Chronicle Editor
Leonard Ncube
SPENDING over 16 years as a Catholic Church religious sister inspired Plaxedese Yeyani Ndlovu to open a special school for the disabled in Victoria Falls.
Ms Ndlovu (38) joined the convent under the Missionary Daughters of Calvary at the turn of the millennium and did her first profession (first vows) in 2003 before the final professions in 2009.
As a sister she worked at Mary’s Mission in Hwange, Sacred Heart Mission in Jambezi, Gokwe and Botswana.
She resigned from religious life in 2019 after the death of her parents as she had to take responsibility of her siblings and family members.
In an interview with Chronicle, she acknowledged that life outside sisterhood was different as there is more freedom but said although she left the convent, she was keeping her vows to celibacy and has no intention of getting married.
She thanked the Missionary Daughters of Calvary congregation for moulding her into the person that she is.
At the Convent, Ms Ndlovu, a holder of a teaching diploma specialising in disability studies from Zimbabwe Open University, dedicated her life to helping vulnerable members of society especially the disabled.
She started her school two years ago and it has 20 learners with different kinds of disabilities. The school is open to people of all ages up to the age of 30 years.
Ms Ndlovu said the calling to serve the community was so strong for her to ignore as in most cases people with disabilities are regarded as a burden to the community or families.
“I was a Catholic religious sister and resigned in 2019 when I decided to continue with the same charity work that I was doing in my religious life.
“I had passion for disability issues and I thought of continuing with the work I was doing, working on disabilities, vulnerable, drug abuse, early marriages and school dropouts which affect the community.
“I formed and organisation called ‘Girls Path of Life Charity Trust’ which enabled me to open a rehabilitation school and a training centre,” she said.
Operating from a rented house in Mkhosana’s CBZ stands near Victoria Falls Primary School, Mother of all Humanity Private School is currently operating under Girls Path of Life of Life Charity Trust which she registered.
Ms Ndlovu said plans are underway to start building a permanent boarding school next year on land that the Victoria Falls City Council promised to allocate to the school.
She said while at the convent, she researched about challenges faced by vulnerable groups and discovered that children with disabilities face a myriad of challenges, among them lack of proper learning facilities.
Mother of all Humanity Private School is set to become the only boarding school for the disabled in Matabeleland North.
In the region, families with disabled children send them to King George VI in Bulawayo.
Ms Ndlovu said seeing such children especially those from poor families lead uneducated lives with no lifelong skills pained and inspired her to invest in their education and development.
She did her primary education at Mabinga Primary School in Hwange before going to Hwange Government High School.
She later enrolled with ZOU for a teaching diploma.
“I got motivated when I saw children in the community having difficulties in reading and writing at Grade Seven. That was my research during my life as a Catholic sister to do charity work and I discovered that about 15 to 20 percent of children in most of our schools have special needs but are not well catered for while their interaction with other children is also limited. So I got concerned and felt I had to give back to the society l grew up in and do something,” said Ms Ndlovu.
She said girls are the most affected.
She also said Mother of all Humanity School targets all children with disabilities including the mentally challenged, those with cerebral palsy, Down syndrome, slow learners, speech and hearing impaired.
“We enrol from two years to 30 years as long as they have medical proof of their condition and our teachers are specialists who were well trained for that,” Ms Ndlovu said.
The school is seeking partnerships and work is at an advanced stage to partner with a foreign organisation to grow the school into a world class institution for the disabled.
Ms Ndlovu said the current premises limit the school from engaging in some activities and has appealed to well-wishers and like-minded organisations for partnerships.
“We are planning to build a boarding school for the children with disabilities and the school will be furnished with a physio therapy clinic since most children are lacking that therapy because parents are on denial.
“We will be a centre for awareness workshops for parents and families to accept disability,” she added.
Mother of all Humanity School’s vision is to enhance access to quality education and holistic development opportunities for children with special needs.
— @ncubeleon.
Online Reporter