THERE is truly a first time for everything, but flying in a plane and touring the Majestic Victoria Falls is a lifetime experience for children from the previously marginalised San community in Makhulela area, Thwayithwayi Village under Bulilima District.
Indeed, Christmas has come early for them courtesy of First
Lady Auxillia Mnangagwa who has honoured her promise to take them on a
week-long holiday to Victoria Falls with exciting packages that include air
travel, boat cruises, game drives and sleeping in hotels.
Amai Mnangagwa visited the community last month with her
Nhanga/Gota/Ixhiba programme where she promised to take the children on holiday
as part of her drive to integrate previously marginalised communities with the
rest of the country.
The children are indeed having the time of their lives as
they had never set foot outside their community, neither had they visited a big
city.
The San community in Zimbabwe is one of the indigenous
tribes that have had a rather belated encounter with modernisation and
globalisation.
Their transition from a hunting and gathering economy to an
agro-capitalist economy has been slow, hence the First Lady’s involvement in
assisting the community to set foot in the development train.
Her first visit to the area was in 2018 where, through her
Angel of Hope Foundation, she introduced nutrition gardens in the community and
assisted with the provision of modern houses and sanitary facilities.
Under her mantra of not leaving anyone behind, the First
Lady has been working closely with the community and involving the community in
awareness campaigns against Covid-19, cancer and other ailments.
The girls and boys on the trip are aged between 11 and 15
and drawn from ECD to Grade Five.
Their ages tell a lot about how children in the community
delay going to school.
They are accompanied by their village head Mrs Matjena
Ncube and two other village elders Mrs Agnes Bhule and Mrs Samkeliso Dube.
They arrived in Bulawayo on Thursday morning and put up at
Motsamai Lodge where they had their meals before embarking on a Heritage
Corridor Tour of the city which took them to the Natural History Museum, St
Mary’s Cathedral Basilica and Joshua Mqabuko Nkomo statue in the CBD.
Their tour guide was Zimbabwe Tourism Authority’s marketing
executive and former Miss Zimbabwe Bongani Dhlakama.
At each venue, they were given a detailed tour of what was
there, like at the St Mary’s Basilica Cathedral, Archbishop Alex Thomas
explained to them when it was built and how significant the place is to the
history of Zimbabwe, Africa and the Roman Catholic Church.
They landed at Victoria Falls International Airport on
Friday morning. When an Air Zimbabwe flight landed at 9.20AM, first to come out
were the timidly looking group of boys and girls, with school bags on their
backs.
Because of fear of the unknown, they kept close to each
other as they walked to the domestic terminal for Covid-19 procedures that
included sanitising and temperature checks.
A shuttle bus was waiting to take them to a hotel where
they checked in, had their breakfast before going on an afternoon game drive.
Along the way, they were excited to see baboons which they
could not differentiate from monkeys as they said they were no baboons in
Bulilima.
Saturday was also packed with a cocktail of activities. The
group toured the Rainforest and Victoria Falls Bridge among other activities.
They were also taken to the Fuller Forest on Sunday where
they had a tour of the forest and lion encounter.
Everything was new to them and they were enjoying.
After touring the Fuller Forest, they were taken back to
their hotel for lunch where they enjoyed processed food using fork and knife,
something they had never done.
The hotel staff was so welcoming and taught them how to use
the cutlery. It was an experience of a lifetime.
Thanking the mother of the nation, Mrs Ncube said she was
excited to be in Bulawayo and Victoria Falls for the first time.
“I am very happy to have seen Victoria Falls for the first
time in my life. I want to thank the First Lady for what she has done for us as
a community. This shows she loves all her children countrywide including us the
San community.
She does not select her children and we are so grateful
especially for affording our children such an experience” she said.
Ms Ncube said the children were now inspired to better
their lives.
“Imagine people from the San community in an airplane, it’s
unbelievable. We saw the Bulawayo city, now we are in Victoria Falls where we
visited many places and everything was new for us. What the First Lady has
done, has opened the eyes of these young children so that they can see how life
on the other side is like,” she said.
One of the children, Nhlanhla Tshuma (13) a Grade Two pupil
at Makhulela Primary School said the trip was an eye opener.
He said together with others they enjoyed a whole lot of
packages which are largely for the well-heeled.
Girls and Boys from the San Community and their Makulela
village head Mrs Matjena Ncube tour the Joshua Mqabuko Nkomo statue, National
Art Gallery in Bulawayo, Railway Museum and other places on their maiden tour
of Bulawayo from their Makulela Village in Plumtree courtesy of the First Lady
Auxillia Mnangagwa
“I cannot believe this is true. At times I pinch myself
just to check whether I am not daydreaming. I am so excited to be part of this
trip. I had neither boarded a bus nor an aeroplane. What the First Lady has
done for me will forever remain on my mind. When I go back home I will share
information about what I have seen with my parents and siblings.
We are enjoying good food and sleeping in hotels like
kings. This is just exciting,” he said.
Another, Tholakele Ncube (16) also a pupil at Makhulela
Primary School who is in Grade Five added that it was a great experience being
in Bulawayo and Victoria Falls.
He said at first he could not believe his eyes and was glad
because the First Lady had honoured her promise.
“I am overjoyed with what the First Lady has done for us.
We are enjoying ourselves and learning new things everyday. We are so grateful
to Amai for what she has done. They will see me at school because I have lots
of stories to share,” she said.
When they return home, the children will share with their
colleagues, families and the community
various things they would have learnt on the educative trip.
Their dream came true and tomorrow (today) is another day,
more activities are in store for them. Chronicle
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