7 - 11 February 2012
In Zimbabwe, Jim and I volunteered with a seven member team from Community United Methodist Church (CUMC) in Crofton, Maryland. The main purposes of this trip were to participate in the dedication of a secondary school block at Hanwa, partially built with CUMC funds, and to visit the sites of possible future projects for CUMC.
The team's first home in Zim was at Murewa Mission. We lived in the District Superintendent's parsonage at the mission, two team members to a room. The homes on the mission are built with locally made bricks and plastered over on the inside and outside. We ate our meals with the DS's family. The local staple meal is sadza, a maize (corn) meal, similar to grits. We are also served chicken or beef with dinner, perhaps rice, and a local green vegetable known as rape.
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| Murewa Orphan & Vulnerable Girl's Hostel |
When we volunteered in Zimbabwe for 5 months in 2010-2011, we helped with the logistics and construction of a orphan's and vulnerable girl’s hostel (dorm) for Murewa Mission boarding girls. In Zimbabwe there are many children who are orphans due to the high incident of HIV and other diseases. Many children also have family situations that make them vulnerable to mistreatment and/or neglect. The dorm is now completed and houses 64 girls.
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| Murewa Mission |
Murewa Mission was founded in 1909. The mission has a church and a primary and a secondary school with hostels for both male and female students. There is also a small farm and a piggery. It is the headquarters for the district superintendent of the Murewa District. Houses are provided for the workers and their families. The official language in Zim is English. Students are taught in English, but they do have Shona lessons, the native language in this region of Zim.
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| Murewa Secondary School Assembly |
One morning the team attended the school assembly. All the students stand in the courtyard for announcements, a tutorial of life’s lessons and meeting the visitors. We each introduce ourselves and say a few words. The students are very well behaved, quiet and courteous.
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| Hurungwe Hill from Murewa Mission rock face |
Hurungwe Hill is the backdrop to Murewa Mission. Murewa township and country side dotted with thatched roof huts.
Great work you are doing guys. I personally attended school at Murewa Mission, it is certainly the best school in the District.
ReplyDeleteThis is the school that nurtured me. 8 years living in the hostels was not easy but it was worth it. Today I am a global mission fellow of the United Methodist Church serving in Cambodia, Asia and Pacific.
ReplyDeleteMy love for Murewa High School is very deep such that I wish if I could turn the hands of clocks, I would go back to that beautiful school. The school moulded me and gave me a firm foundation for life.
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