The Resource Centre – What it Means to our Students

We have now been occupying our new Resource Centre for two months, and so we thought we would share with you what this property means for our students, and the difference it is having on their ability to study.

For the majority of Zimbabweans the focus of their lives just to survive! For them, life revolves around a daily struggle to put food on the table. All of our students come from poor high density suburbs where families live in squalid informal settlements. Often 4 or 5 families will live in one small house, with each family living in just one or two rooms. The only bathroom in the house is shared between all of these families. In this environment child abuse is prevalent. Many of our students are also orphans, shunted from home to home between relatives.

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In these incredibly densely populated communities, the opportunity to be alone is impossible and studying is often done by candle light once everyone else in the room is asleep and it is quiet. The contrast for our students from their family homes to the home they experience during the week at Makomborero is immense!

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Our new Resource Centre is providing a sanctuary for our students. When questioned, all of our students said the thing that they love most about the Resource Centre is the space. They are able to spread out a little and find a quite space in which to study!

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One of our students has a phenomenal singing voice and loves having the opportunity to sing freely in the huge open space, bringing him freedom and peace.

Siblings

Another student shared how living in a crowded High Density Area and sharing a room with so many people at night meant he had little time to enjoy nature. He said he ventures out in the evenings at the Resource Centre to sit under the stars and listen to the sounds of the animals and birds. He explained to me that sitting under the stars is a luxury one can’t afford when life is tough and all you can worry about is survival. It is a luxury he has so enjoyed indulging in and has brought him such peace and joy.

The Resource Centre

Our Resource Centre also provides our students with access to the internet, good text books and resources, wonderful homemade meals, warms beds and access to running water. But more than that it is a safe haven for our students to connect with their souls, find peace and joy and a vision for their futures. This truly is a place of #transformationandhope!

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