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Conrad Mupesa
Mashonaland West Bureau
six years ago, Gogo Violet Muzengeza, then 58, made news with her peers when they enrolled at Mhangura Mine Primary School as a Grade One student under the informal education model.
She turned 64 this year. Unlike some of her peers whom she enrolled with then, Gogo Muzengeza is still soldiering on.
Gogo Muze, as she is affectionately known in the mining settlement of Mhangura, can now read, write and speak English eloquently, setting the bar high.
She is optimistic of completing her primary school lap and aims proceeding to secondary school.
“My target is to acquire a primary school certificate and enrol for secondary education.
“Although I encountered challenges that failed me to sit for Grade Seven exams last year, I still have hope for that,” Gogo Muze said.
At first her ambition was to read and write, but now she is targeting academic certificates.
Despite the hurdles she met in the past six years of her ‘formal education’ Gogo Muze exhibited highest levels of resilience and determination.
She balances household chores, selling wares at her vending stall and taking care of her school-going grandchildren.
Gogo Muze also takes care of her husband, a former ambulance driver.
She said she was not ashamed of being in primary school at the age of 64.
“I am not worried about what people say as that will never move me. I failed to go to school in Rhodesia because of the segregation and because my father was a poor farm worker.
“He could not afford it. He gave preference to my three brothers. I do not wish to be employed at all, but I wish to acquire knowledge.
“I want to be able to read and write like others. To comprehend issues,” Gogo Muze said.
Failing to read, comprehend and count, gave her zeal to desist from relying on other people for translation. She developed more interest in mathematics and English subjects, which she says are her favourite.
Despite nature taking its toll, her ageing body quarrelling with the mind, Gogo Muze has managed to maintain levels of concentration in class.
It is a fight she is optimisticof winning.
During her six years of informally done but relatively formal education, Gogo Muze has learnt more from her grandchildren who helped her answer homework questions.
One of her grandchildren is sitting for Grade Seven examinations this year while the other is in Grade Six.
Although she has her grandchildren to help with chores, she does not want to deprive them of good and quality education.
“This is a legacy am leaving to my family and generations to come that education is key to life,” she adds.
She has dedicated her serious pursuit of knowledge to the untimely death of her classmate, one Mrs Karombo, a woman in her late 50s, who passed on in December 2019.
“Even after losing a classmate, which was a sure sign that our days on earth are numbered, I soldiered on.
“I am also dedicating these efforts to my late classmate, Mrs Karombo who died in 2019.” She commended the Government for introducing the learning model.
“Although I am passing through a rough
patch, I am determined to access knowledge and grateful to the Government for allowing us this opportunity,” said Gogo Muze.
Born in Kadoma where her father worked as farmworker, she married Mr Kupukai Muzengeza in 1979 after the two met at Highbury Farm in Mhangura where her father had relocated.
The couple was blessed with four children and has eight grandchildren.
Online Reporter
Peter Tanyanyiwa