School opened for Cyclone Idai survivors
RUNYARARO Primary School in Chimanimani District, built for the children of relocated Cyclone Idai survivors and surrounding communities, opened its doors to the first batch of learners this week.
The opening of the school saw 40 learners being enrolled on Tuesday, thereby helping in healing the scars of the devastating March 2019 tropical storm which saw hundreds of people losing their lives, while infrastructure worth millions of dollars was destroyed.
When the survivors were moved to Runyararo resettlement area soon after the natural disaster, some of them opted to go back to their original homes, citing lack of social amenities, but Government moved in with speed and ensured that most of the basic amenities were put in place.
Decent accommodation was provided to the relocated families and a new stateof-the-art clinic was opened last month.
The opening of the new primary school has brought so much joy to the community as the relocated villagers’ children used to wake up in the wee hours of the morning
to walk long distances to the nearby Chayamiti Primary School.
Runyararo Primary School school has three classroom blocks and is offering Grades One to Seven classes.
It has a staff complement of five teachers. Runyararo Primary School head, Mr Godfrey Kwarire welcomed the development which also created jobs for the local
community, as some of the teachers are from Runyararo resettlement area.
The School Development Committee chairperson, Mr Arthur Chingwaro said: “The developments that are taking place in this area are helping to heal all the wounds and scars brought about by the devastating Cyclone Idai. We were a worried lot, but we are now happy as Government is fulfilling
the promises made to the relocated families.
“We are grateful for the efforts being made by Government to make sure that no one and no place is is left behind in terms of development. Our area is slowly getting there. We now have good accommodation, a healthy facility and a new school in the area,” said Mr Chingwaro.