Inspired by her parents, this very special woman began Amuya Sara Nursery School, out of her rural home, to look after children of working mothers. The school is situated at Mahusekwa Growth Point in Chihota district. Ms Mkondo sought to relieve their burden, as many of the mothers worked long days in the fields, with their small children on their backs. The children were guaranteed at least one good meal a day whilst under her care, and with her nursing background, she tackled malnutrition among these children and also educated the mothers on the importance of immunization.

Older children were soon drawn in as well, (initially by the food), and Ms Mkondo started a story telling session, led by her late father, to entertain and educate them. After getting a diploma in Library Studies, she managed to get sponsorship to buy books at the book fair and started a library. The Sekuru Sara Children’s Library now has 500 books and is enjoyed by those who can read in the community.

The project soon expanded to include mothers. The women began the Amuya Sara Women’s Group, where they got emotional support and embarked on economically empowering activities.  Making use of another one of her diplomas, in interior décor, she taught the women how to sew goods for sale. This group has proven to be an invaluable resource and ideas base for the women, as they get an opportunity to put their heads together, and improve each other’s lives and skills by teaching each other all manner of things from cooking, to gardening to budgeting and so on.

Ms Mkondo was also interested in including school-leavers and dropouts in the project in order to keep them gainfully and productively occupied. She trained young women to be pre-school teachers and also how to sew, while her brothers trained young men in carpentry and welding.

These projects have had their ups and downs, due to drought, and limited funding, with the nursery school even closing down for a few years. I’m glad to say that the nursery school is operational again and the project has received further support from the chief of the area in the form of land to grow food for the children as he had seen the benefits his community received from this initiative.

Ms Mkondo has had to leave the project in the hands of her brothers and other women she has trained, as she currently works in Harare as a nurse aid. She hopes one day to be able to return to her projects on a full-time basis. In the meantime, she is working on future plans for the expansion of their current library. This small library has become a de facto information gateway in this area. There is therefore the need for a larger building, furniture, more books and a computer in order to sustain and expand the reach of the service.

Even though she has already done so much, one gets the sense that she has only skimmed the surface, and that there are greater things to come from this inspiring woman. What a wonderful place our country would be with more women like Tabeth Mkondo.

This entry was posted on October 24th, 2011 at 2:48 pm by Varaidzo Tagwireyi and is filed under Inspiration, Uncategorized, Women's issues. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. Both comments and pings are currently closed.