Life at Pakati: i enjoy living at Pakati because the climate is very good for me. I enjoy serving this community. I have seen my former students becoming university graduates, teachers, police officers, soldiers etc. This encourages me and makes my work and stay at this place purposeful.
The place is close to the capital, and to two other small towns, Murehwa and Marondera. I studied for the B Com (Accounting) and the MBA through distance learning while living and working here. Although we don’t have Wifi yet internet access is very good. I am planning to do my PhD while living here.
COMMENTS BY THE AUTHOR:
In September 2018 I drove down to the school I last visited in 1992, I have to be honest with a little trepidation. I had no idea what reception I would get, or if anyone would remember me. I shouldn’t have worried. The welcome I received from Mr Chifaka was warm & welcoming, and he said he knew of me from the community but wasn’t sure I existed until that day. We sat in his office – part of an administration block which was new to me – and he brought some of the teachers in to say hello, before we went on a tour round the school for me to admire the developments.
Back in my time, there was little need for a car park…
Speaking personally, I found the teachers helpful, talkative & interested by my visit, glad to show me round into the newer buildings & older classrooms, and discuss changes to the curriculum, such as Building Studies.
They were keen to tell me of improvements being planned but also of experiences living & working at Pakati. They seem a settled staff, many having been there for several years now.
I wish to publicly thank Mr Chifaka for allowing me to take a trip down memory lane, and for inspiring me to start this project. I gained so much from my spell at Pakati, it really is time for me to help the school, its staff & students, and by extension, the community.
This project has led me to maintain contact with the school, and increasingly, through social media, several former Pakati students, some from my time there.
They appear to remember me fondly as I told the Deputy Head (Mrs Pindura) recently. Her reply was simple: That’s what happens when you leave your footprints behind.
