PUPILS at Mutondwe High School in Mt Darwin have become a shining beacon in Mashonaland Central, after they successfully reclaimed a gully and stopped it from crossing into their school yard.
BY SILENCE CHARUMBIRA
Through the efforts of an environmental club that was formed in 2014, the pupils combined forces with the Environmental Management Agency (EMA), who provided technical support to curb the spread of the gully, which was less than 400 metres from the school grounds.
Speaking to NewsDay during a tour of the project last week, Marinos Chambwera, the Pfura Rural District Council executive officer, lamented the lack of community participation.
He said they had now resorted to engaging school children for various environmental programmes, adding that they used natural resources such as rocks and sisal to block the expansion the gully.
“Many years ago we used to get funding from the government for food, that would motivate the community to come and work, but the money no longer comes. So as the local authority, we now have an environmental policy for all 132 schools in Mt Darwin, which we call Beyond 2018 and the schools are responding well,” Chambwera said.
Innocent Musekiwa Maruza, the teacher in charge of the environmental club, said they will continue lobbying members of the community to join in carrying developmental projects without monetary incentives.
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“It is a process. We are engaging them slowly. Considering the level of education in the community and other factors, I do not think we can say they have let us down,” Maruza said.
