Zimbabwe: Mashwede Holdings in U.S.$150 000 Water, Electricity Boost for Chivi Schools
By George Maponga
Masvingo — Mashwede Holdings has transformed education in the Sese area after the company connected water and electricity at three schools at a cost of nearly US$150 000 as part of its corporate social responsibility programme.
The firm has also connected running water to more than 20 households in Mashamhanda village where Mashwede founder and director Mr Alex Mashamhanda was born.
However, it is the connection of water and electricity at Danhamombe High, St Simok Zhara and Chikore primary schools in Ward 20 that has left the community spellbound.
At Danhamombe High, Mashwede is also spearheading a different programme to build girls' and boys' hostels as part of grand plans to transform the school into a boarding institution.
Villagers are upbeat that connecting power and water at three schools in Sese with an enrollment of over 2 000 students will boost the quality of education.
They paid tribute to Mr Mashamhanda, who did his early primary education at St Simon Zhara primary in the late 1950s, saying his helping hand dovetails with Government's rural industrialisation agenda.
Electricity availability at the three schools will enhance learning through the use of information communication technology (ICTs). The pass rate among rural learners will also go up while the best teachers will be attracted to the schools owing to a good working environment.
Ward 20 Councillor Alec Nhundu was also full of praise for Mashwede Holdings and its founder for transforming the Sese area.
"Mr Mashamhanda is a gift to the people of Sese and our development patron because he has managed to spearhead the transformation of our areas. He has electrified schools and connected water and this has improved the learning environment at the three schools. Our children can now use computers despite the fact that we are in a rural area," he said.
Councillor Nhundu said Sese will never be the same again with developmental initiatives spearheaded by Mr Mashamhanda and his company.
"We wish he(Mr Mashamhanda)could just come and stay with us here because he is really transforming lives, he is a true example of a person fulfilling President Mnangagwa's "nyika inovakwa nevene vayo" mantra."
The councillor said it was a harbinger of an even brighter future that scores of households in Mashamhanda village had running water for drinking and irrigating small gardens.
This boosted them nutritionally and improved their incomes through the sale of green produce.
Mr Mashamhanda says he is a rural boy adding that wealth is meaningless unless it positively impacts the lives of others.
"I am doing all these projects because I am a rural boy, whatever I am today was shaped by my surroundings in Sese and these projects are my own way of appreciating the society that shaped how I am today," he said.
"We are doing all this for future generations, we are looking into the future now because some of us are in the sunset of our lives, we can only immortalize ourselves by planning a better life for those coming in future."
Mr Mashamhanda added that he fully subscribes to the notion that a country can only be developed by its people saying it is possible to industrialise rural areas through harnessing locally available resources.
The Mashwede founder has also repaired roads and built dip tanks and small dams in the Sese area.
He also joined hands with Sese villagers to resist Murowa Diamond Company's continued presence in their homeland where the firm was scouting for gems.
This article originally appeared on The Herald
Photo: The Herald