Ziga means ‘surprise’
in Ndebele. And that sums up my experience of it. A troubling one in 2008 when
I joined Sue Goatley who runs Children in the Wilderness (CITW) Zimbabwe on a
visit; during the first CITW Zimbabwe camp to be run, we’d been gobsmacked at
the fact that the kids were literally starving. So Sue decided to go see the
headmasters of the village schools on the border of Hwange National Park, close
to the concessions in which we operate there – Ziga Village being one of them –
and see what was going on for herself.
I joined her on the
journey. A scattering of neat, well-made homestead with the obligatory hens,
goats, donkeys and scrawny dogs, at that time all that could be said of Ziga
village was that it was neat. Not much food around for anyone.
The primary school was
quite simply a shocker. I remember how my heart tore in two as smiling,
tattered kids, so excited to see us and sing for us, spilled out of two
dilapidated roofless buildings, peeling walls, no windows – just holes – uneven
broken floors… and one headmaster who was also the only teacher for the entire
school. At that time, teachers had literally left the country to work in SA
where they at least would be paid a salary as opposed to Zimbabwe at the time. The
headmaster had just two school leavers to whom he told what to teach and they
tried to teach grades 1 through 7.
Sue took one look and
decided that was it: CITW was going to start feeding the children and building
the schools – starting with this one. She started raising funds via some of the
guests at our Hwange camps, and the good reports began trickling, then pouring
in: basic ingredients were being bought and taken to the school where the
parents took turns to make food so that every child had at least one good meal
a day. Then we began reading about how the building was going, the borehole was
being repaired, desks being delivered… it was exciting and inspiring.
Five years later, in
April of this year, I returned to Ziga. That is, along with the CITW directors
and coordinators from all seven countries in which CITW runs its programmes,
plus some advisors and hangers-on (that would be me). Despite being April, it
was hot with those enormous, blinding-blue skies, and we’d enjoyed a long, jackal-filled
game drive (oh and some lovely eland too) through Wilderness’ private
concession in Hwange to get to the village.
And now the surprise
was one of delight, awe and joy.
Instead of the
ramshackle structures are four new smart buildings, painted a bright blue to
match the sky, tin roofs gleaming in the Zimbabwean sun. Inside each one are
three classrooms, all with chairs, desks, chalk and blackboards, projects and
pictures decorating the straight, painted walls.
Ziga School - then and now
Four (blue obviously)
rondavels have been built at the front gate; these are homes for the teachers.
The headmaster has his own office and house, complete with a computer, printer
and even internet access!
The borehole is
another miracle. Not just that it now works, providing a basic necessity to the
children and teachers, but where formerly it sat sadly in the midst of a
dustbowl, there is now a thriving organic vegetable garden. That’s because the
school cannot rely on donors forever; it must become sustainable. So CITW
started an Eco-Club, where the school kids who are members meet every Wednesday
afternoon, and amongst other things work in the vegetable garden, complete with
a worm farm and other innovative ideas that allow food to be grown in one of the
driest areas in Zimbabwe. In fact, there’s a veggie for their parents too!
On the other side of
the school grounds is the open-sided kitchen where the feeding scheme takes
place every school day, as well as a chicken run – again, looked after by parents
so that the kids and teachers get eggs and meat – and of course the toilets. No
‘of course’ about it, I’m afraid, as these also needed donations in order to be
built…
No kids came out to
meet us this time because it was school holidays, but the “knitting mothers”
had arrived, all smart in clothes they’d made themselves to show off their
wares. This is another of Sue’s initiatives: these women have learnt how to
knit and can now knit in anything from wool to plastic, turning out bags,
scarves, jersey and hats. Their pride was palpable and as we left, they danced
and sang us out.
I asked Cain (an
ex-teacher now working for CITW) what they were singing. He said, “They’re
singing ‘Something is moving forward at Ziga, something is growing.’”
Something indeed.
Group photo with the knitting ladies; CITW directors examining a new classroom
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