UK-based school crowdfunds for Mat South boarding facility

By The Standard | Feb. 4, 2019 | 2 Min read

A UNITED KINGDOM-BASED school, Christs Hospital in Horsham, West Sussex, has launched a crowd-funding campaign to raise funds for the construction of Advanced Level boarding facilities at Kafusi High School in Matabeleland South Province.

BY NQOBANI NDLOVU

According to the UK school, the crowdfunding campaign — an online tool for raising funds — seeks to mobilise at least £20 000 to construct boarding facilities for the “A” Level girl child at the rural school.

“Many pupils at Kafusi resort to what Zimbabweans call ‘bush boarding’. They enrol at the school and find a place to sleep where they can. If they are lucky, this might be with friends, or in a friendly church. If they are not lucky, they may be sleeping outdoors and putting themselves in a vulnerable situation,” the CH crowdfunding campaign read.

“The Christ’s Hospital monitors’ team has decided to do something about this. Recognising how lucky they have been in their six years at CH, they are trying to raise £20 000 to provide all the materials to build a girls’ boarding hostel at Kafusi.”

Christ’s Hospital, through its chapel charity fund, has reportedly been supporting the community around Kafusi for several years.

In 2011, working with Zimbabwean poet and musician Albert Nyathi, the community helped establish a co-operative community garden called Thuthukani, not far from the school.

“In the seven years of the project, it has grown from a small project designed to feed HIV orphans to a community resource that feeds the community and raises money for it from surplus food sales. This has had a life-changing effect for many of the inhabitants of this dry and neglected area of Matabeleland.

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“In recent months, the project has expanded to create a partnership with Kafusi High School,” the CH community said.

“In the case of Thuthukani, the Christ’s Hospital community has raised funds to help the Kafusi community help itself. The same applies to the proposed girls’ hostel; donations will be made in the form of materials, and the local community has undertaken to provide the labour to bring the project to completion.”