Wow, we didn’t know that so little could mean so much but we certainly do now!

As mentioned in our last couple of blogs, two of the schools we are working with have no text books for the new curriculum. When we say no text books we mean NO text books. How they are teaching or knowing what to teach we don’t know but they are somehow struggling on. It was therefore something we felt very strongly about helping with (although we had no allocated budget).
From the list of available books we thought the best idea was to make sure that a particular subject i.e Mathematics would be covered for each school year starting at Grade 1 going through to Grade 4. (Grades 5,6 & 7 new curriculum has not yet been launched). Our small budget would mean we would have to prioritise subjects and could only get one book for each subject for each school year but something is better than nothing and it’s a start. We managed to cover 6 subjects for each school, including Shona, Mathematics, Science, English, Heritage and Family & Religious studies.

We took the books first to Wozhele Primary School, what a reception we got. As we arrived we saw tables & benches being set up outside, soon to discover that the school had organised an official presentation of the books. We were so taken aback and felt awkward as it was only a few books but also very honoured. We even checked with the deputy head that they did know it was only a few books, he said yes but made it clear that it meant lots to them. Most of the school and teachers were present, along with the chairman of the school development committee. The headmaster gave a short speech and the deputy head talked about how Ratidzo Trust had been working with the school since 2016 and listed the children we had supported with school fees and how we had also helped the school with a broiler project. Edline spoke very well, at very short notice, about our aims and how we longed to do more. We were also treated to drinks & biscuits. They were just so grateful for our help and the impact it would have on their teaching and the children’s learning.

Somewhat still a little shocked we headed off to St. Charles Primary School to drop off their books. The school development committee was waiting for us, along with the headmistress, local education government official and head teachers. Again we were left in no uncertain doubt about how much this meant to the school. The head talked about how Ratidzo Trust was now officially part of the schools family and development plan and how this kind of help just does not come along. We raised the point that it was in fact God who we should all be thanking.

What an experience, if we were ever in doubt about the little we can do making a difference we certainly arn’ t now.

For those of you who gave, thank you, hopefully you can see how you are helping to change lives. There are still other subjects to cover, ECD a & b (early child development classes) and then Grades 5, 6 & 7. We would love to do more and with your help we can, text books cost around $12 (£10) each, so a £10 donation would buy one much needed book and as you can see would make a big, much appreciated impact. Please email us at ratidzotrust@gmail.com to make a donation.

Thank you again for your support.