Shu Shine Village pre school

In 2001 we got funding and Government permission to train 34 pre-school teachers and 7 carpenters with a view to starting as many pre-schools as possible in the area. There have always been plenty of Primary Schools for the over-fives to attend, but there was the problem of what to do with the under-fives while their caregivers went to earn money.

The only answer was to build pre schools. We have just completed our first at Shu Shine Village. We chose this community as they had formed a committee that had successfully fund raised before they approached us. We were impressed by their enthusiasm,and had felt for some time that, wherever possible,each village should have its own school, to avoid children having to walk too far in the mornings.

The school is open-plan, with blackboard walls to write on. There are no windows and in a hot humid area like Chipinge you need any breeze you can get. There is a kitchen in the back with a chimney and meals are prepared at breakfast and lunchtime. In the centre of the building is a storeroom with a strong gate and door and everything is stored there.

There is electricity so that the building can be used at night for Adult Literacy classes and the women's sewing group. If there are to be important community meetings they are also held there. 92 children are presently fed at the school and there is a Nutrition Garden where the caregivers take it in turn after work to grow vegetables used daily. This particular school grows enough to be able to sell surplus to pay school fees for orphaned children in the village. In addition any sick people in the village are supplied with food, taken to them by women in the village.

The carpenters trained all those months ago built the playground. They in turn have trained some of the men in the village so they can repair any broken equipment. There are toilets in the grounds and the people have planted grass and indigenous trees.