Hwange pupils get bicycles

Leonard Ncube, Victoria Falls Reporter

PUPILS and community leaders who include village heads, community health workers and lead farmers in Hwange’s Matetsi ward have received bicycles from a non-governmental organisation to help them carry out their duties.

More than 200 bicycles from World Bicycle Relief were distributed to the community leaders recently.
More than 100 learners at Matetsi Primary School also benefited and this will help address the problem faced by pupils walking long distances to schools.

Walking long distances to school has been blamed for contributing to teenage pregnancies and early child marriages in Hwange District as girls sometimes are targeted by ‘male predators’ along the way to school.

In Hwange, Lupane and Binga districts children also face the risk of being attacked by wild animals due to proximity to game parks.

Some schools have recorded zero pass rate especially at Grade Seven examinations.
Ayanda Ndlovu (11) and Faith Mathe (12) learners at Matetsi Primary School said the bicycles will make it easier for them to go to school.

Ms Alfosina Tendai Shoko said she got the bicycle because of her work as a community health worker.
“I received a bicycle through being a community health care worker. It will help me move from one community to another attending to cases of child abuse and domestic violence,” she said.

Woodland resettlement area lead farmer Mr Noah Zulu said before getting the bicycle he used to walk long distances to visit farmers in four villagers that he administers.

Another lead farmer Mthatshelwa Tshuma from Dunu village said: “It was difficult to move around teaching people. Now we can attend meetings that contribute to Government programmes.”

Hwange District best farmer Mrs Virginia Dube from Matetsi who was overal best farmer at the recent Victoria Falls Agricultural Show said she used to walk about 7km to train people on the conservation farming method, hence the bicycle comes in handy.

Lead farmers are selected by Agritex department.
Matetsi ward Councillor Vulindlela Mhlanga said bicycles will make it is easy to mobilise the community for development.

“All along people were failing to attend meetings because our community is geographically spaced. All farms and villages should attend ward meetings but distance has been discouraging people.

“So this is huge relief. Children will also be able to attend school and this will reduce school drop-outs,” he said.
Matetsi has more than 20 villages and stretches from Madumabisa in Hwange to Masue in Victoria Falls, covering all resettlement areas.

Each individual will use the bicycle under the watchful eye of BRS and will become theirs after three years. – @ncubeleon.