The Sunday Mail
Sports Reporter
IT was a journey down memory lane last week as former Redcliff Primary School learners met at the school in Midlands province and donated sports equipment in appreciation of their many memorable and fruitful years at the institution.
Decades later, they came together and held a fundraising exercise that was spearheaded by Monica Mandengu, Emma Mbele and Mildrate Maposa, who are based in the United Kingdom, as well as Munyaradzi Masawi, who is in the United States, and the locally based duo of Roy Chimanikire and Beatitute Farikayi.
The fundraising exercise was well-received by former learners around the world.
The donation was made at an event that was attended by Ministry of Primary and Secondary School officials, former Redcliff Primary School learners and teachers, the Midlands Cricket Board (MCB), Grassroots Cricket representatives and some national cricket players.
The equipment donated by the former learners and Grassroots Cricket consisted of hockey sticks and balls, hockey goalkeeping kits, basketballs, chess sets, cricket bats, helmets, batting pads and gloves.
Among those who accompanied the ex-learners were their former teachers, Mr and Mrs Castelin and Mrs Mujee.
They paid tribute to the quality education they had received at the school.
Castelin, who was then the chief geologist at Zisco, was a volunteer hockey coach at the school.
She recounted how she came to be a teacher in 1968, working under the then-headmaster, Mr Boniwell.
In her address, she pointed to the first classroom blocks that were built and how the school continued to develop with the addition of a library, swimming pool and other sporting facilities.
She painted a colourful picture of the school’s history, right from the beginning, and praised her former students for their noble gesture.
“Today, we are seeing what sports did to many of these past pupils. I take my hat off to the former pupils I taught,” said Castelin, who taught at the school from 1968 to 1988.
Mujee spoke about how he became associated with sport at the school.
“The cricket I knew in life was the insect we call ‘cricket’, so you can imagine what went through my mind,” he said, recounting the time he was appointed to coach cricket at the school.
However, he became familiar with the sport through studying books in the library and learning terms of the sport such as wickets, stumps, runs and overs.
He recalled that shortly after his appointment, then-Cricketer of the Year, Dave Houghton – now Zimbabwe coach – came to Redcliff Primary School and spent a week conducting a coaching clinic.
This helped Mujee become an accomplished cricket coach.
MCB chairperson and Zimbabwe Cricket (ZC) board member John Makuwalo promised to work with the school to develop it into a centre of excellence for cricket for the Midlands community.
There was also time for Chevrons international Carl Mumba to talk to the school’s current learners.
He spent the afternoon taking the young cricketers, who included boys and girls, through a coaching clinic.
The young cricketers had been invited from primary schools in and around Redcliff and Kwekwe.
Ten schools were invited to the coaching clinic and these were George Hill, Rutendo, RJ Davies, Fitchlea, Chana, Russell, Ruvimbo, Mafidhi, Torwood and Kwekwe.
Grassroots Cricket founder Tawanda Karasa, who is based in Australia, said: “Grassroots Cricket is empowering young minds through the sport of cricket and giving them hope and belief in themselves, despite their personal circumstances.
“Today is an example of what we do throughout the country.”
The cricket equipment donated to Redcliff Primary School was initially given to Grassroots Cricket by Zimbabwe legend Eddo Brandes (who now coaches the Sunshine Coast Cricket Club in Australia), Gabba Sporting Products and Anita Chauhan, widow of the late Indian Cricket legend, Chetan Chauhan.
Speaking on behalf of the former learners, Econet Wireless Zimbabwe deputy chief executive officer Roy Chimanikire lauded the headmistress, Chinembiri, for the exceptional work they were doing in difficult circumstances to continue inspiring young hearts and minds, and preparing them for the future.
He spoke of how he enjoyed playing sports and remembers particularly
the experiences he had learning cricket.
“I remember when we used to play these games here and at other schools, and this created a winning spirit within us.
“Those experiences have lived with me my whole life.”
“We came up with this initiative as former learners because we value the contribution that Redcliff Primary School and its exceptional teachers made to our lives,” he said.
“Our aim (today) was to profile the schools in the area and encourage alumni all over the world to participate in assisting their former schools, and also to showcase how networks and partnerships that former students have can be used for the benefit of schools’ development.”
Chinembiri expressed gratitude to the former learners for organising the event.
“This is a legacy we are witnessing; the legacy of giving back to our own communities, which is being done by our past learners from this school.
“We are very thankful for the donation. It means that we have equipment that we can use in the games of cricket and hockey.”
Redcliff is a government school that was founded in the late 1940s in a building at the then-Rhodesian Iron and Steel Company.
The school initially provided educational opportunities for children whose parents largely worked at what became known as Zimbabwe Iron and Steel Company (Ziscosteel) shortly after independence.
