Zimbabwe
ON 4th December, a severe storm passed through Zimbabwe and left considerable damage in its wake. At Ingwenya, where the storm lasted only 15 minutes, the roof of Form One Boys’ dormitory was ripped off and crashed to the ground in pieces. Mercifully, there were no casualties. The boarding-school had closed for the summer holidays and there were no children around. For this we must be extremely thankful. It is said that the dormitory, which usually accommodates up to 60 boarders, will be very expensive to re-roof, and will probably cost up to £5,000; but this is only a preliminary estimate.
There was another episode towards the end of the school year which caused annoyance and disappointment, although it did not entail much financial loss. At the time of the examinations in the John Tallach School, when everyone was very preoccupied, four Form Four boys in their final year at the John Tallach School were engaged during the night in damaging the assembly hall. The hall had been set in order and locked up for the prize-giving the following day. The four boys got access to the hall and broke the ventilators in the walls and committed other acts of vandalism. On the day after the prize-giving the parents of the boys concerned and some education officials came out to Ingwenya to investigate. After much discussion the boys were excluded but allowed to sit their examinations. Whether their conduct was on account of some fancied grievance, or the effect of the general atmosphere of the modern world which has penetrated even the heart of Africa by television and the press, we cannot say. It is obvious that much prayer is required for the young people there and for their teachers and other supervisors.
There is a Former Pupils Students Association connected with the John Tallach School, known by the Sindebele acronym INFOSA. It organises the giving of a special donation each year of around £200, or about $2000, for the good of the school. For 1996 it was donated for the assistance of the blind pupils. There are three additional blind pupils coming to the school in 1997 and there may be two more. Jairus Jiri (a well known charitable organisation in Bulawayo, begun years ago by a young African and called after him) also has been helpful to the school in giving donations towards the education of the blind pupils, but it itself is having financial problems at present.
INFOSA also gives two school prizes. One is for the most helpful student during the year, and the other for the pupil who has made most academic progress during the year. Two former pupils have arranged the giving of two additional annual prizes. The first donor was a Dr. Mthamo, a medical man, whose family in earlier days was well known in the Ingwenya congregation. A senior member of the family was an elder in the congregation in the days of the late Rev. John Tallach. Dr. Mthamo is offering a prize for the best Science student in Form Three each year. The second donor is Council Nyathi. He and his sister Dadi came to the School from Donsa Dam in the seventies. Mr. Nyathi now has a Tourist Agency of his own. So he has awarded a trip to Victoria Falls for the two boys or two girls who do best in history and geography.
It is cheering to learn that Rev. A. B. Ndebele is continuing to slowly improve in health. He has been to church, but only to sit in the back seat. His great desire is to be able to return to his pulpit at Ingwenya and to the regular preaching of the Gospel, the Lord willing. J. N.