Makwe Community “shifting the power”
By Uluntu staff
WITH the Shift the Power wave continuing to gain momentum, Makwe Primary School in Gwanda has taken the initiative to take matters into their own hands by building a cottage for their staff.
In a collaborative effort with the community, resources were gathered which not only included the building material but the skilled labour as well.
Uluntu Community Foundation Executive Director Ms Sibusisiwe Sithole said communities have always been engaged in giving trends.
“ The culture of giving has always been part of us. It is exciting to see communities taking the culture of giving to greater lengths especially the community of Makwe who have managed to improve the lives of the people and the school through giving their resources towards their development.
“When a community is organised and its leadership is well focused, the development is immense. Makwe community has demonstrated their ability to work together through giving for the development of their community,” said Ms Sithole.
Makwe Primary headmaster Mr Malach Mpofu applauded the community for coming together in the development of the school.
He said although they had challenges in the initial stages they were however going smoothly as the community was eager to be part of the school development.
“Our projects have been going smoothly even though in the beginning we did have challenges in terms of resource mobilisation. We came up with ways in which the community mobilised the resources per household and once that was set in motion people started coming through and we managed to collect enough material to build at least two cottages. We are in the process of completing the first one and then we will be building the second in a couple of months,” said Mr Mpofu.
He added that the school had other projects that they had taken up which include poultry, piggery and building of a classroom block.
Uluntu assisted the school in building an ECD block but the community took it upon themselves to build another block without the assistance of donors.
Mr Mpofu stated that there were other projects in the school that were initiated by former students which include solarisation of the school.
The projects that Makwe Primary has taken up are set to develop the school and provide comfortable accommodation for the teachers.