Chiwenga, wife bring relief to Sibasa villagers

SINGWANGO 1 Primary School under Chief Sibasa, in Matabeleland South province used to walk long distances with two bottles of water, one for themselves and one for their teacher.

This is now a thing of the past, thanks to the generosity of Colonel Miniyothabo Baloyi Chiwenga.

She drilled a borehole and installed a solar powered pump at the school. She also set up a nutritional garden that will benefit the school and the surrounding community.

Vice President Constantino Chiwenga yesterday commissioned the nutritional garden and borehole at the school. The borehole was drilled on September 14 and has two 10 000 litre tanks. The Vice President and Amai Chiwenga led a delegation that toured the nutritional garden and unveiled a plaque at the school.

The villagers expressed their gratitude to Amai Chiwenga for her kindness and compassion. They said that the borehole and the garden will improve their livelihoods. They also thanked the Government for its support and development efforts in the province.

The commissioning ceremony was attended by hundreds of people, including Matabeleland South Provincial Affairs and Devolution Minister Dr Evelyne Ndlovu, Deputy ICT Minister Dingumuzi Puthi, Chief Sibasa and other senior Government officials.

VP Chiwenga said the nutritional garden will help children realise their future.

"Children who are the future must grow up healthy through eating nutritional food, and they should know that from the land that's where we get our sustenance. I was told by Amai Chiwenga that this side of the country is a very dry. She said she witnessed the water challenges that children and parents face and how they struggle to have gardens at their homes. This is why she came and drilled a borehole, set up solar and a nutritional garden here," said VP Chiwenga.

He said children should be taught from a young age that they can get food from working the land.

"We want to teach our children from a young age that tilling the land and hardworking will feed them just like in the Bible when God told Adam. We want this to be in every village in the country," said VP Chiwenga.

He said after harvesting crops there should be value addition and beneficiation.

"This is in line with our President Dr Emmerson Dambudzo Mnangagwa's Government policy that no place must be left behind," said VP Chiwenga.

He said Amai Chiwenga bought rape, tomatoes and okra seeds and pesticides for the school garden project.

"This project and many around the country are meant to ensure that Zimbabwe is food secure. These past three years we had good rains and we also had good harvests," said VP Chiwenga.

He encouraged people in arid areas to plant small gains.

VP Chiwenga said Singwango 1 Primary School will be given computers. He said children must be taught that shunning school negates development of the country.

"Also, using drugs and abusing alcohol is not allowed. They should not indulge in sexual activities," said VP Chiwenga.

Each person at the gathering received maize seed that takes three months to mature.

Some villagers who spoke to our Bulawayo Bureau welcomed the nutritional garden. Ms Sibongumusa Ncube from Sibambanene Village said the nutritional garden will help her clear school fees arrears for her children.

"As a family we are struggling as my husband isn't working and we are failing to make ends meet. I have school fees and levies arrears which I have to clear using money from this nutrition garden," said Ms Ncube.