Mid-August 2004 John and Nicci Stevens returned from 3 days in the Omay Communal Lands - a visit specifically designed to bring themselves (and in turn their donors) up to date with the Nebiri Primary School Permaculture Project, now in its seventh year. They also went to present a gift to the school of various school items.

In the 2003 Guided Safaris Africa Newsletter it announced that a new headmaster, Mr. Sylvester Ncube, took over from Mr. Tapera Takawira mid-2003. John and Nicci had not had opportunity to visit the school and meet Sylvester. However, having received a wonderful donation of school exercise books, soccer balls, whistles, pencils, pens and various other much needed school items from a donor in North Carolina they decided not to delay their visit a moment longer.

In a nutshell the project continues to be an amazing success. John and Nicci are particularly grateful to the founding donors, for their part in this. As you can see from the poetry written and performed for them during that week by the school children, they also acknowledge their donors part in that.

It was a very moving experience for John and Nicci to find themselves guests of honor at Nebiri School and that a special program of events had been designed for their visit. Most touching were the two poems performed in English; a song (All Things Bright and Beautiful); and a short play all put on by the children themselves. Various addresses were made including one by a parent representing the School Development Committee, a nearby kraal head, Mr. Takawira who joined us for the day, and Mr. Ncube. A distinct disadvantage was that Nicci understands little Shona but with their usual politeness, Tapera or Sylvester took time to tell them what was being said and, for the benefit of the children, translated what she, in turn, said.

A tour of the school garden was most interesting and after such a long period since their last visit the growth of the garden was very obvious - it was producing enough bananas, paw paws and mangoes to be able to give fresh fruit to the children regularly and to sell the excess to buy garden inputs, and other necessary school items. In fact they gathered that the day to day running of the school is now largely dependent on funds from the project.

The children are learning in the most practical way the benefits of sustainable agriculture and at the same time are getting supplementary food in the form of nutritious fruit and vegetables which they otherwise would simply be denied due to their families being too poor, and/or fresh food markets situated too far away and that they cannot grow the food themselves without the protection of an electric fence.

And after many years of trying to gain the support of the parents and community the projects greatest success is probably due to the fact that this group of people are now very supportive. Chief Nebiri arrived midway through their program of events giving an address and honoring them, the donors, and the project with his presence.

From all of this John and Nicci feel that they have now more or less accomplished what they set out to achieve at Nebiri School and that the time is right to move forward and expand the project to other schools, something that has always been a long term objective.

What of the Future

Mr. Tapera Takawira the Headmaster who began the Nebiri Project with us was transferred to the nearby Chidygwamugwamu Primary School last year. Nebiri and ‘Chigwamgwam’ (abridged for ease of repetition) schools are very similar drawing from the same marginalized peoples living in a wildlife area etc. The big difference is that Chigwamgwam has 700 pupils as opposed to Nebirii’s 100! Taperas knowledge of permaculture and invaluable experience of having already implemented a project is the single biggest factor in choosing his school, some 50 km away, in which to expand.

The Wish List:

No dream comes without a price tag. After much discussion with Mr. Tapera Takawira, Mr. Sylvester Ncube, the Head of Nebiri School, and their permaculture consultant Mr. Tayero Kanamo, who was visiting the Nebiri School at the time of their recent visit to Nebiri School, they decided to draw up a complete ‘wish list’ in order of priority. In brief:
A 3 km electric fence surrounding Chigwamgwam School
o Necessary to keep the wild animals out of the garden, estimated cost US $10,000
Borehole and water reticulation Chigwamgwam School
a. The nearest water presently has to be carried up from a borehole some 500 m at the bottom of the hill where the school is situated. The prospect of finding water at the school site is apparently good.
Extending Depth of Borehole, installing pump and pipes Nebiri School
b. A major stumbling block at Nebiri School continues to be the erratic water supply for which the school has no control over. The ideal situation will be to have an independent water supply
Start Up Inputs Chigwamgwam School
c. Things such as wheelbarrows, spades, hoses, shade cloth, poles, etc.

Regular (once per term, i.e. three times annually, at least) visits to both schools by a permaculture consultant
d. This motivates the Headmaster, teachers, and children and helps them to refocus and plan for the period ahead. The consultant also helps overcome problems, discuss the feasibility of new ideas (within the framework of permaculture) and report back to us.
Permaculture Training Program
e. By means of courses usually held in Harare for those who have not had the benefit of any training- at the moment this involves Sylvester Ncube, the new Nebiri School Groundsman and two teachers from Chigwamgwam School.
Beekeeping
f. They have tried this at Nebiri School with limited success but it is strongly felt that developing a beekeeping unit at both schools has great potential. This would involve the purchase of a number of beekeeping units and specialized beekeeper training.
Mango Drying
g. They feel this has great potenioal at Nebiri School where the Mango crop is now well established but could be expanded as mangoes do extremely well in this area if protected from elephants etc and are well watered.

Moving Forward

In order to take the Omay Project to this next level they plan to do the following:

Write a Project Plan
Set up a simple trust agreement with appointed trustees
Open an Omay Project bank account in the UK.

In writing to their donors and bringing them up to date with news of the project they hope that their donors will feel particularly encouraged by the success to date, knowing that their contribution has been used at grass roots level in such a hugely worthwhile and beneficial way. They also hope to have interested their donors in considering a further donation and also consider seeking support for the project from their friends and colleagues.

Ancient Ways decided to offer the Stevens help with this project. They have had remarkable success and, like all people or organizations offering aid, have had to be creative in problem solving.