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Earlier this year we traveled to the communal land of Masoka & Angwa known as Ward 11 within the Mbire South Rural District Council (MRDC) of Zimbabwe, Africa. The primary purpose of our travel was to better gauge the critical conditions that villagers are currently tackling and see where or how we could make a difference.
After asking permission from the Counsellor of the area to garner our research, we embarked on our journey and mazed our way along the dusty village roads. Stopping at the scarce facilities Masoka had to offer, we spoke with villagers who were as disheartened as they were hopeful about their situation. Among the approximate 5,000 households within this Ward, they shared: one Primary Education school, one Secondary Education school, one Health Clinic and one small cluster of run down brick structures that pieced together their communal retail grounds.
Masoka Clinic
Our first stop led us to the old and tangled remains of a fence entrancing the Masoka Health Clinic. Walking up to the buildings, we were met by a warm smile from one of the two only qualified nurses who set off wilfully to give us an enlightening tour.
A doctor visited once a month, if that, to attend to any severe medical matters and even then, with the lack of equipment and medicine within the area, there was little he could do other than refer his patients to a bigger town with more to offer. Travelling 50km to the nearest town, Mushumbi Pools, was no small feat for villagers who had almost no transport at their disposal and if their case was emergent, the battered and unequipped Masoka clinic would be their only chance or choice.
The only labour room tried to embody a safe and gushing space ready to welcome new life but its efforts proved to be disheartening. The bathrooms were currently utilised as storage units due to the lack of water supply to the clinic leaving only a few hand sanitising stands as means of sterilisation.
We furthered our tour under neglected ceilings to rooms made for H.I.V testing and general consultation. Each room appeared the same way and stirred the same compassion in the reality of how even the smallest of change could make a world of difference for these deserving people. Empty shelves and medicine cabinets heightened the sadness in the idea that villagers would walk all the way to an empty clinic with nothing to help their pain or injury.
"Human rights mean the right to good health, a dignified life, and respect for the will of everyday people."
Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.
Clinic Gallery
Masoka Education
Our next two destinations drove us through the entryways of the Masoka Primary and Secondary School. August holidays had just begun so students were either at their homesteads practicing daily home or land-cultivating duties.
We peered through the begrimed windows and broken doors of the school buildings to see mainly empty halls with fading hand-painted chalkboards. Some rooms had rickety chairs and desks that bundled together generously enough to assume just how many children took their teachings in that one place and how distracting it must be for them.
Time went on as we ventured the school grounds; thinking of the possibility and potential of our surroundings. We were soon approached by one of the Primary School teachers who lived on the premises. He was well-spoken and welcoming and led us through a more detailed analysis of the current functionality of the school. The Secondary School educated 116 students from Form 1 to Form 4 (Grade 7 to Grade 12); after that, students would have to travel to Mushumbi Pools to complete their last two years of high school as there wasn't enough faculty nor facility to continue at Masoka. It was common for teens from these villages to not complete their high school education due to the unmanageable daily on-foot commute to and from Mushumbi Pools.
Attributable to the recent merging of the Masoka Ward and Angwa Ward, children between the ages of 5 to 18 years from Angwa travel an approximate 15 to 20km to and from the Masoka school everyday during school terms. Some may happen upon a donkey-driven scotch cart or perhaps a motorbike but for the majority, this journey is made by foot. The wild and thicket-bordered surroundings of Mbire South meant that predators like lions and other dangerous game like buffalo or elephant could be within 20 to 30 metres of you at any given time and not necessarily to your knowledge.
It was understandable to learn that students were apathetic towards their studies. Their long and risky travel would lead them to school grounds and classrooms that were less than favourable. Despite this, the schools' efforts to be otherwise could not be ignored. It was evident that education was important here - even though the facilities were hardly up to standard, more than 87% of students were enrolled and attended school.
We were interested to know what the outcome and aftermath of COVID-19 was to the local community especially with regards to education. The teacher informed us that children within these areas did not receive any school education during the three year pandemic as facilities were closed for quarantine. There was no cellphone network here let alone Wi-Fi and so online learning had not been an option. The reality was that COVID-19 not only hindered these children in their education but their generation too.
Education is crucial for future opportunities and employment for villagers. Currently, the employment rate is a mere 20% within the entire community. Mostly, these people would be employed by Safari Operators whereas others would have to travel to bigger towns with more to offer. This evidently means that the majority of households within this area are not receiving any income and as a result battle immensely to support themselves and their families.
Masoka Primary School Gallery
Masoka Secondary School Gallery
Conclusive Solutions
We ended our travels at the Masoka shops. The products on offer were limited to long-life and dry goods with one or two vendors selling a choice of two fresh produce options. Despite this, it was admirable to see the resilience and perseverance these shops represented - the foundations of a potentially brighter future.
Looking back on the morning made us investigate the opportunity and responsibility that lay before us, impossible to ignore. There was infinite promise and potential within this area; people who could be great future leaders, doctors, sportsman and so much more than what their circumstances perpetuated them to be. This, or to simply just be people; without the endless battle of survival. We can make a difference here. All of us.
If you can, please consider donating to Masoka or volunteering your valuable time to rebuilding its community.
“I have found that among its other benefits, giving liberates the soul of the giver."
Maya Angelou
Masoka Shops Gallery
Thank you for reading!
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