Friends Of Pakati

This week has been an important one for Friends of Pakati. I have spent two days in Leicester, partly because of what was posted on this blog – https://friendsofpakati.com/2026/01/27/it-takes-a-team/ – but also to meet one of our future trustees & significant donor, Cuan Forrest

Here is our introduction to Cuan following the Scunthorpe United F.C. Community Day in 2025 – https://friendsofpakati.com/2025/04/13/out-of-the-shadows-meet-cuan-forrest/

Meeting with Cuan

While I was organisung the shipment of donated goods, I was also setting up a meeting with Cuan to discuss a number of things around the future of Friends of Pakati.

We met in the city centre, then went for a meal at a Vietnamese restaurant, where we ate & talked for about 2 hours.

We talked mostly about our two main shared interests – Friends of Pakati and Scunthorpe United FC – discussing where they already overlap, plus how we can deepen the links between them to the mutual benefit of both.

Friends of Pakati

We talked about our current focus on gaining Charity status, as it would open many doors for increased fundraising. Also, we discussed new ideas for things like new merchandise, events, the website, expanding social media & improving our online presence.

Scunthorpe United FC

The main topics here were the forthcoming Community Day, a meeting with the board of the club coming up soon, ideas around sponsorship packages which would raise the profile of Friends of Pakati, while giving the club publicity for their community engagement.

Joint Benefits

There would be some great PR for the club to be developed among the footballing world. Greater publicity would attract people to the Charity, views to the website, and more donations of both money and things for the schools we support.

Expansion ideas

While keeping our core objective of getting IT  equipment to Pakati, we can also develop in different areas, such as:

•  accepting a wider range of donations – school supplies for staff & students, donated clothes for example

•  new range of merchandise to sell, people have suggested things like pens, tote bags, polo shirts, bookmarks, wristbands

•  expanding the area we support, initially to include the 2 growth points nearby at Chigwada & Jacobo, then to the other 3 schools in Ward 14 at Chanetsa & Mapanga

•  using our Zimbabwean connections to have locally produced things like curios, t-shirts, traditional cultural items such as cloths, instruments etc.

•  developing greater connections within the Zimbabwean diaspora in the UK for potential support

•   One interesting suggestion was about developing connections between Pakati schools & local schools in the Scunthorpe area, maybe even some kind of exchange. Maybe with help from SUFC, getting some of the sports teams to visit, play local schools, going to a match!

Finally….an Appeal

Not everything comes to fruition, but much of it is possible!

Can you or someone you know, a company or business you deal with, a friend of yours who has useful skills to share, help us in some way? Or have ideas on how to help us meet our aims? Can they donate – time? expertise? goods? money?

Then please get in touch with us via email – friendsofpakati@gmail.com – or donate via http://paypal.me/friendsofpakati and http://gofundme.com/Friends-of-pakati

Thank you so much – please share this post widely & encourage others to support the cause!

Friends of Pakati are doing what we do best – sending donated items to both Pakati schools!

However, we cannot do things on our own, we need help from others to get the goods from the donors to the recipients….it takes a team of people to pull it off. It starts with donors like my friend, former Primary teacher, Alison. Read more here: https://friendsofpakati.com/2025/09/16/surprise-donation/

Aa already mentioned previously on our social media platforms – https://www.facebook.com/share/p/1AXKALvXE7/ – we had a further donation from a person who wanted to remain anonymous. This person is the one who gave us the items seen below. The vast majority of the goods being shipped out to Pakati are for the Primary school, especially for the Early Childhood Development (ECD) team.

There are many different toys being sent, all of which will benefit the youngest students at Pakati Primary, as it is widely recognised that all children learn many things during play.

There are also some books for the ECD staff to use when teaching these very young children, not least as they learn English as well as Shona, the local language spoken be ovee 70% of Zimbabweans.

In addition to the ECD materials, Alison’s donation contains a number of teaching materials for the staff to support both Maths and Englush learning throughout the Primary school, from Grade 1 to Grade 7 (see below)

Further, there are 2 spare keyboards I have had donated which will go to the Secindary school.

Finally, as we look to revamp our merchandise in the near future, we decided to send some of our unsold stock to give to the teachers themselves at both Pakati schools. This is as a small ‘Thank You’ to them all for their continued support for Friends of Pakati!

Coedma Freight International Ltd

This will be the 4th time we have used this particular shipping company…

…they are based in Leicester, and are owned & run by Zimbabweans. They also have an office in Harare, and deliver across the country. Items can also be collected from the Harare office once cleared through customs if preferred.

Staff at Coedma have wrapped up & boxed  all items in prepatation for shipping out at the end of this week – a huge Thank You to them!

I will be able to track the delivery to our good friend, Vari Mayez of VaTonatsa Foundation, who has kindly agreed to have the items sent to her Harare home. She will then co-ordinate with the schools for the final part of the goods journey.

Thank You….

So, an all round team effort, from donors, Friends of Pakati, Coedma Frieght International Ltd, Vari Mayez, and ultimately, the two Pakati schools including all staff & students. This and other previous donations will continue to help the schools & local community well into the future!

Today’s blog is all about improvements…

Friends of Pakati recently approached AI for some suggestions on how to make our content, marketing, & social media presence more attractive to potential followers, donors, readers, influencers, sponsors & supporters. Here is the result of the AI request:

Question to AI:

Go to https://friendsofpakati.com/ and give me a summary of how you think the blog is, I want a review on the substance of the content and it’s presentation. What low hanging fruit suggestions do you have for the author to help them improve the writing and gain more traction to the site Review of Friends of Pakati Blog

AI Responded:

Content Substance

Strengths:

The blog has genuine heart and authenticity. The author’s personal connection to the schools (as a former teacher at Pakati Secondary) shines through, and the mission is compelling—supporting rural Zimbabwean schools with computers, infrastructure, and educational resources. The documentation of tangible impact (boreholes, computers, electricity connections) provides real accountability and shows donors exactly where their money goes.

The storytelling approach works well, particularly when profiling individuals like Dennias Makebhe (the former student who donated boreholes) or featuring podcast interviews. These human-interest angles make the content relatable and emotionally engaging.

Weaknesses:

The content suffers from repetitiveness and lacks strategic variety. Many posts follow the same formula: greeting, photos from school heads, thank-yous, and “coming soon” teasers. While updates are valuable, they need more diverse angles—student success stories, challenges overcome, volunteer experiences, or educational insights about Zimbabwe would add depth.

The writing occasionally feels like internal documentation rather than public-facing content designed to attract new supporters. Some posts are essentially photo dumps with minimal narrative context.

Presentation Issues

Critical problems:

Numerous typos and errors throughout—”eveyone,” “aa,” “haa,” “Laarly,” “enjoykng,” etc. These undermine credibility.

Inconsistent formatting—some posts are excessively long with walls of text, others are too brief. The writing jumps between casual and formal tones unpredictably.

Poor mobile optimization—the text appears cluttered, and the excessive navigation menu is overwhelming.

Image quality varies—many photos are poorly cropped or formatted inconsistently.

Weak headlines—titles like “Updates for Friends of Pakati!” are generic and don’t drive clicks.

Low-Hanging Fruit Suggestions

Immediate fixes:

Proofread everything—use Grammarly or have someone review posts before publishing. Quality control is essential for credibility.

Shorten posts—aim for 300-500 words for regular updates. Use subheadings, bullet points, and white space to improve readability.

Improve headlines—instead of “Updates for Friends of Pakati!” try “Students Master Computer Skills Thanks to Your Support” or “How One Former Student Brought Water to 600 Children.”

Create a content calendar—balance update posts with impact stories, student profiles, educational content about Zimbabwe, and behind-the-scenes insights.

Add clear calls-to-action—every post should end with a specific ask: donate, share, follow, or attend an event.

For traction growth:

SEO basics—use keywords like “Zimbabwe education charity,” “rural school support,” “donate to African schools.” Add meta descriptions.

Social media strategy—create shareable quote graphics from student testimonials, before/after photos of projects, or impact statistics.

Email marketing—the email signup exists but there’s no lead magnet. Offer a free impact report or photo book to new subscribers.

Video content—the podcasts are great, but short 1-2 minute videos showing school activities would be more shareable on social platforms.

Partnerships—reach out to education bloggers, expat Zimbabwean communities, or international development sites for guest posts or features.

Analytics focus—identify your top-performing posts and create more content in that style.

The foundation is solid—you just need tighter execution, better quality control, and more strategic content planning to significantly expand your reach.

An excellent response! I am starting to put some of the suggestions into practice already….

https://www.youtube.com/@friendsofpakati1840 – Here is one of the first things I have done, regained access to our YouTube channel, and begun to add further videos from our archives. Many more will be added in the coming days.

I will also post some on our Instagram channel shortly. This should improve our visibility online & attract more visitors to the website.

Our social media presence will improve too, with more regular & more informative posts, with additional links & #hashtags to encourage better/wider engagement with the website.

I have begun to clean up or update some of the other pages listed at the top of the website, & removed some which were no longer relevant.

Taking on board the AI comments, Friends of Pakati will indeed keep getting better!

To help & support our work, please do contact us via mailto:friendsofpakati@gmail.com or donate funds via http://gofundme.com/friends-of-pakati or http://paypal.me/friendsofpakati Thank you!

Hi everyone – I hope you all had a great festive season & enjoyed your New Year celebrations.

Today we publish the first podcast of 2026, and we cover a mixture of things covered in https://friendsofpakati.com/2025/12/28/friends-of-pakati-2025-review/ plus discussing important issues for the next 12 months at Friends of Pakati

As always, we would appreciate your help to like & share this on your social media platforms. Thank you👏

Greetings eveyone!

Welcome to our annual review aa we approach the end of our 7th year in existence, something I never expected to happen when I first started Friends of Pakati officially on 16th January, 2019.

Let me start by giving a HUGE “THANK YOU” to everone who has been involved with us in any capacity, including our prospective Trustees as we step towards formal charity status, the host & all guests on our podcasts, the Heads, staff & students of both Pakati schools & the local community, partner organisations & key local leaders, and of course, everyone who has donated, bought merchandise, read liked & shared our posts & stories on various platforms. Last but not least, all associated with Scunthorpe United FC who continue to be so supportive to the cause!

I published a 6-month review as usual, so here is the link taking us from January to June this year, a momentous time for us: https://friendsofpakati.com/2025/07/08/6-month-review-friends-of-pakati/

So now I can look at the period from July to December, and we can see good progress being made, but it begins with a wonderful day for my friend & our podcast host, Bradley Mell, as he married his partner April, in July this year!

https://friendsofpakati.com/2025/08/09/friends-of-pakati-podcast-host-brads-big-day/

In this last 6 months of 2025 there were some recurring themes:

1. Donations

2. School Activities

3. Podcasts

So, starting with donations, here are the links to key posts…

https://friendsofpakati.com/2025/08/16/a-donation-to-friends-of-pakati/

https://friendsofpakati.com/2025/09/16/surprise-donation/

https://friendsofpakati.com/2025/11/12/former-pakati-students-amazing-donation/

https://friendsofpakati.com/2025/12/21/a-donation-explained/

Next, various posts about school activities at Pakati Primary & Secondary schools…

https://friendsofpakati.com/2025/09/02/end-of-term-at-pakati-secondary-school/

https://friendsofpakati.com/2025/09/09/new-term-at-pakati-primary/

https://friendsofpakati.com/2025/09/26/updates-for-friends-of-pakati/

https://friendsofpakati.com/2025/10/13/new-security-measures-at-pakati-secondary-school/

https://friendsofpakati.com/2025/10/17/part-1-of-3-the-need-for-power/

https://friendsofpakati.com/2025/11/14/part-2-of-3-payment-for-power/

https://friendsofpakati.com/2025/12/12/pakati-primary-school-prize-giving-2025/

Laarly, Podcasts. It haa been a real pleasure talking to special guests & recording them for the blog, & this year has been no exception…

https://friendsofpakati.com/2025/09/07/new-podcast-2/

https://friendsofpakati.com/2025/11/21/new-podcast-in-conversation-with-james-moody/

So that is it for 2025!

I know there is a lot of work ahead for Friends of Pakati in 2026, with meetings, events, discussions, podcasts, blogs, pictures, stories, donations, merchandise, media, and I hope, some good surprises along the way…

To everyone involved in Friends of Pakati, including those who read this blog, let me wish you all a VERY HAPPY NEW YEAR!!

Greetings everyone!

Today Friends of Pakati goes into more detail about the donation we discussed in this previous blog: https://friendsofpakati.com/2025/11/12/former-pakati-students-amazing-donation/

The Heads of both Pakati schools – Mr Mahachi (Primary) & Mr Chizenya (Secondary) – both sent me their version of what happened, as well as pictures to illustrate them.

Firstly, from Mr Mahachi:

“The initial site where the school development dug a borehole, the water could fill just two drums.

A borehole dug in the 1980’s where we tried to get water from but the water was deemed unsafe for drinking by environmental health technicians in the area, and so the sdc decided to look for partners and resources so that the school could have portable water.

Mr Makebhe, a former student at the school, heard our plight and came to our rescue. He pledged to fund the drilling of a borehole, installation of a tank and pump at Pakati Primary school. True to his words he drilled a 90m bore after proper siting by his technicians, brought a 5000-litre tank and the installations were done. Find attached the pictures of the borehole drilled and the tank and tank stand after installation.

To complement Mr Makebhe’s efforts the school SDC had a DC and AC powered pump installed, as it had plans already to have portable water at the school, but could not properly fund the project hence the coming on board of Mr mekebhe to rescue us.

Taps have been installed at every teachers house making 8 water collection points in front of the houses.”

There are taps & water collection points around the school grounds & classroom areas, and near the toilets. There are plans to build sinks for the children to use when wahing their hands.”

One of the main benefits for the school haa been the garden areas, & since the water supply has been improved, the pictures below show this clearly

Next, Mr Chizenya from Pakati Secondary school.

“Good news!

Pakati Secondary School has received a generous donation from a former student in the form of a borehole. The donor funded the drilling of the borehole and provided a 5,000-litre water tank, water stand, 2 large solar panels, water pump, cables, and pipes.

The initial phase of the water project includes three water taps: one on the eastern side of the school serving houses on the eastern and southern sides, one on the western side, and one near the school administration block and classroom area.

We’re grateful for this donation, which will significantly improve the water, sanitation, and hygiene situation at the school. We hope to expand the project by increasing the number of water taps and exploring income-generating initiatives like horticulture. Additionally, we plan to install modern toilets with flush systems.

Water is life, and we appreciate this lifeline.’

Its a wonderful story, the donation by a former student of both Pakati schools! As a former staff member at the Secondary school, it is heartwarming to know that so many former students still remember their time at Pakati, and many have gone on to succeed, living & working in many different countries.

Coming soon…

Friends of Pakati Annual Review 2025

Hi everyone! Welcome to the latest Friends of Pakati blog, all pictures & information is thanks to Mr Mahachi, Head of the Primary school.

Mr Mahachi sent the video below, as one of the staff introduced the Prize Giving Day which took place on 28th November 2025

There were many prizes given out that day, and I have selected a few of the pictures taken as students received their awards, all shown below.

It is always great to see the students looking so happy about their success being recognised!

Coming next:

Both Pakati schools provide their stories about the water supplies donated recently, as we showed here:

https://friendsofpakati.com/2025/11/12/former-pakati-students-amazing-donation

Hi everyone!

Welcome back to Friends of Pakati, for our latest podcast! This time we talk to an unsung hero for us, Scunthorpe United’s General Manager, James Moody!

James has given Friends of Pakati significant help, support & advice over the years when we have asked for it, for which we are immensely grateful.

In his capacity as GM he is an extraordinarily busy man, but has always made time for us – including this and other Iron fan podcasts – as part of his positive approach to fan engagement.

For me personally, it was a pleasure talking to James about his life & his links to Scunthorpe United, reminiscing about when I first took my son Daniel to games back in 2014, & recalling the support Friends of Pakati have had from the club & so many of its fans since we started in 2019.

To come soon

•  Part 3 of the series about Power to Pakati Secondary school

•  Heads of both Pakati schools tell & show us more about the amazing donation we discussed here: https://friendsofpakati.com/2025/11/12/former-pakati-students-amazing-donation/

Plus, between Christmas & New Year, a full review of Friends of Pakati in 2025!

Hi All,

Thank you for joining us here at Friends of Pakati!

Today we are following on from a previous blog – https://friendsofpakati.com/2025/10/17/part-1-of-3-the-need-for-power/ – about getting electricity from the nearby ZESA supply (which provides power to the teachers houses) to the Administration Block at Pakati Secondary School. The Admin block is already linked to the school Library & IT Suite, but the solar power is not sufficient to keep the computers.

Following a review of our finances, I responded to the message from Mr Chizenya by agreeing to Friends of Pakati paying for the full cost of the connection, US$500.00 as quoted in the past.

The money was sent to Vari Mayez in Harare, who was able to collect the funds…

…and then deposit it into the school bank account.

An invoice was provided to the school, and I produced a ‘Letter of Intention to Donate’ which the District Administration in Murewa accepted.

This came recently from Mr Chizenya regarding progress:

“I’d like to update you on the progress regarding the connection of the Admin block.

I went to ZESA on Monday and was given some forms, which I completed and submitted today. ZESA came to school today and inspected the wiring. We are now waiting for their response regarding what they observed during the inspection. They will then provide us with a bill of quantities so that the connection can be done.

So far, we have used $200 for purchasing materials, and $100 will be paid to the electrician. The remaining $200 will go to ZESA, depending on their charges.”

As you can see above, progress is being made. Mr Chizenya reports that the relevant wiring is now done.

As soon as the connection us finalised ww shall confirm the details, & Mr Chizenya will send pictures as the school’s IT lessons can return!

Hi everyone!

This week we have the story of former Pakati student called Jena Dennias Makebhe…

…who hails from Chinhoyi village, close to Pakati Primary school.

He attended both Pakati schools, completing his Secondary Education in 1998.

Here is what he had to say when I asked him about the boreholes:

“Hello Mr Walker, my name is Dennias Makebhe, I studied at Pakati Primary and Secondary and graduated in 1998, our home is one kilometer from the school.

In 2024, the Headmaster of Pakati Primary Mr Mahachi and his committee and Councilor Manyama Joakem Musindo sought me out regarding the problem of water at the school. We agreed that I would supply water to the school. In July, I drilled a primary borehole of 90 meters and gave them a tank stand and a 5000 liter water drum. All other installations they had before.

I saw that it was impossible to install the primary borehole only, so I installed the secondary one again after consulting with the committee, Head Mr. Chizenya and our local councilor Mr. Musindo, then we installed an 80 meter borehole. At the secondary level, I gave them everything up to 99.90% until they have water in the school.

As a child in ward 14 and I am a middle school child, I found it important to give in when it comes to water, I don’t have a donor or someone who helped me financially, my pocket money did all this

I am hoping to do more projects depending on my income

Thank you”

A huge thank you to Mr Makebhe!

I am creating a new blog out soon, with contributions from the Heads of both Pakati schools on this wonderful development for them both.