Glenmore resident is building the nation through education | Part 1

Having worked extensively in the public health sector, Glenmore resident, Victoria Mubaiwa founded non-profit organisation House of Dorcas in 2019.  Berea Mail sat down to chat with Mubaiwa to find out more. This week we found out how Mubaiwa and her team are educating children from Mayvile and Cato-Crest.

MUBAIWA is among those working to uplift the children of the Mayville and Cato Crest communities through education – specifically English, reading skills, computer science and mathematics.

She works alongside Zipho Maphela and Pertunia Sibindi to develop reading skills and mathematics in young children. They host children of different age groups at Westridge Tennis Stadium three times a week.

When Mubaiwa met Maphela, she was running a programme for children called Sakhisizwe Community Learning Hub. Sakhisizwe means ‘We are building the nation’, and Maphel’s work was aimed at just that – assisting children with their homework.

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Since Mubaiwa was running a registered NPO, she absorbed the Sahisizwe Community Learning Hub programme under House of Dorcas and began assisting Maphel with her work. With funding from The Angel Network NGO backing them up, the women started a soup kitchen to ensure children would have a meal after their homework was completed. What’s more, they planted a vegetable garden to supplement the soup kitchen with fresh vegetables. Many of the children also enjoy tennis lessons with professional tennis coach Emmanual Ngema who ran a successful development programme at the stadium for years.

Sibindi, a third-year psychology student is one of the volunteers who assist the children with their reading skills and mathematics homework.

“I meet with groups of six Grade Three learners every Monday. We go over basic language skills in terms of knowing how to read – identifying vowels and words in general. It’s actually quite incredible because the children come here out of their own freewill – it’s not like school where they have to go. They choose to be here because they are so enthusiastic,” said Sibindi, who added that she also works as a debate coach at Eden College.

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The team hosts Grade Three and Four learners on Mondays, Grade One, Two, Five, Six and Seven learners on Tuesdays and Grade Eight and Nine learners on Thursdays.

The NPO is in need of donations to procure and convert containers into classrooms. They are also looking for volunteers to tutor children in maths and coding. For more information, contact Mubaiwa on 083 658 7065.

• Watch out for Part 2 of this story next week – where we chat to Mubaiwa on what inspired her to start House of Dorcas and the challenges she has faced as a health specialist.  

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