CAAZ gives back to community

THE Civil Aviation Authority of Zimbabwe (CAAZ) has paid more than $36 000 in school fees for visually impaired pupils at Copota School of the Blind as part of its corporate social responsibility.

CAAZ partnered with Margaretha Hugo (Copota) School of the Blind, as its main beneficiary for its 2018 corporate social responsibly programme.

The organisation has since paid school fees totalling $36 600 for 12 under-privileged children from across the country who are obtaining their education at Copota school.

Margaretha Hugo School for the Blind, popularly known as Copota, was established in 1915 by the Reformed Church missionary Mrs Hugo, to support the under-privileged in the country. Copota comprising a primary and secondary boarding school is home to 480 pupils with disabilities, a majority of them with visual impairments. Of this number, 180 are primary school children, and the number keeps rising.

The school continues to be managed by the Reformed Church in Zimbabwe (RCZ) with pupils drawn from all over the country and beyond. The school is situated about 20km out of Masvingo City.

CAAZ public relations and communications manager Mrs Anna Julia Hungwe said: “CAAZ was touched by the plight of the students at Copota and took a bold decision as a responsible corporate citizen to partner the school in some way with the aim of improving the situation and creating a better future for the students,” said Mrs Hungwe.

“CAAZ plays a pivotal role in the national economy and has a deep rooted corporate social responsibility culture with beneficiaries from across the country. The aviation industry is highly technical, thus the motivating factor for CAAZ to centre its corporate social responsibility activities on education with greater emphasis on STEM subjects.’’

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