Fort Rixon

Community Project
AUSTRALIA
in partnership with...

Our Mission
Living Foundation aims to provide a secondary school and
other community projects at Fort Rixon, a rural
community approximately 70 km from Bulawayo, the
second largest city in Zimbabwe, and it is hoped that in
time we will also be able to extend to projects in other
areas. We aim to encourage and increase community
development and learning through such things as a sewing
group (already established), the provision of a bore and
establishment of an educational community garden. The
creation of a combined school and community centre will
be a focal point for the community, largely built, run and
owned by the community.

Living
Foundation
ZIMBABWE

Newsletter Edition 001

January 2013

Our Team
Volunteers in Zimbabwe:
Tatenda ToeraCoordinator
ElizabethToeraFinancial records
Patience KutureWomen's development and instructor
Volunteers in Australia:
Suzanne ReynoldsCoordinator
Lindsay ReynoldsAccountant
Bob CameronSchool mentor
Louise FurnissAdministration and support
Christine TurnerAdministration and support

Tatenda Toera

Patience Kuture

Paid Staff:
Collins TlouNewly appointed
Fort Rixon Secondary School Teacher

Some Local Community Information

Fort Rixon is a community with dwellings scattered at a distance over a large area. There is no community centre, water
supply, electricity or medical service and only a tiny tuck shop. The primary school has around 265 students and 3 or 4
teachers. The standard of education is good and the children have an enthusiastic approach to learning. Sadly they find it
difficult to reach their potential factors such as a long walk to school, very poor nutrition and often poor health affect
their ability to excel. Unemployment in Zimbabwe (and probably Fort Rixon too) is approximately 90%. There is very little
agriculture as water is not readily available. Approximately 30% of people are affected by HIV/AIDS, and Zimbabwe by
population is said to be one of the worst AIDS affected countries in Africa.

Secondary School ProjectSuzanne Reynolds

Fort Rixon is a community that has been seen as a place in need by Cosmos Healthcare, an Australian Christian medical aid
group, and Sizolwethu, their Zimbabwean partner. In May last year, a number of the Cosmos team plus Tatenda Toera, a
Zimbabwean registered nurse employed by Sizolwethu, visited Fort Rixon to carry out general health education.
The school headmistress and teachers were keen for the whole school to participate and Suzanne Reynolds, a registered
nurse with the Cosmos team, was asked by the Year 7 teacher to speak to his class about child abuse. In talking to the
teacher and headmistress, Suzanne discovered that the vast majority of these children would end their schooling at the end
of Year 7 as distance and poverty meant attending a secondary school was almost impossible.
Zimbabwe is so much in need of a new generation of educated people to restore, develop and lead the country and it is
only through empowering the people themselves that this can happen. Without education these children are destined to a
life of poverty and hardship with little hope for change.
We were all deeply affected and when Suzanne hesitantly but courageously announced that she thought we should start a
school, she was overwhelmingly cheered on!
Since then there has been a lot of hard work done. Tatenda has
been meeting with the people of Fort Rixon, government
authorities and anyone who can offer wisdom and advice. Our
overriding desire is to achieve our goals through consultation with
the local people, respecting local culture and values and working in
partnership with them, so that they will feel ownership of the
project.

Going Forward
We have made it to the point where the secondary school
commenced on January 8th 2013 with Form 1 (Year 8) and a small
number of students in Form 3 who have already completed Form 2
in the city (but were unable to go on) and who have come forward
for a second chance at education. They are using a classroom at the
primary school.

Fort Rixon Primary School

A teacher, Collins Tlou, has been employed and given temporary

accommodation in Fort Rixon. He is being mentored by Bob
Cameron, a teacher at Cornerstone Christian College in Busselton,
Western Australia who was very involved with the establishment of
that primary school and has the appropriate expertise for this
project.
Another level of schooling will be added each year. The aim is to
provide 4 years of secondary education with the possibility of
offering promising, motivated students the opportunity to go
further with their studies through sponsorship.

Suzanne Reynolds and the Year 7 teacher and students

Partnering with the Community

The local chief has said he will make land available for building a community centre/school and the venture is supported by
the local council. It is envisaged that the centre will be built with local building materials, eg: thatch, mud and stone and
with as much local volunteer labour as possible.
Starting the school has been made possible by donations, but of course there will be establishment costs for the centre and
ongoing expenses such as the teacher's salary. The hope and plan is that over time, with development of income
generation in the community, local people will be able to make a contribution towards costs and the project will become
less dependent on outside help.

The Sewing GroupLouise Furniss

In 2011, on the Cosmos Healthcare medical trip, we had taken a few cloth shopping
bags with us as gifts and were awed by the gratitude with which they were received.
When I went back to Fort Rixon with the team last year, I brought small basic sewing
kits that people had made and material to make bags. We were not prepared for the
enthusiasm the sewing provoked and at each place we visited we couldn't keep up
with the number of people wanting to make a bag. The ladies (and some men) would
make a small bag that they could finish at the time and they were then given the
material for a large bag to take home to make.
Louise Furniss and the
sewing group in action!

.
.
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At the Fort Rixon primary school, the headmistress let us use one of the classrooms
and we started off with about 10 ladies. I don't know how the news travelled but
ladies kept arriving. We couldn't bear to turn anyone away, especially when the
headmistress was enthusiastically sending off students to carry in more desks! In the
end the room was packed with 48 ladies (plus babies and children) all helping each
other. The group now has a volunteer lady, Patience Kuture, a qualified tailor, who
comes out from Bulawayo to help the ladies each week. Hand operated sewing
machines have been donated and the possibilities for ongoing income generation are
being investigated. The group has become a good place for community support and
for health and life skills education.
We appreciate so much those who have donated money, sewing kits, materialand
so many other things. Unfortunately transporting goods is very expensive and when
goods are available at relatively cheap prices in Zimbabwe we think it is better to try
to give local people the business. We wish we could take more of what people want
to give! We are able to send some things by container as another aid organisation
allocates us some space - but it takes a long time for the goods to arrive. We are
always thinking of the best way to do things and are open to suggestions!

We want to open our communication with you with this newsletter.

We want to give you a sense of these lovely Zimbabweans being no different to us.
We want you to feel their hope and their gratitude and their cheerful bubbly enthusiasm!
And most of all, we value your interest and support and we ask you
to partner with us and to pray for the project.
Bank Account Details:
Harvey & PartnersAccountantsTrust Fund Account
BSB: 086-565 ACCOUNT: 684478784
Transaction Description: Fort Rixon
Please send an email (see details below) to let us know
of your deposit so we can provide you with a receipt

Thank
You !

Please know how much good so little is able to do, how much it is appreciated
and what potential it has for giving these beautiful people a better future!
We will be writing a quarterly newsletter so that you can see how donations are used.
If you do not wish to receive these newsletters or require further information, please contact:
Louise Furnissfurniss5@bigpond.com or Suzanne Reynoldscleomacsr@gmail.com