Welcome to our latest blog, with details, images and videos are sent courtesy of Mr Mahachi, Head teacher at Pakati Primary school.
The sports took place on Thursday, 21st March, within the school ground. The participants were from ECD (Early Childhood Development) through to Grade 2.
These are some of the students who would really benefit from having access to IT & Internet to enhance their future learning, they are the reason Friends of Pakati exists to help. If you can, please donate to support our efforts to get IT & other items out to the 2 Pakati schools: http://www.paypal.me/friendsofpakati & http://www.gofundme.com/friends-of-pakati
The infants were grouped into 4 houses, Blue, Red, Green, and Yellow
The activities included such as a sack race, relays, hopping, and & other competitions.
Learners, parents & teachers enjoyed the days’ activities.
Below are some short videos taken on the day. Mr Mahachi said “…the idea was just to scout and nurture talent and just to have fun outside the classroom walls.”
It is clear from the above clips that Mr Mahachi was right about them enjoying themselves!
Greetings everyone, we are sorry to report the sad loss of the School Development Committee Chair at Pakati Secondary for 4 years, Mr William Dzimauta, at the age of 53.
Mr William Dzimauta
Friends of Pakati was notified recently of the passing of Mr Dzimauta. It was reported that he passed away on 25th February 2024, and he was laid to rest yesterday, 9th March.
Below are some of the tributes being paid to Mr Dzimaita sent to me from several people, including present & former staff at Pakati Secondary, and from some associated with Friends of Pakati. I will add a short comment myself at the end.
2022 at Pakati Secondary, celebration day. Mr Dzimaita is in the brown jacket behind teacher Mr Edteti,
From Mr Chifaka, former Actimg Head of Pakati Secondary: “I am deeply saddened by Mr William Dzimauta’s death. I knew Mr Dzimauta before he became our SDC chairperson in 2020. Before he became chairperson, we contracted him twice to build a school tuckshop and staff toilet for ladies.
Things were not good financially when he became chairperson because of covid 19 which resulted in school lock downs. This affected revenue inflow negatively which also impacted negatively on school development. However, when schools opened after lock downs, we worked well together and managed to maintain the school regardless of financial constraints.
In 2023 we were lucky to be given SIG fund. Mr Dzimauta played a very big role in the project that we implemented, funded by the SIG fund. This involved turning one classroom to state of the art computer laboratory, paving of two pathways leading to the computer laboratory and form 4 block and completing form 4 block veranda. It was a successful project.
When l announced in October (in an SDC meeting) that l would leave the school because l had been promoted, he also announced that he would go to South Africa for some work. When l left to assume duty at my new school, Macheke high, Mr Dzimauta had gone to South Africa. l could not believe it when l heard that he had passed on. I knew Mr Dzimauta as a man who worked very hard for his family and mother. MAY HIS SOUL REST IN PEACE.”
I also received this from current staff, referring to my most recent trip to Pakati in 2022: “Mr Dzimauta was dedicated to his role as the SDC Chairperson: -He played an important role in ensuring that the school produced one seater benches for pupils during the Covid 19 induced lockdown. -He volunteered to paint doors on teachers’ houses for free. -He was frank, he would point out frankly when something was not done in a good way. -He worked very hard during your last visit to our school. He worked with fellow SDC members, the community and other stake holders in organising food for the function.”
Mr Dzimauta in the brown jacket, seen handing over a Scunthorpe United FC football shirt to a student
Friends of Pakati contributors had the following to say: “I was very saddened when I heard the passing on of Mr Dzimauta. I cant say I know him very well but the few moments I saw him addressing parents at the school I saw a very humble and respectful character. Intelligence is not just showing off degrees but I can say this man had his natural Intelligence which he never boasted about. He was a talented leader and had so much love for his community and development. Honestly he was a likeable character. Ward 14 has been robbed of an influential character. May his dear soul rest in eternal peace.”
Pakati Secondary School, where Mr Dzimauta was the Chair of the SDC from 2020 to 2023
And this from another of our key supporters: “It’s sad news for our community. Mr Dzimauta has been a role model for most of us, and we feel very much gutted by his passing. He has been our Senior at Pakati Secondary school, and we remember him very well as he hails from our community. He was someone who was reserved and well mannered. We have lost out as a community. The last time I saw him he was building the small tuck shop at the school. I can say he has been an invaluable member of our community. May his soul Rest in Eternal Peace.”
This was taken from the Ward 14 WhatsApp group, I didn”t have many puctures of him
For myself, I met him on my visit to Pakati in both 2019 and 2022. I was impressed by his dedication to both Pakati schools, where many of his family attended as pupils. He came across very well, as a humble, cheerfuI person, who was highly thought of around the atea. I have had contact with some of the family over the years and had stories & picturesfrom them from time to time. It was an honour for me to meet him, a sincere hard working man who contributed much to the community. He will be very much missed, and I am sure the community paid there respects to him yesterday in great numbers. RIP Mr Dzimauta.
Hi everyone! Recently I have had reports from two schools from the same Ward in Murewa District as Pakati schools, namely Chanetsa Primary and Mapanga Primary.
Pictures & information are courtesy of My Kadzimu, Head of Chanetsa, and our good friend Vari Mayez of VaTonatsa Foundation, whose Aunt is Mrs Maenzaise, Head of Mapanga. We are most grateful for what they have sent us.
SIG furniture :40 standard chairs and desks.. Chanetsa Primary School.Chanetsa Primary School Athletics uniform.Chanetsa Primary; Prefects induction at Jakopo Business Centre Community Hall
Next, we ho to Mapanga.
This from Vari Mayez: “Hi Chris how are you doing? I am ok. I was in Mapanga recently to see the Vatonatsa beneficiaries (now at 6 students as most are in High School now). Was taking the school stationery and measuring the uniform sizes for them. Mrs Maenzanise & most of the teachers send their regards. I plan to go back soon when the uniforms are ready to deliver them. Here are some pictures from the visit”
Mrs Maenzanise, Vari Mayez & Tapuwa at Mapanga Primary schoolI had gone with stationery and to see what their uniform sizes are so that soon I can go back with the uniforms.I took time to counsel the kids, encourage them to work hard and to hear what they dream of becoming in the future. This year we have 4 beneficiaries in grade 7, one in grade 6 and one in grade 4The washpoints to help in Cholera prevention as there is an outbreakThey recently constructed a flush system toilet. For the meantime they use buckets to flush.Niece & Aunt!
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….and I still believe it is the best thing I ever did. Please read, enjoy & share widely!
I have just been looking back to some of my very early posts here on Friends of Pakati, & reading them takes me back to January 16th 1989 when I first set foot in a classroom as a newly-qualified teacher.
Pakati Secondary school in 1991
But how did I come to be in Zimbabwe? Well as ever, it is a bit of a story….
It began in Sheffield really, in 1984. I was out of work & a bit lost to be honest. A friend of mine told me she thought I would make a good teacher, suggesting I applied for a teacher training course which would start in September that year. She also thought the best way to find out if I would enjoy it would be to volunteer in a local school.
To my amazement, it turned out to be exactly that, as I went to a nearby Middle school, where I became a volunteer teaching assistant 2 days a week for 5 months, with a class of 10-11 year olds & their class teacher. It gave me valuable experience, which helped me gain acceptance onto a teacher training course.
Myself & some student friends in a park in Bradford. I think it must have been in the summer of 1986
I don’t have many photos from my student days to illutrate this story, but I will use those that I can. The picture above is me with 3 of my college friends, Sue, Joan & Toni. In those days I played a lot of Badminton hence the sports kit.
Like many students, a group of us were regular visitors to local bars, pubs & clubs. Some of those places featured live music, and one group in particular were popular with many students. They were called Somebody’s Brother, & some of us followed them to venues across Bradford, Leeds, Manchester, & even London.
Somebidy’s Brother playing live in Bradford city centre. Cecil Zinyuku is on the right
The band were made up of 3 men from Sunderland, one man & one woman from Bradford, plus a Zimbabwean…
As a fan of the group, I got to know them very well, in particular the bass player called Cecil Zinyuku whose family are from an area called Headlands. He had a sister, Dorcas, who I spoke to several times. The first time I met her was during my first yeat, and as we introduced ourselves, she asked what I was doing. I said “I am training to be a teacher, at Bradford College”. She responded by saying “you should come to Zimbabwe, we need teachers!”
On Graduation day in 1988 with my Mum
She planted the idea of working abroad in my head, and after graduating in 1988, an opportunity came my way almost by accident. I was in Bradford city centre one saturday, & a large bus was parked up, advertising for an International Development Charity called Voluntary Service Overseas (VSO). They recruit trained professionals to work in the developing world.
I took their literature, filled an application form, sent it off & waited to hear from them. Soon after, I was invited to a day-long interview with a number of activities designed to find out if I was suited to become a volunteer. Amazingly, I passed…
After two attempts by VSO to find me a placement (in Sierra Leone, & the Solomon Islands), by an incredible coincidence, I ended up in Cecil & Dorcas’ home country of Zimbabwe.
So, that is the extended story of how I came to Pakati Secondary school in 1989…, & here are some of my early posts about my time at Pakati,,,
Hi everyone! Now that schools are back for the first term of 2024, I have been sent some pictures from both Pakati Secondary and also Mapanga Primary, both in Ward 14 of Murewa District. This week we feature Pakati, and our thanks go to Mrs Munatswa for them & for the information.
Pakati athletes being addressed by sports organiser
This term, the sports focus is on Athletics, and the students at Pakati are preparing the internal competitions, to see whoo will represent the school in the forthcoming Zonal sports, against other local schools.
Mrs Mwaashidzana sport director and under 20girls 400m track events
Back when the Author taught there, we competed against schools at Hokodzi, Rota, Chidiya & Dombodzvuku. I believe there are some changes, & we now compete with Mabika & St Paul’s at Musami.
Above are 2 short videos of the students trials & training for this terms athletics at Pakati Secondary school.
Also, the SDC (School Development Committee) had a meeting with parents & staff recently.
Mrs Munatswa tells me that… ‘As a school we managed to buy a printer. The administrators, and the SDC presented the printer to the parents’
Gteat to see the school back after the summer break – things ate different in the Southern Hemisphere!. It is important for us at Friends of Pakati to raise more funds to get more IT out to the two Pakati schools this year, so please spread the word in amy way you can, and see if people can find a few £’s or $’s or €’s to donate.
Councillor Njenje receives a giftfrom SDC Vice Chair Amai Darangwa before he pssses it to Mr Chifaka
As well as the above party pictures and the one in his new office, he also sent me one which shows how different Macheke High school is to Pakati…
Macheke High school inducting Prefects for the betterment of school discipline and school tone at Macheke Lodge.
I realised that I also had taken a video of Mr Chifaka & myself as I intervirwled him briefly during my visit to Pakati in 2022…here for the first time is the (unedited) video:
So once again, my thanks go to Mr Chifaka who inspired me to start Friends of Pakati after my first (re)visit to Pakati Secondary school in 2018. All of us here at Friends of Pakati wish him success at Macheke High school, and no doubt we will hear from him again before too long!
Let us all here at Friends of Pakati wish all our followers, donors, sponsors & readers a (belated) very Happy New Year!
Chris Walker & Bothwell Riside at Chris’s home in 2023
As we are now over two weeks into 2024, I feel we should let you know what is happening with Friends of Pakati, and how the schools are getting on as their new term has begun.
Firstly, ourselves. Friends of Pakati is now into its 6th year of existence, and we are still going strong!
Coming up in the next few weeks are: • Action plan for fundraising activities • New podcasts with various guests • New posts about life at the two Pakati schools • Developments around the collection of promised IT • Information about our key supporters & donors • More social media posts as well as regular blogs
We had a bit of a lean year in 2023, but have still kept going. We aim to improve our funds, our statistics for views & visitors to the website, and raise our profile during the year, as we hope to make a return visit to the schools & deliver more IT & sports equipment to coincide.
3 of our team – Bothwell Riside, Chris Walker & Bradley Mellbeforerecording a vlog & a podcast last year
In conjunction with our podcast host, Brad Mell, we are in the process of securing some more important guests to interview.
We are currently trying to organise the collection of the promised computers from our donor, the Stephenson Group, and have them stored while we get on with raising sufficient funds to ship them out to Pakati.
Next, the schools themselves have now re-opened after the Christmas & New Year holidays – summer in Zimbabwe!
I heard recently from Mr Chizenya, Head of Pakati Secondary school, that they re-opened on the 9th of January, and all staff had reported for duty on time over the weekend before.
Mr Chizenya with the Author, Mrs Munatswa plus 3 of the children of staff members
I have just been sent some pics & info from Mapanga Primary school which I will publish another day, so here is a taster…
Greetings all! It is that time of year once again where we highlight what has been going on in the world of Friends of Pakati this year.
As the Author, I would say that we faced challenges, and have struggled in some areas during 2023, but I also see some bright spots shining through. I will show some of our ups & downs here in this Review of 2023.
For me personally there have been two real highlights, firstly being my visit to Bristol earlier this year to be part of a reunion between myself, Debbie Chadbon (another former teacher at Pakati Secondary), and Lorraine Mapuranga, a former student of both of us.
All three of us are involved with Friends of Pakati, and you can read more about it here:
On the fundraising front, we have had limited success, but thanks largely to Debbie’s efforts & regular donors we have just managed to get to over £400 in the bank.
We took a break in the lead-up to the elections in Zimbabwe in August, but we are now back in full swing…Onwards & upwards into 2024 soon, hopefully to deliver more IT to Pakati!
The World Map on the classroom block at Pakati shortly before completion
Today’s blog comes to us courtesy of Mr Mahachi, Head of Pakati Primary school.
Pakati Primary students on the coach looking forward to their day out
On Friday 27th October, a number of students & staff from Pakati Primary school set off at 6am heading to Harare, Zimbabwe’s capital city, for a visit to 3 different places.
They arrived in Harare around 8am, bought some breakfast for everyone which they ate before heading off to Imba Shiri Bird Park.
They spent from 10am to 12 noon there, with a tour and some horse rides. After this, they set off for Heroes Acre, a monument & memorial to those who played a role in the Zimbabwean war of Independence.
Soon after 2pm, they set off for their final part of the day, Long Chen Plaza. Here they had their lunch, and played until 5pm
Looks like they had a great time! Departing from Harare around 5pm, they arrived back at Pakati at 7pm. My thanks to Mr Mahachi for the photos & information.
Well I got another surprise recently, when I was informed that one of the teachers at Pakati Primary school has been promoted.
One of our key contacts at the school has been Mr Johannes Chorichi, one of who’s responsibilities was as sports coach. He can be seen in the video we had made to thank Scunthorpe United for their donation of football shirts back in 2019:
Mr Chorichi joined Pakati Primary school in 2010, and became a senior teacher. He also graduated with a Bachelor of Education degree in Sociology in 2020, after which he became Acting Deputy Head from 2021.
He teaches Grade 7 pupils, and was a national Shona examiner from 2014 to 2020, and from 2021 is a national examinations monitor.
He has also been imvolved in school sports & games, including Chess & Handball. Chess – produced pupils who participated in district & provincial tournaments. Handball – district champions in 2017 (boys) & 2018 (girls).
Lastly, he says that he likes nyama (meat) & was the chairperson of the beef committee!
The school threw a farewell party for Mr Chorichi & his wife (who is a former teacher there).
Mr Mahachi (Head, right, blue shirt) attended with other staff members.
His promotion is to substantive Deputy Head at St. Cyprian in Marondera. Congratulations from Friends of Pakati!
