very happy, and I have become a mother at a young age and I now have to look after my siblings as well. So, this is very special to me, and thank you. I want to say thank you for giving me the opportunity, and trust me because of this, I am bringing it home to Harare.”
Gracia’s winning project was titled Putting Zimbabwean Cuisine under the map. The project seeks to market showcase different part of the Zimbabwean cuisine and show the world what the country has to offer under the cuisines. This is done through videos that the garnered 2.5 million views on YouTube.
Tinotenda Munhuuripi was the second runner and got US$300 for his project Green Homestairs. The project is aimed at promoting sustainable tourism practices in remote yet beautiful areas of the country with a rich cultural and natural heritage. The project focuses on developing a network of homestairs in the area where tourists can experience local way of life while also contributing to the economic development of that community.
The first runner up was Tinotenda Ngwenya who won US$500 for the project titled Litter Trace. The project seeks to come up with a litter management system that aims to reduce litter pollution particularly in tourist destinations by tracking litter to its owners using a QR code Zimbabwe has a litter problem in abundance hence making people accountable for their waste will reduce waste making our destinations more attractive.
About Author
