Telecel donates desks, chairs, balls to Chemondoro School in Murewa

Telecel has donated a truckload of desks, chairs and sports equipment to Chemondoro Primary School, which, with more than 2 000 pupils, is the largest primary school in Murewa.

The school recorded a Grade 7 examinations pass rate last year of 88,8 percent. Recently it came first in a Zimbabwe Farmers' Union-sponsored Young Farmers' Club competition after its pupils grew the best maize and cow peas among schools in Mashonaland East.

However, despite its size and success, the school is poorly resourced, resulting in its appealing to Telecel for assistance.

Mrs Irene Makamba, wife of Telecel chairman James Makamba, recently handed over the desks, chairs, footballs and netballs to the school on Telecel's behalf.

"We have come to Murewa to plough something back into the community," she said.

Education has been one of the major focuses of Telecel's corporate social responsibility programme over the years.

Telecel public relations and corporate social responsibility manager Francis Chimanda said when Telecel received Chemondoro Primary School's request for assistance, it considered that the school deserved support.

"For such a large school to achieve such good results under difficult conditions, where it is poorly resourced, is impressive.

"We felt the school certainly deserved our support and assistance, particularly as education and assisting children in need has traditionally been a major focus of Telecel's corporate social responsibility initiatives," he said.

While Telecel has, in exercising its corporate social responsibility, focused largely on education and social welfare for the old, blind and disabled as well as assisting children in need, it also provides assistance where there are national disasters that require a major response from different corporates, as in the case of the Tokwe Mukosi floods.
 
Telecel donated a seven-tonne truck load of maize-meal, rice, cooking oil, sugar and other foodstuffs to the victims of this flooding.

It also encouraged its subscribers to rally behind efforts to assist the flood victims by encouraging them to make donations by sending the word "Tokwe" via a text message to short code number 100. Each SMS costs 10c with the proceeds going to the Tokwe-Mukosi flood victims.