The ManicaPost
Freedom Mutanda
Post Correspondent
While his peers are now preparing to sit for the final Ordinary Level examinations, Collen Sidambana (16) has never set foot at school.
All these years, Collen of Muumbe Village in Musikavanhu area, Chipinge South, has been watching as his peers trudge to and from school.
The nearest school is Muumbe Primary School, which is 5km from their homestead.
Collen crawls around the village due to his physical handicap.
At one time his parents dissuaded him from moving around the village, indicating that crawling hastens the tearing of his clothes.
His dream of becing a teacher was now fading away with each passing day as his condition could not allow him to join his peers at school.
However, a ray of hope filtered for Collen last Saturday when he received a US$300 wheelchair from a well-wisher.
Collen is now looking forward to enrolling for Grade One next year.
“Zvangu zvabhadhara (I am a relieved man). Mota yangu yauya (my car has finally arrived). I want to go to school and learn to write. I will take it up from there. I want to be a teacher,” Collen enthusiastically said.
“I am on top of the world. My dream was to go to school and now that will be achieved,” he said.
A teacher at Muumbe Primary School, Mr Andrew Gwenzi said: “Collen is a young man who wants his future to be bright. I used to see him crawling round the village and one day, I had a chat with him and I promised him that I would look for a well-wisher to buy him a wheelchair.”
The promise remained etched in Collen’s mind for some time and whenever they met, Collen would ask if the promise was near fruition.
The gods finally smiled on him through Kanyi Redu Development Association (KREDA), a group of individuals who trace their origins to Chipinge.
The association seeks to awaken the spirit of self-help among the people of Chipinge.
Mr Gwenzi shared a post about Collen’s predicament on KREDA’s social media platform.
Advocate Muchiseyi Simango, a member of KREDA, offered to buy the wheelchair, while Mrs Abigail Shonhiwa pledged to pay Collen’s school fees.
Presenting the wheelchair, Adv Simango said: “Education is a birth right and Collen must get at least basic education like any other child. The boy needs to be enrolled at school. It was affecting him so much to see his peers going to school while he remained at home. It was terrible seeing him crawling around the village.”
Collen’s mother, Mrs Violet Sidambana, was overwhelmed with emotions and thanked KREDA and God for displaying His unerring love for her family.
‘’I am grateful to Adv Simango and KREDA for doing such amazing deeds for my child. I praise the Almighty God for that,’’ she said.
His grandmother, Mrs Flora Sithole, echoed the same sentiments.
“We had lost hope of ever seeing Collen going to school or mixing and mingling with his peers. We will forever cherish this.”
