Mine Site Restoration:
The Fruit Orchard at Glow College
Planting the fruit orchard at Glow College (Which serves teenagers from 12 to 19 years old) is an important step in restoring land at the heart of the diamond mining community of Marange, Zimbabwe. In its first phase, the project filled in dangerous, abandoned mine holes and planted a 60 tree fruit orchard in their place.
A School Built on the Diamond Concession
Glow College is not an ordinary school. It sits directly on the Marange diamond concession on land where, years ago, schools were leveled and communities displaced to make way for diamond mines.. In their place, Glow College has become something rare: a school that welcomes young women who have become mothers, and who in many communities would be turned away and stigmatized for it. Here, they are welcomed and given a chance to finish their education, alongside 121 other students from Chipindirwe and the surrounding villages.
Planting Day and Celebration
On March 18th the tree planting day at Glow College was held. Nearly 380 people came: local leadership, headmasters, teachers, women, and schoolchildren, all planting mango, red grape, granadilla, apple, lemon, guava, paw paw, orange, and mahogany trees together. As Blessmore Simango, MWA's Secretary General, wrote in his report on the day, the event "planted trees at Glow College, enhancing environmental conservation and promoting sustainability."
The students felt it too. As one Form 4 learner, Thashia Chipindirwe, wrote afterward: "When I look at these small trees I feel hope."
And Principal Simbarashe Kusena, who leads the school, put it simply in his message to supporters: "Thank you for believing in Glow College."
Today's Challenges
The realities of maintaining a growing orchard in a water scarce community are difficult to imagine. Glow College and the surrounding community share a single 35-metre well, the only water source for drinking, sanitation, and the orchard. With no pump, students carry water by hand, bucket by bucket, and are limited to just one hour of watering a day. That hour comes before lessons or after lunch. This has led to tired students, uniforms soiled before class even begins, and lost class time.
The young trees have outgrown their initial supports and are now susceptible to being eaten by the goats and cattle that roam free.
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