Robert Blake Secondary School alumni on Sunday cheered and donated 1.1 Million Kwacha to a 79-year old man who worked as grounds man at the school for over 55 years.
Chairperson for the Alumni Henry Chete said they decided to assist the former groundsman Mofati Chakhaza as one way of appreciating how he carried himself with the students when he was working at the school.
“When we met some of his relatives we thought we could come to visit him here at his home Village Chiwandira Traditional Authority Chiwere and thank him for the works that he did with a small contribution that we made as association,” he said.
He said during the time he was working at the boarding school he lived well with the students and acted like a parent.
“As you are aware when you are at a boarding school you must have left home, your parents and guardians as such he acted as a parent apart from the teachers.
“He is the man who was helping us with anything from the grounds to the kitchen, think of anything a child would think of at a school, he was the one giving us the support, he was a loving, caring and hardworking man,” he said.
He therefore advised other alumni from other schools to assist people like Chakhadza apart from the usual things they do for their schools.
“We know times are hard and having gone through the corridors of the secondary schools we are different people and the little that we get we can always share with such people to chear them up.
He said as an alumni association what they do is to rehabilitate the school but this time, the association which is close to four years of existence decided to do something different outside their usual mandate.
In his remarks Mofati Chakhadza he will use part of the money to rehabilitate the roof of his house which is not in good condition and leaks during the rainy season and use some of it to buy fertiliser for his maize field.
Chakhadza said since his retirement from Robert Blake in 2016 he is a full time maize farmer.
“I did not know where I would get the fertiliser thanks to the people who have come today I will have the fertilizer and iron sheets for my house,”Chakhadza said.
Chakhadza worked at Robert Blake secondary school as a grounds person from 1961 to 2016.
Currently, he is doing a part-time job at the campus for his knowledge of the geographical position of the water network around the campus.-(Story By Ireen Kayira)
