Bringing Technology to Rural schools in Zimbabwe

Dear Friends,

I would like to express my profound gratitude to you for your continued support of our ICT project.  I am pleased to announce that our vision of  "BRINGING THE INTERNET TO RURAL SCHOOLS" has become a reality!  September 8, 2014 marked a great milestone in the history of the Tekeshe Foundation as students, teachers and community leaders gathered to witness TELONE install VSAT satelitte at Rimbi High School. It was a day of great jubilation as TELONE technicians announced , "We finally managed to get it working! "

As I mentioned in one of my previous reports, Rimbi is an underserved rural village located in Chipinge district in the southen part of Zimbabwe. Rural schools are faced with so many challenges. Class rooms are in disrepair, teachers dont have proper tools for teaching and the schools dont have the funds to buy computers. Lack of access to computers and the internet has created a digital divide between urban and rural schools which is severely disadvantaging a whole generation of youth growing up in the rural areas.  Bringing internet access to Rimbi High school opens a world of opportunities and creates a level playing field for the teachers and students.

Rimbi community, the students and the teachers are grateful to you for bringing the internet to Rimbi. The following is an excerpt from the first email sent from the village by the head master and  faculty of Rimbi High School.

In their Own Words - Special Thanks To You  

On behalf of Rimbi High School staff, students, School development Committee, Rimbi community and all other stakeholders, I wish to register profound gratitude for the provision of this vital facility - the very facility we have used to write this email.

Equipped with such a facility, teachers and students can access vital information to bolster up the school`s pass rates at both O and A`level, thereby improving the quality of our products.

We are hugely appreciative of the facility that keeps us abreast of modern technology and closes the digital divide between Rural and Urban schools.  We continue to bank on your immense support for which we are eternally
grateful. We want to assure you that the facility will get our utmost care.

Yours faithfully
Mundeta ( Rimbi High School Head), Mlambo ( Rimbi High School SDC chairperson) & Matende ( Rimbi High School Teacher Internet Project Coordinator)

In His Own Words - Special Thanks To You  From One of the Teachers

It is quite a great pleasure to have this technology at our school, I will never cease to rejoice .I  will never cease singing the AMAZING GRACE OF GOD. Thank you Tekeshe Foundation. Please extend my gratitude to our freinds who are out there who help us in several unparalled ways. They are are precious to us.

At a personal level, I am now a different teacher, my future academic prospects have been brittened by this . I wish to do my post graduate studies as soon as I get the opportunity. This technology will be instrumental in that endeavour. I WILL NEVER BE THE SAME AGAIN. I WROTE THIS LETTER USING THE FACILITY, IT IS OWESOME TECHNOLOGY!
Yours sincerely
Matende

Thanks again for your support. We still have a long way to go. Our goal this year is to provide laptops to 50 teachers. I thank you in advance for helping us meet our goal.

Best wishes,

Thelma