Young athletes from five primary schools in Bulilima District gathered at Malalume Primary School on Friday for the third edition of the Mpuri Tournament, an initiative aimed at exposing rural children to organised sport and giving them a platform to showcase their talent.
The annual tournament, launched three years ago, brought together learners from Malopa, Mafeha, Malalume, Nswazwi and Mboma primary schools to compete in football and netball.
One of the tournament’s co-founders, Handukani Dube, said the initiative was created to give children in rural communities access to competitive sport from an early age.
“What we have realised in our area is that the majority of the people here are not exposed to a lot of things, even in sports they are not exposed. When I was growing up I never knew what a medal was, I never knew what a trophy was until we got to secondary level.
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“We want to bring that to the young children here and show them what competition is and what sports mean to them. We want the children to be exposed to competition as young as they are now so that when they go out into the world they don’t have stage fright when they get to higher education systems such as secondary level,” said Dube.
He said the tournament also aimed to reduce the distances children travelled to take part in organised sport while creating opportunities for talented youngsters to be recognised.
“The challenge that’s happening now is children have had to walk a long distance just to experience certain environments. Mostly when they wanted sports such as these they had to go to Plumtree High School, so we want to bring that closer to them.
“We want them to experience the full exposure of sports so that we can one day attract big sponsors and they can be recognised. We always give focus to the one who passes in school and achieves high grades and forget that some are gifted in sports and have a talent for sports but do not have a platform to showcase their talent. So we are giving them a platform to showcase their talent and who knows, someone will see them and promote their talent,” he said.
Tournament sponsor Bongani Moyo, of Pioneer MC, said the initiative was also helping address some of the social challenges affecting children in the community.
“The challenge that we face is that most people are in the diaspora looking for greener pastures and children are left alone to be raised by their guardians, and a guardian is different because the child does not grow according to the expectations of having a parent.
“So that’s why we are here to unite the children so that we can help them grow in a way that will help them tomorrow. Transport is difficult in this area and children walk a long distance just to get to school. Some of the children will be hungry when they get here so we are here to provide food for them and to try and solve the situation in the long run.
“There have been suggestions that we build schools closer to their homes, which is an ongoing process, so we are yet to solve the situation in the long run,” he said.
Democratic Malanswa Current Affairs (DMCA) member and former Malalume Primary School pupil, Thebukhubaleni Moyo, said former learners from the area continued to support the schools despite living and working abroad.
“Whatever is happening at the current time we always show support. Our donations come from people from anywhere, from Botswana, Zimbabwe, the United Kingdom and anyone who wants to contribute can help.
“We are doing this for the younger generation. We give them food and other necessities and we hope that this will continue,” she said.
However, she urged authorities to simplify procedures for accepting donations from former pupils, saying current requirements often delayed assistance from reaching learners.
“Right now we know the needs of a girl child and how difficult it is being a girl child at school, but the challenge that we face mainly is that we live far away. When we buy the necessities needed by the children, we send them to the school.
“When the donations get to the school they tell us that we need to write a letter which then has to be taken to the Department of Education.
“What we are asking for is that when our donations come they can at least accept them without these difficulties of us having to come and sign letters because we live and work very far away.
“Last year we donated goods to the schools but it took almost two months for them to be given to the school children because they told us that we needed to send emails to the offices of education.
“We are not donors, we are former students of the primary schools. We are children, we are parents of this place and we will be helping our relatives, our brothers and sisters,” said Moyo.
Another DMCA member and tournament sponsor, Sandisiwe Ngwenya, said the organisation remained committed to supporting disadvantaged learners and elderly people in the community.
“We want to donate to the children that are less privileged and the grandparents who are of age so that we can give them some of our donations.
“You may find that a child will be learning but they can’t afford a lot of things that are needed for school, like stationery and even books, so we hope to even give them more in the long run,” she said.
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