Goromonzi biology class visits Kariba

22 Oct, 2017 - 00:10 0 Views
Goromonzi biology class visits Kariba

The Sunday Mail

Kudzwaishe Kagodora
Form 3 East, Goromonzi High School
Our history is fading at an alarming rate and before we realise it, we would have lost all of it, but thanks to the new educational curriculum, we may now be able to redeem it.

The trip we, as the Goromonzi High School Form 3 Biology Class, took to Kariba was one of the best ways to ensure we grasp a part of our heritage for our learning purposes. Our staff that comprised Mrs Mujeni, Mr Mazarire, Mr Muswere, Mr Tapfumaneyi and Mrs Dzomba, led the tour which was not necessarily meant as a history trip, but had a lot more aspects of the study of the sciences included.

Our first port of call on the first day out was the Kariba dam wall where we learnt that the reason why it has a curved shape was to contain the pressure of the massive waters that it handles.

At the Kariba Heights we were told this is an area where the affluent, upper class category of the Karibeans live and these include the engineers who work for the national power utility, Zimbabwe Power Company (ZPC) and the Zambezi River Authority.

At St Barbara’s Church, the names of some 86 people who perished during construction of the dam wall are engraved as a remembrance to their sacrifice to this worthwhile cause.

Still within the vicinity of Kariba Heights but some metres from the Catholic Church we drove to the Lake Navigations manned by the Ministry of Transport and Infrastructural Development. Our host, Mr Makamba, told us the water in the lake is 99,9 percent safe to cruise on. Lunch was served at Tamarind Lodge courtesy of the tour company engaged by our school, Monkey Safaris, before the professional guide, Mr Zera, took us to the crocodile farm.

PGZ, as the guide is affectionately known, surprised us when he said crocodiles eat food as huge as half their weight and can actually go for days without feeding.

Day two began with a visit to a place where a family runs a kapenta fish business. We were fortunate in that the owner himself took us through all the processes that include use of lights to draw the fish, the vessels and their maintenance, drying and many other aspects of the fishing industry. The educational part of the tour that day was wound up by a visit to the UZ Lake Kariba Research Station where we toured the two sections (Biological and Chemistry laboratory).

Here we were educated on how the food chain of the whole country is likely to be affected by the few producers left. In the Chemistry section we were told of how they test water for nutrients.

Back at the lodge, we were also fortunate to gather around and listen to one of the surviving builders of the Kariba Dam wall, Sekuru Kapiripiri.

He explained to us the legend of the snake, Nyami Nyami, how people would flock to the lake during drought to cut its body for meat. We capped the eventful trip with a treat in the Nyami Nyami FM studio where we took turns to go live on air with the station’s two DJs, Ziheavy Machine and Coffee before heading back to school.

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