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Victoria Falls Reporters
EIGHTEEN disadvantaged children randomly selected from four schools were on Monday treated to a rare life experience when some companies organised a joyride flight for them from Harare to Victoria Falls.
Their ages ranged between 11 and 15 years and were selected from Grade Six and Seven classes at Capota School for the Blind in Masvingo, Hilbre Primary in Darwendale, Mandalay Primary under Goromonzi District and St Marceline Catholic Primary in Hatfield. The group included a girl with albinism, some partially blind and an 18-year-old Onai Mupedzanhuna, a deaf-blind pupil at Capota who enjoyed the tour with the aid of her teacher, Mrs Sitembile Marare who was updating her using tactile/touch sign language.
The girl was deaf and dumb from birth and lost her eyesight due to an eye cataract problem.
The initiative is a partnership between Puma Energy, Redan, Civil Aviation Authority of Zimbabwe and Love for Africa as part of their corporate social responsibility.
The initiative was aimed at affording disadvantaged children an opportunity to interact with various careers in the aviation sector to give them options in their career paths. After landing at the Victoria Falls International Airport around 11AM, the 11 girls and seven boys were taken through a tour of the giant facility.
They could not hide their joy as they smiled all the way while posing for pictures around the airport before being taken for a tour of the Rainforest, after a lunch at a fast food outlet in town.
In the Rainforest the boys and girls enjoyed every bit of it as they could be heard poking each other saying it was their first time ever in their lives. Coming out of the Rainforest, the children took turns to express their joy.
Mirriam Phiri, who has albinism and is in Grade 7 at Capota said after the experience she had committed herself to be a pilot. Chipo Musanhi from St Marceline Catholic institution said she initially wanted to be an engineer but after the experience would want to become an air hostess.
“We have been taught on how to become pilots or air hostess and this is what I want to do,” she said.
Talknice Siyachungwe from Hilbre said: “This is my first time to board an aeroplane as well as visiting the Victoria Falls. I used to see aeroplanes when they passed by our village and the Victoria Falls on television but today I experienced both. I am going to write a composition about my experience,” said the pupil. They were chosen after writing an essay titled Why I want to fly.
CAAZ public relations manager Mrs Anna Julia Hungwe said they took a cue from the First Lady Auxilia Mnangagwa’s drive to help the less privileged countrywide. “This is programme where we have jointly with Puma, Redan, Fastjet and Love for Africa taken underprivileged children from some disadvantaged schools as part of our corporate social responsibility.
“We took a cue from the First Lady who is working with the underprivileged countrywide and headmasters chose them after writing some essays. We believe this will open them up in terms of the professions they want to do.
“These children really don’t know much hence we wanted to show them that there are many professions that they can be exposed to as they experienced what it takes to fly an aircraft,” she said.
Puma aviation commercial manager Ms Hermina Ferreira said the initiative will be an annual event. “This came as an idea to select schools that fall under the approach route to Gabriel Mugabe International Airport.
“What is magnificent about it is that these children had never had the opportunity to go to an airport closer to an aeroplane and here are companies being involved in exposing them.
“We intend to do this as an annual event with children who may never have the opportunity to be exposed to multiple jobs in aviation and maybe in 10 years’ time we would have one of them taking up an aviation job,” she said.
Redan sales representative Ms Tererai Mutero said the idea is to make the children’s dreams come true.
Online Reporter