A young Zimbabwe boy touched the hearts of many in the country after a video in which he was lamenting about missing bread for breakfast went viral on social media.
In the video, 3-year-old Zoolian Karendo from Chinhoyi’s Chikonohono suburb can be heard telling his father that he is fed up with having sweet potatoes for breakfast. When the father jokingly asks what he would prefer, Zoolian tells him that he would rather have bread instead.
However, due to the skyrocketing inflation and deterioration of salaries, as well as the national lockdown, most families in Zimbabwe cannot afford to buy bread and have resorted to alternatives such as sweet potatoes, yams, rice and even sadza (pap) for breakfast.
The video which was recorded by Zoolian’s father’s friend went viral on social media where it touched the hearts of many.
In a development which many may not have foreseen, Zimbabwean companies quickly moved to locate the 3-year-old boy seeking to bless him with their products to ensure that he enjoys his breakfast.
At the time of publishing, at least 6 corporates had pledged to donate hampers and goodies to Zoolian.
Below are some of the messages which the companies shared on social media.
Proton Bakers kickstarted the whole event when they offered to supply Zoolian with a month’s worth of bread. They have since located him and fulfilled their pledge. Writing on Twitter, radio and television personality KVG wrote:
Twithearts please help us locate this little Boy toda kumukwadza nechingwa chedu (we want to satisfy him with our bread)…#oneMonthsupplyofbread #bestofthebest #ProtonBakers Let’s get to work the bread is in the oven.
Added Proton:
Good morning Royals…The Proton team is happy to let you know we found the boy he is From Chinhoyi and we got the link from one of ours here on Twitter maita basa (thank you). #tomukuvadzanechingwachedu (we will satisfy him with our bread)
Not to be outdone, rivals Bakers Inn also said:
Sweet potatoes are only sweet for so long.
Help us find this little gent, we have a sweet surprise for him. Retweet to spread the word! #BakersInnBread #SweetSurprise
ZimGold Cooking Oil also added that they would supply Zoolian with the margarine to go with his bread:
We have heard his cry. Akuvara ne mbambaira. Chingwa chaapihwa ne Proton chinoda margarine. We have decided to bless him with margarine. Let us keep him all cheered up by continuing to like and retweeting timukuvadze nezvinonaka!!
#Zimgold #SweetSuprise #spreadthelove
Roil Cooking Oil also joined the party and pledged to donate a cooking oil hamper to Zoolian so that he may have fried sweet potatoes.
We don’t know if you can fry sweet potatoes but help us to find this little man, we have a Cooking Oil hamper to make his breakfast a whole lot better. Kindly retweet so the little guy gets his hamper.
Dairibord Zimbabwe Private Limited added that they would supply the little man with their iconic Chimombe Milk and Quickbrew Tea.
Chingwa chine margarine chinoda chine Quickbrew tea ine Dairibord Chimombe kuti zvinyatso dzika. Let us find this young man and give him the perfect breakfast.
#Dairibord #QuickbrewTea #Chimombe #SweetSurprise
Irvine’s Zimbabwe rounded off the breakfast by pledging to supply Zoolian with eggs and sausages.
Mwana asingachemi anofira mumbereko! Little guy has put a voice to his complaint, akuvara nembambaira mwana. We at Irvine’s have decided to provide him with eggs and sausages, breakfast yakakwana inoda mazai nesausage zvekwaIrvine’s!