As the Chikuku Development Initiative celebrates its first anniversary, the community is the biggest beneficiary with many positives to point at.
“We say Ebenezar – Thus far the Lord has brought us. Upon retirement, Prof. Mufunda – the pioneer of the Chikuku Rural Hospital Initiative, sacrifices time off his busy schedule to visit and offer medical services and treatment to patients from all walks of life on the last Saturday of every month. On these visits, Prof Mufunda carries with him a variety of medicines needed for various persons.
“I am a Chikuku native and personally, I am attached to this institution because this is the place where my Mother served the community as a nurse in a career spanning decades before she retired from civil service. The health sector is one area adversely impacted by the prevailing economic hardships and the decision by members of the Chikuku Development Foundation Trust to chip in with monthly subscriptions and donations to buy medicines for members of the community is quite noble. I pledge to support this cause into the unforeseeable future,” said Engineer Busai Blessed Sithole, the Administrator of the Chikuku Development Foundation Trust.
Mr. Leonard Mafuhure, a borehole repair technician, paid tribute to the borehole rehabilitation project that was pioneered by Mr. Gift Marimbire – one of the founding members of the trust whose support to the cause is unparalleled.
“When I received the first call from Mr. Marimbire instructing me to repair the borehole at Gaha near the Chikuku Police base, I thought that would be the end of it. Alas, I was wrong in my thinking. He immediately tasked me to travel around the community and come up with a database of all boreholes that needed repair in the area.
“To date, I and my team that is being sponsored by the Chikuku Development Initiative (Chapwati) have repaired boreholes in Chikuku, Boora, Mandadzaka, the Jiri area, Mutsinzwa, and others and we are still going. Apart from ensuring that the community has a safe, reliable water supply, we are also imparting technical knowledge on the rehabilitation of boreholes to the borehole technical team members,” Mr. Mafuhure said.
The Chikuku Development Initiative is joining forces with the local business community and the leadership from the government and other critical stakeholders to bring electricity to the area.
“As an electrician, I am happy to report that the work to bring electricity to Chikuku Training Centre and Chikuku Business Centre has started in earnest. Last week, a 100KV transformer that lay idle for years was taken by workers from the Rural Electrification Agency for inspection. I am sure it will be brought back soon so that it can be installed to make sure we power the business centre. We expect the same for the 25KV transformer meant for Chikuku Training Centre,” said Mr. Arthur Mutsauri.
Village Head, Mr. Elias Havadi was full of praises to the Chikuku Development Initiative.
“We are more than proud to have the Chikuku Development Initiative in our midst. The initiative is cementing unity among our people and bringing development to our doorsteps. Our people used to travel long distances to Silveira Mission Hospital for treatment but with Professor Mufunda’s monthly visits to Chikuku Rural Hospital, it’s now a thing of the past,” Mr. Havadi said.
Mr. Sydney Moyana, a teacher at Nerunhengu Primary School was upbeat that the electrification of the area would drive digitisation so that rural schools will not be left behind in terms of online learning.
“With electricity in the area, local schools would be able to use computers for learning. The pass rate here in the rural areas was very poor last year because our students lost learning time after schools were closed because of the COVID-19 induced lockdown. With electricity, we will implement online learning and surely the pass rate will improve,” Mr. Moyana said.
During the lockdown, members of the Chikuku Development Initiative including Mr. Evaristo Temba Mbuva, Mr. Benson Tamirepi, Mrs. Emma Bvunzawabaya, Mrs. Chenai Chiketsani, Mr. Leonard Turugari, Mrs. Elizabeth Lwanda Rutsate, and Engineer John Manyanga, just to mention a few, donated facemasks and sanitizers to ameliorate the pandemic. The leadership of the trust also extends its heartfelt gratitude to all the members contributing in cash and kind for the success of the initiative.
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