Potraz donates laptops to rural school

GOSHA Secondary School in Chikwaka last Tuesday became the biggest beneficiary after the Postal and Telecommunications Regulatory Authority of Zimbabwe (Potraz) donated to it 12 laptops, a desktop, multi-purpose printer and 25 book cases.

The parastatal, as part of its corporate social responsibility programme, went beyond just adopting a student at the school to donating the information communication technology (ICT) gadgets that will assist the institution to embrace technological advancement.

Following the publication in the Standard Style of the plight of Vellah Misodzi, who was involved in a near-fatal electrocution accident that cost her an arm and a leg five years ago, Potraz offered to send her back to school.

It paid her tuition, bought her school uniform and an artificial limb that will make it possible for her to walk to school.

Gift Machengete, Potraz director-general, said the donation was timely, having come during a month when the world was celebrating Girls in ICT whose commemorations were on April 22.

"Vellah's story was a sad one, a story of shattered dreams and lost hope," Machengete said.

"We wish to turn that around now and make it a story about kindness and hope for a brighter future, as well as a certain and secure tomorrow.

"When we heard of her story, there was no debate that she would become one of our beneficiaries under our community social responsibility programme.

"We thus engaged specialists to assess her needs so that she could return to school and arrangements were made for an artificial limb to be made for her."

Machengete said the donation of laptops to Gosha Secondary School was meant to encourage especially girls to take up ICT studies and careers as the world was going digital and modern-day existence was hinged on ICTs.

"It will be a world of robotics, artificial intelligence and virtual reality. "That world is already here and students should not be left behind," he added.

Mashonaland East Provincial Affairs minister Apollonia Munzverengi lauded Potraz for coming to the rescue of both Misodzi and her school.

"Time and again, we are getting encouraging media stories where the parastatal is supporting construction of computer labs at schools.

"They are also setting community information centres and containerised village information centres which are all equitable infrastructures of transforming our communities in line with technological advancement," said Munzverengi in a speech read on her behalf by Muchemwa Mugwisi, a director in her office.