Attending school is not taken for granted in Zimbabwe, a country plagued by political problems and health issues. All the more reason for the inhabitants of Gokwe, at the heart of Zimbabwe, to look forward to the visit of founding members of Fundo - Bastian Müller and Nina Mühlinghaus from Witten - at the start of January. In addition to important medicines and foodstuffs, they brought with them good news about the continued construction of the school.
The two Witteners travelled to the village in the centre of the country in two fully-laden cars. The vehicles were stuffed to the roof with schoolbooks, teaching materials, a complete set of instruments for music lessons, maize meal, and oil for the starving teachers and their pupils' families. Personal hygiene articles such as soap were also provided. The mayor used the visit from Germany as an opportunity to give a talk on cholera.
Zimbabwe is currently gripped by one of its most serious crises since independence in 1980. The country, which has suffered from political disruption for decades, is also facing a severe cholera epidemic: Over 16,000 people have been infected with the disease and hundreds have already died as a result. Medical care provisions have broken down and medicines are no longer available.
This means that international aid like that provided by Fundo - Unterstützung für das südliche Afrika e.V., which provides aid to South Africa and raises money from Shona art events, is all the more important. Since 2004, a school project has been in progress in Gokwe at the heart of Zimbabwe. The aim of the project is to build a secondary school for 600 pupils. The project will provide three school buildings - each containing two classrooms, an extra administrative building, toilet facilities, and accommodation for teachers in addition to a much-needed water supply and clinic.
Let's put the remoteness of the village into context: The nearest telephone is 105 kilometres away. The construction of the school centre and resulting education thus constitute a significant improvement in the infrastructure of the village and consequently in the quality of life of its inhabitants.
Thanks to donations to date, the school began operating on a provisional basis at the start of 2008. The mayor of Gokwe provided a 17-hectare plot of land free-of-charge and donations allowed the walls of the first school building, toilet block, and teacher's accommodation to be built. Right in time for the start of the rainy season, a water tank with a capacity of 22,000 litres was completed.
However, there is still insufficient money for the expensive construction of the roof, door and window frames, and fixtures. In addition, accommodation for pupils who live too far away from the school to commute is urgently required.
For these reasons, Murtfeldt Kunststoffe is providing the school with both financial and material aid. Funds are not only used for the school project - they are also used by members of Fundo to provide vaccinations, medicines, and water treatment tablets, and to arrange for their distribution in the crisis-hit areas by competent doctors.
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