A School Visit and a Farewell in Zimbabwe

Samantha Turvey is an enthusiastic World Vision sponsor. She is travelling in Zimbabwe with her family, and blogging about her experience and how this amazing country has changed since her last visit 6 years ago. In her 4th blog Samantha talks about visiting the school that her sponsored children attend…

Bright and early we set off on our way to the school that our sponsored children Prescilla and Precious go to.  We went via a different area to visit a child called Beauty who is sponsored by a church where some friends of ours attend.  This was another experience!  There was no road OR dirt track to her home and we went off road and just hung on to the car hoping to stay upright! 

Beauty’s home was slightly smaller (only 3 huts) than Prescilla’s home, but we were made to feel very welcome.  The weather was quite cold and so we were taken inside where a fire was burning.  Again, the men were given seats and the women were on the floor while introductions were made.  We had been given gifts for Beauty from the church and it was now time to give them over. 

Unfortunately you may remember that one of our bags went missing during our journey to Zimbabwe … this bag had the gift for Beauty in and when we got our bag back, that gift was missing!  We had replaced it as best we could and we still had the letter and photographs to hand over.  These gifts went down very well with Beauty and her family.  We were so privileged to be spending time with this family and to hear how they have been assisted by World Vision.  The parents had quite good English and were keen to extend their thanks to Astcote Methodist Church. 

We left Beauty and headed on to Prescilla & Precious’s school.  As we drove in we saw approximately 120 children sitting outside waiting for us!  This was not what we were expecting as the school is closed for the winter holidays, but these children had come to see the Sponsors!  We were given school desks to sit at as the children performed for us.  They recited bible verses and poems and then Prescilla took part in a choir singing to us and then in traditional dancing. 

We were able to hand over gifts for the school and then to share in some chicken in the head teachers office.  This in itself was great as last time we were here the office was out of use as the roof had been blown off and so we had done some fundraising to provide a roof – good to see it put to use! 

I was given some time to talk to the children which was intimidating as my Shona is non-existent and their English is developing at best!  So, with translation I was able to express some of my feelings for the work that the teachers were doing and also to encourage the children in their studies.  The children lined up in their outside assembly area to receive a pencil each from our gift to commemorate the event of a sponsor visiting their school.  I offered the teachers a job swap for a term or two as the opportunity to work in constant sunshine appeals, but I’m thankful they took it for a joke as I’m not sure I could cope with no toilets!!

After saying a final good-bye to Prescilla, Precious and their mother we drove away.  I don’t expect I’ll see the girls again, but I’m hopeful for their future as things have definitely improved for them over the past 6 years and look set to continue improving.  They may not have lots of material goods, but they want for nothing and have prospects due to an education and a healthy start in life.

Later in the day we went to see some children who have benefitted from a project run by World Vision which gives them some goats.  They take the goats, breed them and then sell the offspring or use them for meat.  The project raises money through this and the money pays for the vulnerable children (many of whom are orphans) to go to school.  Speaking to the these children and the guardians who care for them, it was so good to hear their stories and dreams for the future.  The children are all attending a local school and are taking care of the goats too.  They hope to make enough money to buy some cattle and breed them.  There is such a positive feeling here and it is infectious!

If you’ve got any questions for me or my family about our trip or what life is like for children here in Zimbabwe please post them below and we will get back to you as soon as we can. You could also take a look at my previous blog if you want to know more or take a look at our photo album on Facebook.