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Rutendo Ngara, Chronicle Reporter

CYRENE High School has received a donation of roofing sheets from former pupils to repair two hostels whose roofs were destroyed by a whirlwind last month.

Speaking at the handover ceremony at the school in Matobo on Friday, the headmaster, Mr Charles Bhebhe, said they did not have money to repair the damage.

“It was an accident and as a school we did not have the money to repair the damage. Some of the quotations we got from local companies were ranging between ZWL$80 000 and ZWL$100 000.The money which comes to school coffers is from fees payments but because of inflation, as a school we failed to buy the material,” said Mr Bhebhe.

The chairperson of the Cyrene Old Boys Association (COBA), Mr Roy Tapela, said former pupils had decided to plough back to their former school.

“I was here from 1987-1990. When I saw the article about the incident, I sent it to our group as an association. We managed to raise over R60 000 to buy the material,” said Mr Tapela.

“As an association our aim is to groom our young brothers so that we have great people from Cyrene. We have also awarded a scholarship to Nikita Mweembe to study at the National University of Science and Technology. The scholarship covers tuition fee, accommodation and some pocket money. The amount of pocket money depends on the inflation rate on the market. Last month we gave him RTGS$500.”

Mweembe, who is studying Civil Engineering at Nust, said he was grateful for the sponsorship.

 “I was here from 2016 to 2017 majoring in Maths, Biology, Physics and Chemistry. I scored 16 points. I did not have money to proceed to university and grace located me, COBA gave me a scholarship,” he said.

Matobo South Schools Inspector Mr Liberty Sibanda said the help received from COBA shows that if people are united, progress is inevitable. “We heard from Mr Bhebhe that as a school they failed to raise money to buy the roofing material. COBA proved that togetherness brings progress.

“As Matobo district, we want to thank you COBA for the wonderful work you have done at Cyrene. You have proved that togetherness brings progress in society,” said Mr Sibanda. — 

@missngara