Chimbumu school is huge – and so different from the schools our children go to in the developed world. North of Harare in Mashonaland, the school is attended by 1,300 pupils aged 6–12 years. 180 of these children are in pre-school. Chimbumu School is run on the principals of the Salvation Army. The current head teacher has been in the school for ten years, and has been teaching for over 32 years.
There are 31 classes, each class averaging 45 pupils, and 31 teachers. They have ten classrooms so the majority of lessons are taken outside. The space under the trees is reserved for the infants in pre-school who have no classroom at all, but need to be kept out of the sun.
The school urgently needs text books; they are working with only 5% of their requirements. The classrooms need furniture; they have only 5% of their requirements. It is a government requirement that every child attending school has an exercise book and pencils of their own to do their work in.
The Yakanaka Foundation was able to supply every child in the school with an exercise book and a pencil. The Foundation has also been able to buy chalk. We are fund raising on a regular basis to assist with their needs. The parents have made the bricks and built a new classroom block, but have not been able to raise the money to roof this block. Most of the parents were former farm workers who lost their jobs when the land reform program was carried out, and they have no source of income.
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