Bettering rural communities

As part of its community development work Masakhaneni Projects Trust has supported infrastructure improvement in rural communities noting its pivotal role in the day to day lives of the people. One of its major interventions has been refurbishing and provision of blocks of classrooms in some rural schools in Matabeleland seeing that the quality of results produced is dependent on the quality of infrastructure provided. Lack of quality classroom blocks demoralizes students and teachers and this is inclusive of lack of quality accommodation for the staff. Through the aid of various donors Masakhaneni has through the years developed infrastructure in a number of schools. A new block of an ECD learning centre in Enyandeni Primary school in Gwanda was provided by Masakhaneni. This was inclusive of 2 teacher’s cottages and a block of classrooms in Enyandeni secondary of the same area. Lack of proper learning facilities for ECD learners affected their foregrounding into the learning journey while lack of cottages resulted in teachers shunning teaching in the school. In the spirit of improving the quality of the learning environment, the organization also refurbished classroom blocks in Simbumbumbu secondary and set up a new block of classrooms in Maphane secondary school in Gwanda area of Matabeleland South. Another block of classrooms was renovated by the organization at

Below are some of the structures during their construction and refurbishment

While Masakhaneni has contributed so much in schools in terms of infrastructure development, it has not paid less significance to the needs of school dropouts. These are young people who drop out of school due to various reasons some being lack of finances and other challenges like early pregnancies. In Enyandeni Masakhaneni, in collaboration with Ukuthula Trust renovated a building that had been bombed during the 2008 election violence. Originally a farm house, this was then turned into a developmental structure termed Nyandeni Youth Skills t#raining centre. Various practical skills like baking, sawing, computers, quilting, building, metal work as well as gardening are offered at this centre for the school leavers to acquaint themselves with life skills. The value of the centre to the community resulted in cascading the idea of a youth skills centre to another area in Gwanda: Nqameni Youth Reflection centre. Nqameni youth centre was built by Masakhaneni in collaboration with Ukuthula with the purpose of enabling young boys and girls to reflect about their lives, that of their community and their future while getting an opportunity to be trained in life skills like those offered in eNyandeni. The centre is a safe space for critical thinking, empowering the young people to reflect on how they can contribute to advancing themselves and their communities. Young women particularly face financial challenges that push them to become victims of male dominion and abuse. The centre offers the opportunity for them to learn to become self-reliant. The presence of the skills centre in the area has pushed the community members to seek for additional resources to further advance the centre. It is the desire of Masakhaneni to see rural communities advancing to offer life changing opportunities to their young people and women in particular and this can be possible through the provision of appropriate infrastructure.
Below are pictures of the centres during and post construction