The first thing that strikes you is the level of poverty that people are living in. For example, women and children will walk up to seven kilometres to get water. Children will walk up to 10 kilometres to go to school, and it truly breaks your heart to see them making their way to and from school – children as young as four.
Bishop Stephen Wright with the students at Bungwe Primary School
Bishop Stephen Wright, Chair of CAFOD’s Board of Trustees, visited the remote Rushinga District in north-eastern Zimbabwe - a region that you have heard about in our Family Fast Day appeals this year.
Bishop Stephen spent time with the local Catholic parish in the district and met community members involved in projects run by CAFOD’s local Caritas partners.
Thanks to your support, our partners worked to install water pumps with the community by drilling down to the water table. This means that families are no longer walking long distances to collect an essential resource. As a result, children can stay in school and communities will enjoy better health.
The water pumps are not the only element to the project: there are also programmes to ensure that children are fed at school. This is done firstly by providing a millet porridge so they are fed immediately, and also through growing vegetables for a longer term solution. This is only possible thanks to the new pumps which get water to the gardens.
Bishop Stephen Wright watches District Development Co-ordinator Mrs Dube planting a tree at the Bungwe Primary School Garden with the help of Mr Mutandwa the school garden project lead
Bishop Wright reflected on how deeply moving he found visiting this project and the community:
“I’ve never experienced poverty in a developing country like I experienced in Rushinga. It was simultaneously heartbreaking to see the poverty that these people live with, but also full of hope. The dignity of the people is extraordinary. The welcome and the joy of these people is extraordinary."
On our Harvest Family Fast Day appeal page you can learn more about the incredible work being done in Zimbabwe and how it helped Tayla, a student at Bungwe Primary School.
