Send children to school, says Zimcare

Patrick Chitumba Midlands Bureau Chief
ZIMBABWE Care (Zimcare) Trust Special Schools has said the rights of children with special needs must be respected and this includes sending them to school. This was said on Saturday at a gathering of Zimcare Trust Special Schools in Gweru for the third annual Zimcare Trust Awareness Day.

Zimcare Trust is a non-profit organisation that caters for the welfare and well-being of children with special needs and it has 11 junior special schools and three adult schools under its wing. Officially launching the awareness day, guest of honour, who is also Mudavanhu Zimcare Trust Special School Board member Dr Tinashe Manzungu said every human being, despite any form of disability has a right to life, health and education. Dr Manzungu applauded Zimcare Trust for its efforts, but said the majority of children with special needs spend their time at home and have no access to learning opportunities.

“We are all born differently, but one important factor is that we are all human beings with human rights. In this light these children with special needs need to have their rights respected by sending them to school, giving them access to health and other rights.

“I call on members of the community to have a heart and look after children with special needs,” said Dr Manzungu, who is also TM Group of Companies chairperson.Dr Manzungu, who donated a stand to Mudavanhu School, urged the business community and other non-Governmental organisations to assist and donate to special schools to help achieve the Zimcare Trust objectives of providing for children with special needs. He said it was an honour for Gweru to be chosen to be the first city to host the celebrations outside of Harare.

“I am reliably informed that this is the third annual Zimcare Trust Awareness Day and that for the past two years it has been held in Harare. As Gweru citizens we feel honoured to be the first to host this event outside of Harare,” he said.

Zimcare Trust Director Mr Nicholas Aribino said the awareness day was aimed at showing the world what the trust was doing to assist mentally challenged children across the country.