Speaking at a recent National Aids Council training workshop for journalists in Chinhoyi, Rangwani explained why he set up Simbarashe Network Centre for people living with HIV and AIDS.
“There was a gap in our community where poor children could not attend school. Some had dropped out because of the HIV/ AIDS pandemic where both parents had died and the remaining guardian could not pay their school fees,” he said. “Others were school dropouts because they came from very poor backgrounds.”
Rangwani said although the majority of these children were orphans and vulnerable children, a number had shown the determination to catch up “and were now enrolled in secondary schools in the area”.
“Although some of them were older than 10 when they enrolled for Grade One, quite a number have gone on to do very well.”
Only a few children were sponsored to attend school when the organisation was first established. However, thanks to various fundraising initiatives, that number has increased.
“By the end of last year, we managed to enroll more than 192 students, up from the initial 150. We are happy that to date, we have raised enough money to pay for 40 secondary school students for the next five years. We managed to fundraise for the centre after Chief Murambwa (the local chief) gave us eight hectares of land where we started a maize project. We harvested 13 tonnes of maize and Simbarashe Network Centre was empowered economically.”
Rangwani, however, said it was unfortunate that the government took so long to respond to project proposals. “The protocol takes too long and it sometimes slows down our progress.”
Simbarashe Network Centre for people living with HIV and AIDS has in the past received the support of the Ministry of Education and funding from the World Education Programme.
Post published in: News