The idea for the school was born out of the desperate need of children from the area for a school within walking distance of their homes. Most of the children used to start out in the dark at 4 am in the morning for the 15 km walk to school, not arriving home until 9 pm at night. This has put the girls particularly at risk of attacks with some instances of rape on the long journey home.
It has also contributed (understandably) to 90% failing at their O level exams.
The Goals
The vision for the school is to be a lighthouse in the field of education, with high achieving individuals, who value education and want to become positive and responsible members of the community.
The school has a philosophy of education that has two main objectives:
- The school provides an education that is based on Christian principles, on which all subjects are taught from a Christian perspective within the National Curriculum. All staff (including grounds and domestic) have a living Christian faith, but the school welcomes children irrespective of their family's beliefs
- The school offers a service to the community by providing an education that is of as high a quality and as low a cost as possible
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Head Teacher Torevei Reports on the latest developments:
The school project is going quite well despite logistical and financial constraints. Plastering, flooring and glazing has now been completed. I sold some of my cows and managed to construct a girl’s hostel, which can accommodate 20 pupils on single beds or around 30 on bunk beds. Friends in England helped us with cash towards the roof. We currently have 6 girl borders but next term this number may increase as word goes around about the new boarding facility. We only have 2 boys as boarders and they are staying in a temporary structure. Bricks are being moulded so that we may construct a hostel for them and others wanting and affording to stay at school. The current fees for boarders are US$360 per term and $60 for day scholars. |
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| We are also pleased to report this year that the school has received a donation of basic textbooks from Unicef for each child covering Maths, English, Science, Geography, History and Shona. Also a donation of textbooks covering Fashion and Fabrics, Agriculture, and commerce were received gratefully from Watershed College plus some desks. | |||
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Founder
Torevei Munhangu, the founder and headmaster, made a lot of friends in the UK after his sudden arrival here in the UK in 2002. Those familiar with the recent past in Zimbabwe can probably imagine what led up to this. This was a very trying time for Torevei having to leave his wife, young child, and his farm, but in Gods sovereign overruling, he was able to return home after 7 years with a degree in engineering. Friends at West Hill Baptist, and at Dorking have continued to follow his progress with great interest and have sought to help him in practical ways. |
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The school is situated in Chivhu, a rural area near the capital Harare, and has been built on a part of Torevei’s farm.
We would value prayer particularly for the staff situation. Torevi has had a number of problems with 2 members of staff having to be dismissed for improper behaviour. Please pray that the school will be able to recruit and retain suitable Christian teachers to help with this work.
Contacts
Roger Prime and Stuart Moffatt