Fourteen-year-old Brandon Mashinge, who is blind, says that while he would have wanted to learn at a school closer to his home, the rural set-up made it impossible. People with disabilities in Zimbabwe often cannot get an education let alone even a job to survive. For Mashinge, who hails from Sadza, Chikomba East, his situation was extremely complex.
By Moses Mugugunyeki
Like many people with disabilities, he was often exploited, neglected, discriminated against and segregated. He even failed to enrol at the nearby Maware Primary School and would spend the better part of the day alone while his peers were in school.
But, today Mashinge is a pupil at Hugo Primary School of the Blind in Masvingo, courtesy of the Alfred Dondo Foundation (ADF) — a charity organisation that takes care of 65 orphans and vulnerable children in Chikomba and Sadza districts in Mashonaland East province.
The charity organisation is part of the corporate social responsibility of local car hire firm Impala Car Rental, whose CEO Thompson Dondo is the brains behind the organisation which he founded in honour of his late brother Alfred.
The children are drawn from under-privileged families, ranging from those with disabilities to impairments, including visual, hearing and mental challenges.
“AFD has five children with visual impairment under its wings who are getting special education at primary school. Three are at Hugo Primary School of the Blind while two are at Daramombe Primary School,” said Impala Car Rental events and projects manager Tracy Ngoma.
“We have children that have lost parents and we have assumed guardianship of them since the launch of the foundation to date.
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“ADF has 14 children in secondary school, 45 in primary and one at Chinhoyi University of Technology studying for an Accounting degree.”
Mashinge, says he dreams of becoming a teacher.
“I have always wanted to be a teacher, but due to my situation back home it was a pipe dream. Now, it looks like there is hope, thanks to the Alfred Dondo Foundation,” Mashinge recently told The Standard Style during an interview while in his classroom at Hugo Primary School of the Blind on the outskirts of Masvingo.
Reading an English passage with the Braille system, Mashinge proved that he could read well.
“Back in the rural areas I was doomed because there was no opportunity like this. I am happy that I am at a school that caters for my impairment,” Mashinge said.
Joining Mashinge at Hugo Primary School of the Blind is nine-year old Pamela Katsande of Hokonya village in Chivhu, another beneficiary of the ADF.
“I want to be a nurse when I grow up. I am getting my uniforms, stationery and fees from the foundation,” Katsande said.
Just about 10% of children with disabilities in Africa attend school and close to 80% of disabled persons in Africa are unemployed. About one billion people worldwide live with disabilities. For many, it means a life of poverty, misery and discrimination.
ADF coordinator for Chikomba Lovemore Danga said the charity was doing wonders for the community, particularly the less-privileged.
“We have seen an improvement in the performances of those pupils that are assisted by ADF. In the past some of these children would not attend classes because they had no fees or uniforms,” Danga said.
ADF is paying school fees, buying stationery and books as well as providing food to the beneficiaries.
“We hope to expand this facility to accommodate more disadvantaged pupils to help them get education. We say, to ADF please don’t tire because you are doing a great job for the children,” Danga said.
Ngoma said ADF was open for partnerships and willing to work with other organisations to assist the disadvantaged.
“We want to work with those organisations that are interested in this noble cause. We are an organisation that is governed by Christian values and indeed there is power in giving like our CEO always tells us ‘Kupa Kuwana’ and God does bless the hand that giveth,” she said.
