Rumbidzai Mhlanga , Sunday Life Reporter
TEAM Volkswagen (VW) Bulawayo last week paid school fees for underprivileged pupils at Mafekela Primary School in the city.
The club was formed in 2016 with the motive of keeping as many Volkswagen cars on the road and assisting each other with mechanical information and expertise.
The club is a car social club that incorporates Volkswagen and Audi owners in and around Bulawayo.
The team members also believe that no one has ever become poor by giving hence they saw the need to give back to the community.
The president of Team VW, Zibusiso Ndlovu, highlighted that the team prioritises giving back to the community.
“As Team VW we value education so we opted for very intelligent but less fortunate pupils. With regards to this donation at Mafekela Primary School, one of our committee leaders, Faith Ndlovu who is an employee at the school approached us with a list of the underprivileged pupils in his school and based on that information we then decided to chip in by paying school fees for two students Mthandazo Mpunzi and Marylene Ndlovu who had arrears at the school.
We also paid fees for next term,” said Ndlovu.
One of the club members Valerie Ndlovu shared the same sentiments with Ndlovu by relating what giving back to the community means to her.
“For me the feeling that comes with putting a smile on someone’s face is the most rewarding feeling. I believe that the best legacy to leave behind in this world is to touch the lives of others in whatever way you can, the world needs that right now.”
The group has been involved in other social activities.
“We have a constitution and part of it is that once in a while we give back to the community as part of our social responsibility.
Since our formation we have donated groceries to Entembeni Old People’s home and Emthunzini weThemba children’s home.
We also donated clothing to Cyclone Idai victims and fruits to patients at Plumtree hospital. All the funding for donations comes from group members who contribute from their pockets,” he added.
The headmistress of Mafakela Primary School, Miriam Siziba, thanked the club for its generosity.
“I am really happy for the children and relieved at the same time because as a parent too it hurt me to send them back home to remind parents about paying fees knowing their backgrounds, both of them are raised by unemployed parents.
One of them has a blind parent and the other is raised by her grandmother so I was always hurt that at Grade 7 they might not register for their exams because they cannot afford it as they were owing the school a lot of money.
The VW team has been using our grounds for their soccer tournaments for about two years now so this is a way of ploughing back to the community and they came at the right time, I am so relieved,” she added.