Funding for School Playground - Mufakose, Zimbabwe

David Bailey is organizing this fundraiser.

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Hi,

I am not a professional fund raiser. I simply want to help Ruzivo Primary School in Mufakose, Harare, Zimbabwe. The school services 1,500 students from the surrounding High Density neighborhood. Our goal is to continue to help with the safety and security for these children. We fund projects in the schools priority order and according to what is affordable based on donations.

Next projects:

1. Playground security (still needs to be addressed) (last estimate was ~$10,000)

2. Solar for the well system/security lighting (~$3-5,000)

3. Student Support (Books/athletic gear) (TBD)

4. Support supplies (new print station, etc) (~$3,000)

5. Tot Lot (~$6,000)

Projects completed: (100% of donated funds were used to offset costs):

1. New borehole to supply the school and community with drinking water and water for sanitation.

2. Expanded Water storage 3x to allow for expanded capacity at the school and to allow for irrigation.

3. Security improvements: Structures to protect the pumping equipment from theft/vandalizations.

Thank you so much to those who helped us in 2022 achieve this part of our goal, especially Sky Borehole who donated materials and constructed the new well!

Background: Some background is needed...My wife and I have many family and friends from Harare. We have directly supported children that have attended this school, becoming young, vibrant teenagers and young adults. My wife and I began with a small project a couple of years ago. The most recent borehole project was completed in time for Christmas when their previous well collapsed. In Zimbabwe, the municipal water supply is unpredictable, and is occasionally contaminated by sewer water, leading to illnesses like cholera.

As a result of the water project, we became aware of security and child safety problems on the grounds of the school. The playgrounds in particular. Vandals and thieves can easily enter the school yard and have broken the playground equipment and steal/vandalize items. We want to ensure that the students have a secure place to play while also ensuring the improvements being made are not unsafe for the children. To this end we would like to address the school perimeter wall. The city damaged 300M of the perimeter wall during a sewer repair adjacent to the property.

We would like to repair the damaged wall with quality materials to protect the athletic areas. The desire is to increase security of the students, and help prevent injuries from damaged, or vandalized, equipment. If we are not able to raise enough money for the wall repair, we intend to use the funds to help address the tot lot or the crumbling student stage which are also badly in need of renovation and repair. Both have safety concerns that also need to address but that are not quite as capitol intensive.

If you are interested in assisting in any way, please just let us know. We have received a number of offers to assist that we are extremely thankful for. To illustrate the immediate needs, the picture below shows the open field and the end of the existing wall, as well as the tot lot with the concrete stage in the background. I was not able to get the entire playground wall in one shot.

Special note: Gofundme does not directly support Zimbabwe. All funds donated will be withdrawn by me to directly fund the school for the stated purposes.

I've been recently asked if we take donations in kind....like materials, expertise, etc. Absolutely! I am aware of some elevated costs that will need to be addressed for the local govt (permits, engineering plans, etc)...so if you cannot donate funds, all forms of help are appreciated!