Shurugwi Rural Areas
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Shurugwi Rural Areas are areas around Shurugwi, Zimbabwe mainly to the east beginning 20km from the town centre. The area between the town and the rural areas was mainly occupied by white commercial farmers. It is thought that at one time, these farms were owned by a 3 families who were all related. The total area of these farms is approximately 60km x 40km compared to a similar area that was occupied by more than 4000 African families. Most of the Black Families are however subsistence farmers. Maize or corn is generally grown by the majority.
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[edit] Chiefs
[edit] Sub-Chiefs
[edit] Villages
[edit] Major Shopping Centres
[edit] Primary Schools
There are a number of primary schools in Shurugwi Rural, most of them like Vungwi Primary School were built as far back as 1905. The list includes: Vungwi, Wida, Makotore, Mavedzenge (St Peter), Ndaora(St Augustine), Shamba, Chikato, Hanke, Dombwe, Tumba (St Paul), Nhema (St Francis), Matamba, Mhangami (St Pius), Zvishazha, Bokai, Pakeme, Chekenyu
[edit] Secondary Schools
There are a number of secondary school in Shurugwi Rural, notable Mupangai Sendary School, Chivakanenyaka Secondary School, Batanai Secondary School, Rusungunuko, Dombotombo, Bokai Secondary Schools among others. The academic results from year to year are generally poor and below par which is generally blamed on teachers.
[edit] High Schools
There are only 3 boarding schools in Shurugwi which are all in rural areas:
Hanke Adventist Secondary School, a Seventh-day Adventist school which traditionally was offering up to 0-Levels but was recently upgraded to offer up A-Levels thereby now called Hanke Adventist High School. As it is a mission school, both the Primary and High school are on the same campus such that one may not know the differences.
Tongogara High School, only 10 km from Hanke, is a government run high school. The boarding facilities are generally reserved for A-Levels students while the Form 1s to Form 4s are general day schoolers, commonly known as upper tops. Only A-level boys where trousers. Tongongogara was traditionally formed to offer A-Levels but that was changed due to shortages of schools in the area. It is by population the biggest high school in Shurugwi
Pakame Mission, about 40km to the south west is a Methodist run mission, just like Hanke was traditionally offering classes up to form 4 (O-Levels) but was recently upgraded to offer up to A-Levels. Pakame is considered the best of the 3 in terms of O-Level results pass rate.
[edit] Hospitals
Zvamavande Rural Hosptial is the only hospital in Shurugwi rural. It is located 2 km South East of Cha Cha Cha township, 2km South West of Vungwi Primary School and 7km North East of Rusununguko Secondary School.
[edit] Clinics
There are a number of rural clinics in Shurugwi rural, notably Hanke Clinic, which is in the same campus as Hanke Mission, Saint Fransis Clinic, a stone through away from Chief Nhema which was facilited by his politician son, Francis Nhema, about 40 km North east of Cha Cha Cha Township, 20km North East of Hanke Adventist Secondary School, Tongogara Clinic, situated at Tongogara Shopping Centre, which was initially set up as the rural Growth Point of Shurugwi but it unfortunately refused to grow. There is also Gundura clinic, about 5 km before Pakame Mission.
Zvamavande Hospital is the referral centre from all other clinics in the region which will then transfer the patient to Shurugwi Hospital in Shurugwi town.
People still walk long distances to healthy centres. Serious patients are transported by ox-drawn carts up to distances of more than 10km especially those that are not from areas that can not easily accessed by cars such as resettlement areas commonly known as 'Minda murefu' which when literally translated means 'Long Fields'
[edit] HIV & AIDS
Like any other rural area, Shurugwi Rural Areas has suffered the wrath of HIV & AIDS partly due to unawareness and poverty. The only form of entertainment is sex in rural areas, the households often don't have TVs and there are no cinemas to watch movies. Due to unexpected number of deaths that were experienced in the middle 90s to early 2000s, people are generally away of the consequences of AIDS and of late, the HIV rate in the area is going down.
[edit] Resettlement Areas
Since 80% of the area around Shurugwi was commercial farmers which are now re-settled even with the botched Mugabe land invations with people who knows nothing about farming. Most of the beneficiaries were however not from Shurugwi.
[edit] Rivers and Streams
[edit] Mountains and Hills
[edit] Politics
The most notable politician from Shurugwi was the Simon Mahlaba who saved as the gvernor and residential minister of the Midlands Province, a former liberation fighter himself who would sing liberation strugles song at funerals and in church. He was a Seventh-Day Adventist follower.
Of late there is Francis Nhema, the Minister of Tourism in the cabinet of Mugabe and an MP of Shurugwi.
MPs were always coming from the North (15 km North of Cha Cha Cha Township, an area generally under Chief Nhema as opposed to the South, an area under Chief Banga. David Ruzive, the useless former MP who was MP for more than 15 hours was said to be sleeping during the parliamentary meetings was also from Nhema. This has seen a lot of development being channelled in the Nhema areas more than the Banga Areas.
Cha Cha Cha Township is the best located township in Shurugwi rural because it is where major roads meet but it was neglected forcing the growth point to be at Tongogara Township where it refused to grow.
Frank Mbengo an academic from Mbengo Village, 1km from Vungwi Primary School, to South West, 1km from Zvamabande Hospital, North West and 1km from Cha Cha Cha Township tried on several times to run as an independent but he failed. Some reports says he was offered a cabinet post by Mugabe but he turned it down.
