Chronicle Editor
Midlands Reporter
GUMBURE Primary School in Chiwundura operated with insufficient water for years, affecting children’s learning environment.
The nearest water source was about 13 kilometres away.
The school has a total enrolment of 580 pupils from ECD A to Grade 7 and 27 teachers.
Because of the unavailability of water, pupils, and more often girls, were sent to fetch it from the borehole 13km away where there was also an unprotected well for cleaning and cooking at school.
Teachers also used to send the pupils to fetch water for their domestic chores.
Handwashing with soap and water was not considered a priority so pupils spent the day and ate their food with dirty hands.
Close to Gumbure is Mavuzhe Secondary School which has a total enrolment of only 150 pupils from Form 1 to Form 4.
The school has only six teachers.
The borehole that used to provide the secondary school with water is not functioning after its submersible pump broke down.
The development saw the primary and secondary school running without water.
When it came to menstrual hygiene, the adolescent girls suffered as there was no water.
Thankfully, before the reopening of schools for second term tomorrow, a borehole has been sunk to provide water at the two schools and the community at large.
Gumbure and Mavuzhe schools have benefited from the philanthropic work of Zanu-PF Gweru District Co-ordinating Committee (DCC) chairperson Cde Brown Ndlovu.
Cde Ndlovu who has mining interests in the area has drilled five boreholes for schools in the Vungu area aimed at providing water to community members especially teachers and pupils so that education is not affected.
Plans are underway to put in place tap stands to classrooms, the teachers’ houses and the kitchen.
The surrounding community is also going to benefit with its own stand-alone taps.
The two schools didn’t even have income generating projects such as poultry and market gardening because of the unavailability of water.
“We lost too many children when this school had no water.
Children were not happy because they had to travel distances to collect water instead of being in class.
Teachers would not feel at ease until the children sent to collect water were back because some were fetching the water from a well and the probability of falling is always high.
So, we are grateful with the assistance we have from Cde Brown Ndlovu hoping that the dropout rates will reduce,” said Mr Philemon Kuchicha headmaster for Gumbure Primary School.
He said with the Covid-19 pandemic the pupils and teachers in schools were uncomfortable because of the unavailability of water.
“We are however, ready to support the return of pupils because there is water now to support hand washing of hands or hygiene which is critical to protecting children and teachers from the disease,” said Mr Kuchicha.
“We have a staff complement of 21 teachers, six on teaching practice, accommodation seven houses for teachers.
The main challenge at the school has been the availability of water and worse in the face of Covid-19 .
We are grateful to Cde Ndlovu for this borehole donation that will go a long way in sustaining the school and the projects we want to embark on.”
Mavuzhe Secondary School headmaster Mr Keith Madamombe also commended Cde Ndlovu for the assistance.
“Water is life and is also a Constitutional right and we support the Government for initiating borehole drilling programmes — a development that has seen Cde Ndlovu coming forth to assist the two schools.
Without your support nothing would have come to fruition.
We have 150 pupils and six teachers at the secondary school and the low enrolment at the school is also caused by unavailability of water,” he said.
Vungu Rural District Council chairperson Mr Morgan Zimvu said pupils have been travelling at least 13km to the nearest water point.
“The schools had no water and so no projects, no agriculture or poultry projects because they are only possible when there is running water. Also, communities from Wards 10, 11, 12 are going to benefit from this water programme.
As President Mnangagwa always says, Nyika inovakwa nevene vayo, Cde Ndlovu from Zanu-PF is working wonders in the Vungu area. We are happy.”
Cde Ndlovu said as a businessperson in Chiwundura, he felt obliged to pay back to the community by assisting in all areas where his assistance is needed.
He said clean water provision is one of the goals under the National Development Strategy 1 (NDS1).
“I was born in Zanu-PF and everything I do; I get authority from my leaders and we are working for our Party.
I want to thank President Mnangagwa for tasking me to work here and assist you where I can because we all belong to the people’s party. I have been working using my funds for the people.
The party taught me that as I grow old, I must make sure that I am actively involved in development issues,” he said.
Chief Chiwundura said development comes from the people.
“Development starts from within us and I applaud you as parents for thinking outside the box, for approaching the rightful people to assist develop the community.
We want our children from primary school to secondary level to do well and that is possible if they have a conducive environment like having water and electricity.
Water is now here and we are looking forward to having our children also learning agriculture and poultry and building among other programmes,” said the chief.
Government envisages drilling a borehole in each of the country’s 35 000 villages and 9 600 boreholes at each of the country’s 9 600 schools by 2024.
A further 3 600 boreholes, two each in each of the country’s 1 800 wards for youth horticulture projects will be drilled.
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