adminLeonard Ncube
“From where has this man this wisdom and these mighty works? Is not this the carpenter’s son? Isn’t his mother called Mary? And his brethren James, John, Simon and Judas.” “And his sister are they not with us? Whence then hath this man all these things? And they were offended in him . . . ” so goes an attract from the Gospel of Mathew 13:54-58 as the Pharisees doubted Jesus.
Who would have thought the country’s and Sadc Ambassador can come out of a small town as Victoria Falls? Despite being the country’s prime tourist destination, Victoria Falls may literally not be a prime area to bear a country’s representative. But, 15-year-old Rehlutsi Victoria Magabo, a Form Four pupil at Mosi-oa-Tunya High School has proven otherwise. She was one of the only three pupils selected from all Sadc member states to be the bloc’s ambassadors following a rigorous process which started with an essay writing competition. Soft spoken Rehlutsi, Prudence Mavura from Murambinda B Secondary School and another girl called Comfort from Botswana attended the recent 36th Sadc Heads of State and Government Summit at Lozitha Royal Palace in Mbabane, Swaziland as the three Sadc ambassadors.
The three were winners in the essay writing competition on which all secondary schools in all 15-member bloc undertook with the topic: “Transformation of natural endowments and improved human capital will help accelerate industry in Sadc region.”
Sunday Life caught up with Rehlutsi who couldn’t hide her excitement, which she said came not only by winning the competition and representing the country at Sadc level, but out of also flying in an aeroplane for the first time and getting to meet and shake hands with an icon — President Mugabe.
She now has to proudly wear a unique school uniform with a Zimbabwean bird emblem because her social status in school has changed as she is now an ambassador and the school is preparing to bring the outfit from Harare.
For her efforts, she now boasts of a laptop, tablet, smartphone, and cash amounting to $1 000 which she was given at the Summit.
“I am very happy because this is my first time to win at such level. My English teacher Ms Esther Tanhuke told us about the competition and advised us to enter. I informed my parents that I wanted to enter a competition on essay writing and they okayed it. I then started researching in the Students Enchanter and used Geography textbooks as well as online sources to get information about the Sadc region. It took me a week to research and write a 2 000-letter essay,” said Rehlutsi.
She said she was shocked when more than a month later the school headmaster Mr Rowland Sibanda told him that she had won the competition and will be going with the President to the Sadc Summit.
“I didn’t know I had made it until the headmaster told me that I should prepare because I was going to Swaziland. I was shocked and my parents were happy too,” she said.
The young girl, who wishes to be a medical doctor, said visiting Swaziland was a great experience and adventure for her.
“Flying in an aeroplane was a great experience and I am still excited to have met the Minister of Primary and Secondary Education Dr Lazarus Dokora and above all for meeting and shaking hands with President Mugabe . . . I was like wow to myself,” added Rehlutsi.
She urges her colleagues to take such opportunities as they come.
Only three girls participated at Mosi-oa-Tunya High School which has a population of more than 1 500 pupils.
“Swaziland is a very nice place with hospitable people. They have a unique culture and they love their king. To my colleagues I want to encourage them to participate in such activities because you don’t know what you can do until you try it. It’s not all about winning but you get to learn a lot of things,” Rehlutsi added.
She said besides winning, she learnt a lot about how wealthy Sadc states are as they are endowed with rich natural resources.
“I learnt that Southern African states are endowed with vast natural resources which are not found anywhere in the world. That makes me proud as an African,” said Rehlutsi.
She is grateful to her headmaster Mr Sibanda for his guidance and parents especially her mother who is also a teacher at the same school where she teaches Fashion and Fabrics.
She said the school was supportive in ensuring that she travels to Swaziland.
Mr Sibanda is on cloud nine because of the girl’s performance which he said adds another feather to his school’s performance, as Mosi-oa-Tunya has lately stood higher to challenge elite schools academically and in extra-curricular activities.
“We got a notice from the ministry with the district deadline being February 20, the provincial cut of being March 1. We encouraged pupils to participate and we had three who entered the competition,” he said.
The essays were taken to Hwange for a district selection before undergoing scrutiny at provincial level as well as at the national level. Then the final selection was done at Sadc level upon which results were released, with Rehlutsi, Prudence from Murambinda and another girl from Botswana the winners.
Mr Sibanda said Rehlutsi’s performance was a fruit of discipline and the good image the school has gained.
He said his school now confidently participates in any activity with ease.
“We represented our province in the National Aids Council competitions last year and will do so again this year. As a school, we don’t take anything for granted. We are really excited because we now have an ambassador for our school, country and Sadc and we can never be taken for granted as we have climbed to the top, competing with former Group A schools,” added Mr Sibanda.
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