EDGE Zimbabwe

Shawnigan’s EDGE Zimbabwe group is aiming to raise an ambitious $45,000 before June 25, 2018 to complete the construction of a school in Mlibizi, a village on the southern shore of Lake Kariba, close to the border with Zambia.

An indispensable part of a Shawnigan education, the EDGE (Engagement Development Gratitude Experience) Program challenges selected students to provide a valuable service in the developing world. The EDGE program originated with a humanitarian trip to Thailand to aid victims of the 2004 tsunami and has since evolved into a series of service tours to countries including Ecuador, China and Zimbabwe.

Mrs. Andi Conroy, PE teacher and Strathcona House assistant director, has enthusiastically spearheaded the Zimbabwe venture since she arrived at Shawnigan. A Zimbabwean herself, the cause is close to her heart. She has guided EDGE students through numerous fundraising enterprises, including pie-in-the-face events, McDonald’s nights, dock parties, donut sales and school dance collections, in order to support the group’s ultimate goal.

“In the past two years, we have constructed two classroom blocks and equipped them with furniture and supplies. The goals now is to continue with infrastructure and construct a building dedicated to early learning for children aged 3 to 6 years old,” she says. “Before we started building, the students were literally learning under a tree outside as the old building had been deemed too unsafe for reliable use. The environment around the school is desert—very hot in the summer and cold in the winter—and many of the children get up very early each day to walk anything from 11 to 22 km to school. Our goal is for all these students to have the opportunity for comfortable, focused learning indoors, out of the elements.”

Since construction began on the school, the project has received significant local support and interest. The development has allowed local authorities to declare the school an exam centre. Previously, students would have to walk 28 km to the nearest exam centre and often camp overnight in the bush without shelter, food or support in order to sit important Grade 7 exams. In addition, the school has been put into use as a local voting centre, a designation that comes with a valuable grant, and as a centre for soccer tournaments. Mrs. Conroy shares that the local community has already started making bricks and laying the groundwork in anticipation of the EDGE Zimbabwe group’s arrival in June.

“We don’t consider this project a hand out, “says Mrs. Conroy. “It’s a hand up.”

This year’s EDGE Zimbabwe students each have fundraising pages on CanadaHelps.org. If you are interested in making a donation, please visit the Canada Helps website to read more about the students’ fundraising goals.