Reviving an ailing school - a Norway-Zimbabwe partnership
Students practice traditional dance and music at Ngundu Primary School in Buhera, Zimbabwe. The once-ailing school now has new classrooms and teacher quarters built through the Chabadza Community Development Program, a partnership between The United Methodist Church in Norway and Zimbabwe. Photo by Kudzai Chingwe, UMNS.
By Kudzai Chingwe
May 28, 2019 | BUHERA, Zimbabwe (UMNS)
The Chabadza Community Development Program, a partnership between The United Methodist Church in Norway and Zimbabwe, has helped resuscitate an ailing primaryschool.
The dilapidated, council-owned Ngundu Primary School was on the verge of closing for failing to meet required government standards. Two weeks before the deadline, the Chabadza program came to the rescue, beginning construction of five classrooms, two teachers’ quarters and offices.
Bishop Eben K. Nhiwatiwa helped celebrate the completion of the $90,000 project during a commissioning ceremony on April 25.
“As communities, let us have a window for development for the betterment of the future generation. … Let us all know that every beneficiary is part of Chabadza regardless of (their) position in society.”
Elisha Mushayavanhu, acting district administrator for the school, said Ngundu Primary School was is desperate need of repairs before the church’s intervention.
“It was pathetic and a laughingstock in the community because of its degree of dilapidation, but now it has outshined many,” he said.
Teacher-in-charge Gilbert Sengu said Ngundu is now the talk of the district.