Tinashe Chuma
ON the night of 5 October, following a brutal hailstorm that rampaged through the City of Masvingo, Tinomuda and his family slept in the kitchen. It was the only room in their home that still had a roof.
“When the hailstorm began, I ran to my Dad and cried. I told him I was afraid and he held me and Gogo close and we prayed. Our house roof was left with holes and we had to sleep in the kitchen, which was the only room that had a roof,” said Tinomuda, a Grade Two pupil at Victoria Primary School.
The storm lasted less than half an hour. It caught Masvingo between work and home, with some residents still travelling in kombis and others already settling in for the evening.
Among those on the road was the Mayor of Masvingo, Cllr Aleck Tabe.
He was driving home when the hail came down so heavily that he could no longer see where he was going.
“I couldn’t see the road, so I stopped. A violent gust of wind threatened to flip my car and all I could think about was my family and my kids,” he recalled.
The hail smashed his car windows, stripped patches of paint and left dents across the bodywork.
For an elderly community child welfare worker, what stayed with her was the sound of breaking glass. As she spoke, tears ran down her cheeks.
“I remember praying and asking God, is this how it all ends for me? What about my children who are far away? What about these little grandchildren? I am just but a widow,” she said.
Say chimvuramabwe, the Shona word for hail, in Masvingo and horror tales are told.
Passengers remember praying aloud in crowded kombis on their way home from work.
One resident recalled losing a brand-new 75-inch television when the roof gave way and let in the rain and hail.
As Council set about repairing damaged infrastructure, residents spoke of fears that lingered in the aftermath of the storm.
Concern raised particularly for school children. For a pupil who was still frightened or sleeping badly, concentrating on a lesson could be difficult.
The City of Masvingo’s Health Department thus developed a Trauma Response Care Programme in partnership with Happy Nest Counselling Chambers (HNCC).
On 19 October, two weeks after the storm, the City and HNCC began offering age-appropriate counselling in schools to help students cope with the emotional pressure caused by the hailstorm.
Mayor Tabe officially launched the Trauma Response Care Programme at the Civic Centre on 4 November 2026 under the theme “Rebuilding Homes, Healing Minds”.
At the launch, he explained why the City had taken its recovery effort into the classroom.
“A child who is overwhelmed by fear may struggle to learn. A learner who feels unsafe may find it difficult to participate fully in school activities. This is why providing timely psychological support is not optional; it is an essential part of our recovery,” Mayor Tabe said.
The first phase covers council-run and other public schools across Masvingo. Each school will receive two sessions, and counsellors will be available to respond to trauma-related emergencies. Teachers are also receiving counselling and training in trauma first aid.
Town Clerk Eng Edward Mukaratirwa called for a collective response to the emotional impact of the hailstorm.
City of Masvingo is fully funding the counselling sessions through its Disaster Management Fund, so pupils are attended to free of charge.
For parents still repairing their homes, holding the sessions at school means one fewer thing to arrange.
HNCC’s Chief Executive Officer, Mr Innocent Mataruse, explained that the programme follows a stepped care approach, with support tailored to each pupil’s needs.
Pupils who continue to experience distress after the group sessions receive individual counselling.
Where necessary, counsellors can refer them to psychological, psychiatric or social welfare services.
On the night of the storm, Tinomuda turned to his father and told him he was afraid.
By bringing counsellors into schools and training teachers in trauma first aid, Masvingo is giving children like Tinomuda someone they can turn to in the classroom, too.
