The lives of two ordinary village women, who never saw the four walls of a classroom but struggled and persevered to raise and send their children to school were celebrated last weekend.

The two, Nyamuofhe Mulaudzi (69) and Munyadziwa Munyai Masakona (66), might have not been known outside their villages, but they had raised children who have become leaders – one of them the internationally acclaimed motivational speaker and author, Apostle Maxwell Masakona of the Calvary Christian Church.

The two women did not live to see the successes of their children, but they are not forgotten. The two families held a mammoth celebratory party to celebrate their lives when two giant tombstones were unveiled. The function was held at the Calvary Christian Church at Lwamondo outside Thohoyandou before proceeding to Lwamondo cemetery where the two tombstones were unveiled.

Family spokesperson Tshenuwani Masakona said the two died a long time ago, but as the cemetery was full, many unmarked graves were unrecognizable. “Since 1990 we have been looking for the graves without success. Our luck came in January when we finally located the graves and since then we have been preparing for this big day,” he said. He said it had always been their wish to make the tombstones, so that even the coming generations would be able to see where their grandparents were buried.

Pastor Sophia Khorommbi of the Charis Missionary Church said she was happy to have been part of the occasion. “I was here when we buried them and today we are witnessing this colourful occasion. Let it be a lesson to all to start looking after the graves where their loved ones are buried and erect tombstones,” she said. Khorommbi saluted the two women for gallantly fighting that their children get the best and grow up to be something in the community. “Had it not been for the two women, where would we have got the authors like Apostle Masakona and where would we have got such big and modern churches like Calvary Christian Church. The works by these two fighters could not go unnoticed; they should always be remembered,” she said.