Kamloops West Rotary and Swift Current families help Tsholotsho school with classroom furniture

It was a dream come true for children at Gombalume Primary School in Tsholotsho District, Zimbabwe on Thursday, 22nd October 2015, as the children received new classroom furniture kindly donated by the Collin Nyabadza Children's Voice Charitable Trust (CNCVCT). When schools closed beginning of August, the children's classroom resembled a sorry state as they had to endure sitting on dirty floors in class. However, they found a pleasant surprise waiting for them in their classroom when they came back from vacation in September in the form on new classroom furniture.



The money to purchase the equipment was kindly provided for by Swift Current resident Darlene Dyck who together with her two sons gave the CNCVCT a cheque for CAD1 000. The Kamloops West Rotary Club in B.C. through Rotarian Kim Cooper's initiative added CAD500 more while another Swift Current resident Amanda, who runs her own business in the city added CAD200 more raised by her clientele. The money was then sent to Zimbabwe where the organization managed to purchase 4 big tables, 40 single chairs and a teacher's table and desk.

It was exciting to see how much the children appreciated their new equipment as they could not help smiling. One could easily see the big change in as far as the classroom environment is concerned. Speaking from his Canadian based the CNCVCT's Executive Director urged members of the local business fraternity and individuals to support his organization in helping enhance the quality of education in Zimbabwe's poor rural schools by helping them with proper facilities.

"I am a bit disappointed in that all the support we have received ever since we started operating has been coming mostly from outside the country. As Zimbabweans I strongly feel the time has come for us to change our modus operandi.  We need to make the paradigm shift from the notion that the humanitarian field is a preserve of people from the Western World", said Mr. Nyabadza.



The organization which was established in December 2012 is making giant strides in helping improve the educational facilities in some of Zimbabwe's poor rural schools. Currently they work in six districts and these are Binga, Bubi, Matobo, Mutasa, Tsholotsho and Umguza. They are a 100% volunteer organization as their main aim is to ensure that every penny they raise goes to the children and the schools they support. They have put up together a highly experienced and dedicated team that is willing to leave a legacy in improving the lives of children in the country.

As the Collin Nyabadza Children's Voice Charitable Trust continues growing from strength to strength, they have exciting programs lined up for the coming year. Already they have been approved for a 45 000 book project from Scotland. They have also been approved for a donation of a container filled to the brim with classroom furniture and other educational resources by a UK based charity. The container is due to be shipped to Zimbabwe in November. The non-availability of classroom furniture in most of the country's rural schools still remains an eye sore which cannot continue to be ignored any more. The organization also plans to build science labs in the majority of the secondary schools in the districts they work with.



"People have for some time been making noise about large numbers of high school graduates from rural schools, especially those from Matebeleland being unable to get places at the National University for Science and Technology in Bulawayo. But it is pointless making noise without taking any practical action to address this problem. Our organization will therefore intensify and help these rural secondary schools build science laboratories so that they are in a better position to offer Science subjects in their curriculum. How on earth is a teacher expected to teach Physics, Chemistry or Biology when there is no Science laboratory, how do you demonstrate the process of crystal distillation when you do not have a Bunsen burner", lamented Mr. Nyabadza.



To cap a good year, the CNCVCT has linked up with a USA based organization, S.E.L.F. that is preparing to visit in Zimbabwe in June next year. They will bring some equipment which they will donate to the CNCVCT who will in turn donate it to the schools they work with. S.E.L.F. members would be accommodated at one of the schools and they would then be transported to one or two schools where they will teach sports, games and other aspects for about two weeks. Added to that they will assist two schools in constructing a volleyball court. The USA group would then wind up their tour of duty with a Safari to the Hwange National Park where they are itching to see the Big Five in their natural habitat. The Board Chairperson for the CNCVCT, Mr. Siqhubumthetho Dube has been extremely busy coordinating the prosed visit which once it goes through would totally change the face of his organization.

"Today's world is a global village, it is therefore imperative for us as an organization to exploit those opportunities by linking with other like-minded institutions such as ours and share ideas", quipped Mr. Dube.



For more on the work the organization does, they may be visited at their website at: www.childrensvoicezimbabwe.org  Special thanks go to the Dyck family, the Kamloops West Rotary,  Rotarian Kim Cooper who also has always given the CNCVCT tremendous support and sound advice, and Amanda for their support on this particular project.