NGO donates stationary to Lupane schools
By Thandeka Matebesi
A Non-Governmental Organisation, New Hope Childrens Trust which endeavours to assist vulnerable children particularly orphans, has donated stationery to two secondary schools in Ward 8 of Lupane.
The Founder of the organisation Mrs Judith Dube said the donation is part of its programme dubbed ‘Surviving under the new normal’ which assists rural schools to cope with the financial challenges brought about by the COVID-19 pandemic.
“We are embarking on a program called Surviving under the new normal whereby we are assisting rural schools. Under this program we are saying that these schools depend on fees for acquiring stationery, and in rural areas people depend on agriculture as a means of survival. Due to the pandemic effects most schools have to hike fees and other means of raising money to acquire stationery for teachers. So, throughout that process money that is collected from learners would be used on stationery only. In order for life to be easy for such schools under such environment we have acquired stationery that includes boxes of chalk, dusters, pens, sticki stuff for teachers to facilitate learning activities”, said Dube.
“In this program we targeted Somankonyane Secondary and Ndimimbili in ward 8 because they are the poorest, with the least resources and the most remote schools in the District, if not the whole country. We wanted to pay for fees for learners but due to budget constraints we have postponed paying for fees to next year because we have orphans from three schools that we will be assisting as well,” she added.
The trust is currently self-funded by the owner,Mrs Judith Dube. She has been taking care of orphans for years before she registered the Trust in 2016. Dube said they had acquired a piece of land and were looking for partnerships to build an orphanage in Bulawayo.
“As a mother myself I am committed to ensure that I will do all in my power to ensure that orphans in Matabeleland are taken care of. I leased land in Nketa 6 in Bulawayo where I want to build an orphanage. All those willing to contribute towards the construction of the orphanage are welcome, she said.
