By Mathamsanqa Moyo | Project Leader
Quality education is the pillar of community development, for it is through education that communities obtain skilled manpower to serve in various sectors in the community. It is through availing quality educationto their children that these communities in Mangwe District hope to be able to effectively cope with the challenges of development. This however does not seem feasible for this community at the moment as the financial winds continue to blow against them.
The Project “Construction of Mapukane Secondary School” is hard hit by the country’s worsening economic situation. So far, the country is in an unstable economic situation with the exchange rate changing each and every day. Apart from that, the Monetary Policy Committee recently announced that the country will have a new currency as of November 2019. Its value against the American dollar has not been made known to the public as yet.
In light of the above, it becomes very difficult to stick to the original plan of constructing the school or to make further plans. The original project design envisioned a one year period for constructing one classroom block, two ablution blocks and two teacher houses so that children could be enrolled the following year. However, this is no longer the case as the project has been negatively affected by the series of challenges faced by the nation as a whole. This challenges are both political and economic, factors that play a major role in the field of development. Cases of industrial action, stay away and political chaos, electric load shedding and water rationing only to mention but a few have affected production in the country. Once the urban communities are affected, rural communities are affected too.
Natural causes such as drought and hunger have also contributed to the community’s inability to fund their own projects. As a result of the drought, they do not have a surplus and so only have enough to sustain themselves. As we speak other communities have begun receiving aid. In as much as communities are willing to contribute towards the construction of the school through the community philanthropy concept, they are still challenged by these pressures.
This does not mean the project will be abandoned and left to die. The communities are still determined to see the project through no matter how long it takes. They are also hopeful that the economic environment will soon improve so that they may continue contributing towards the project.
The Community Foundation for the Western region of Zimbabwe will also continue seeking funding to match the donations you have made. The Foundation is on the lookout for calls for proposals that suit this project and will indeed submit proposals. We also continue to appeal to you on behalf of the communities to share this initiative with your networks. We also appeal to you, our donors to share information on organisations that you know that may assist this community in realising their dream.
Abandoning the project is not an option for the communities in Mangwe. As the saying goes “Many hands build a house”, we believe that if we all put our heads together and work together we will be able to construct Mapukane Secondary School and ensure that children have access to a conducive learning environment which will help in the prevention of risks and also facilitate better performance in school.
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