The ManicaPost
Samuel Kadungure Senior Reporter
“I think it’s a new and positive dimension altogether. Since the environment at the school library is peaceful, students can study at the library without any disturbances.”POOR people are always in God’s mind, their plight arouses his compassion and the church apart from routinely bombarding them with abstract gospel, has a divine duty to balance the good news with tangible projects that uplift their well-being as an alternative evangelism strategy as accentuated in James 2:14-17.
As such, the United Methodist Church, Zimbabwe Episcopal area under the leadership of Bishop Eben Kanukai Nhiwatiwa, is doing ministry in vulnerable rural communities where the health delivery services have collapsed, education standards nose-dived, infrastructure is in dire straits and the socio-economic life of these communities has been battered — through a faith-based benevolence ministry dubbed Chabadza Community Development.
UMC’s Vabvuwi Choir entertaining the crowd
The concept of Chabadza, a shona custom in which a passer-by stops to help anyone whom they come along their journey, for mutual benefit, then a conversation may start and may find directions from the one they would have helped.
It’s major thrust is to assist communities in realising their prioritised goals, and has proved beyond doubt that benevolence ministry was more than a duty.
The Chabadza fund has been inundated with benevolence calls from poverty stricken communities, and the latest to accrue benefits being Nyamidzi Secondary School in Makoni Riral District Council Ward 31 (Chitenderano) in Makoni South constituency.
The library is now fully stocked with the assistance of Canada based UMC clergy Reverend Lloyd Nyarota.
The computer and library block
The computer lab requires at least 50 computers for the school.
Construction work began in 2015, and the block was officially commissioned on Tuesday at a function officiated by Bishop Nhiwatiwa.
“It is unavoidable; the Bible commands it and the church cannot make an impact without addressing the needs of poor communities,” said Bishop Nhiwatiwa.
Bishop Nhiwatiwa cuts the ribbon to officially open the Nyamidzi Secondary School library and computer laboratory.
Bishop Nhiwatiwa added: “If the church fails to give, rehabilitate, re-establish and integrate the needy to lead normal lives, it hardly makes a positive impact. It is against this background that the Chabadza fund was developed to help with construction of clinics, schools, social infrastructure and agriculture”.
Mr Webster Mbira, the project manager said the local community was engaged in the moulding of bricks, provision of labour and locally available materials such as sand and water.
Mrs Gelly Miti the national coordinator of the chabadza community development said they injected $19 000 in the construction of a state of the art community library and computer lab at Nyamidzi Secondary School.
“We provided roofing material, tiling, painting, cement and other building materials. The money we use to help communities we get it from the United Methodist Church in Norway over a period of five years and during the 2012 to 2016 period we received close to $600 000.
Part of the student body
The school applied for assistance, and when we did a needs assessment, we realised that they had no library, which is a requisite infrastructure for them to be accorded A-Level status.
They are also a rural school and the other thing is that they were already working, they had some cement donated to them by one of their former students,” said Mrs Miti.
Mrs Miti said the school library now has a vast collection of academic books that if fully utilised and likely to have a positive impact on the lives of the students.
“We value education, and we want to urge the students to take advantage of the library. These books are made available to the students to increase their knowledge and understanding on various subjects. A school library plays a great role in the life of a student.
Some of the parents who attended the event
It is the store house of knowledge. In a library, students can find books on various subjects such as History, Geography, Environment, novel, Science, literature,” said Mrs Miti.
Mrs Miti said the computer lab will be furnished soon.
Councillor Edward Mukoyi said it was one of a kind where community was involved.
He thanked traditional leaders for rallying their subjects to see the project through.
“The children should feel the sense of ownership, keep the books, computers and use them to acquire knowledge, and not vandalise them,” said Councillor Mukoyi.
A student, Kudzai Kasu in Form Four said library and internet will make their learning easier. She said the learning scope of students at the school will be broadened and enable them to command better grasp over the subjects.
“I think it’s a new and positive dimension altogether. Since the environment at the school library is peaceful, students can study at the library without any disturbances. Library is an appreciable asset place for studies and mental development, and we are really grateful,” she said.
Bishop Nhiwatiwa (in purple shirt) and other guests follow proceedings during the official opening of the computer lab and library
Another student Tonderai Nyamombe also in Form Four said in the past they had no place to study and books were in short supply.
“In most cases we had to share books, and some of the material had missing pages. With this library at the school, students can now effectively finish their academic task after school hours. We can visit the school-library and finish those tasks,” he said.
“A student can develop his literary skills by reading rare books of literature. The academic magazines and newspapers will keep the students aware of the latest development around the world. A library opens a world of wisdom for the student and as a student at Nyamidzi I now have confidence to excel,” said Nyamombe.
The school head Mr Stanely Makota said the school was established in 1982 and has an enrolment of 517 students, of which 261 are males and 256 are girls.
He said the 2016 pass rate was 25,45 percent, up from 15,5 percent in 2015.
Their target in 2017 is to improve by seven percent.
Mr Makota said their next goal was to introduce A-Level.
“The school was accorded A-Level status in 2004 and a library was a prerequisite in addition to a Geography room and now A-Level Science laboratories. The completion of the library is a giant step towards the establishment of A-Level. Plans are already underway to construct the Geography room,” added Mr Makota.
