The ManicaPost
Ray Bande Senior Reporter
TRAVERSING the undulating terrain from Charleswood Farm to Chimanimani High School, a distance of about 10km, has been a norm for Norman Mapuranga for the past three years.
But unlike in the past three years, Norman has never gone to school so unsure whether he would attend lessons.
Last Tuesday when school opened, Norman left home early as usual, but not so sure whether he will attend lessons since his school had been ravaged by Cyclone Idai.
“I just had to come to school because I will be sitting for my end of year examinations in November and there is really not much time to prepare. I never thought lessons would be conducted following what happened during Cyclone Idai. However, I am relieved it’s business as usual as we are attending all lessons.
“Some of our classmates, a few though, did not attend classes mainly because they thought schools would not open for the second term as a result of the damages experienced during Cyclone Idai,” said the 16-year-old.
Nonetheless, there was normalcy at Ngangu Primary and Chimanimani Secondary schools with more than 80 percent of pupils attending classes.
The staff attendance was 100 percent.
During their lessons, learners intermittently sang songs, recited poems and chanted slogans whose main theme centred on restoring hope for the future after the traumatic experiences they went through in the aftermath of Cyclone Idai.
The joy of reuniting with peers after the traumatic experiences was written all over their faces.
A good number of pupils was without proper school uniform, but were still jovial to be back in school.
They shared a story of a determined lot.
They could have lost almost everything during the tropical storm, but not the hope for a better future.
Cyclone Idai hit the eastern parts of Zimbabwe on March 15 and 16 with Ngangu Township being one of the hardest hit.
Government and some stakeholders worked overtime to ensure schools affected by the tropical cyclone are ready for the second term.
Indeed, the need for psychosocial support remains paramount!
It is common knowledge that after a disaster, children experience anxiety, fear, sadness, sleep disruption, distressing dreams, irritability, difficulty concentrating, and anger outbursts.
Millions of children across the world miss out on school as a result of humanitarian emergencies including conflicts, natural disasters and health crises.
Not being in school can leave children at risk of, but not limited, to child labour, early marriage and other forms of exploitation.
However, going to school after a disaster has its own fair share of challenges, and children in Chimanimani who have lived through the horrors of Cyclone Idai, are no exception.
Posttraumatic stress are the most common problems for those that have gone through disasters, and more so for children of school going age in Chimanimani who experienced traumatic events that came with the catastrophic Cyclone Idai.
Psychologists have it that children’s reactions to a traumatic event can vary according to level of exposure, age, ability to understand the situation, gender, functioning prior to the event, personality style, resulting changes in living situations such as relocation, roles and responsibilities, support network, previous loss or trauma experience.
An emergency or disaster can be destructive to a child’s physical environment, as well as affect their mental health.
Thus Ngangu Primary school development committee (SDC) chairperson Mr Webster Mapise thanked Government for providing, not only good infrastructure, but psychosocial support for resumption of effective schooling.
“We thank the Government for providing not only sound infrastructure but psychosocial support for resumption of effective schooling. Education is the only thing that we can give to our children for a better future, despite being poor.
“Therefore, we hope our children will respond well to psychosocial sessions being undertaken as well as their routine educational lessons,” he said.
Psychosocial support is an integral part of the emergency response strategy as it helps individuals and communities to heal psychological wounds and rebuild social structures after an emergency or disaster.
It actually helps change people into active survivors rather than passive victims.
Chimanimani Tourism Association secretary Jane High commended Government for taking strides to ensure schools in the area are opened in time for the second term.
“No doubt, by providing immediate support to re-establish education for these children and youth, we are taking an important first step in returning the people of Chimanimani to normalcy and in contributing to a sustainable humanitarian response that protects and brings hope. More so, we ensured that they catch up with their peers elsewhere for the second term, we are restoring normalcy even though it is a process that will obviously take time,” she said.
