Beatrice Imbayago

A Grade Seven pupil from Shamva LDV Primary School has been honoured for raising the provinces banner high in netball.

Judith Bhari played in the Under 13 Mashonaland Central team at the National School games tournament held recently.

She was awarded a scholarship to study at Chindunduma High School next year. For her efforts, Bhari walked away with US$1500, which she was given by private company, Canterbury.

The Secretary for Canterbury, Samuel Rusike, said honouring Bhari was a gesture of empowering the girl child especially the ones in Shamva because the district recorded high cases of child marriages.

“Shamva has a lot of cases of child marriages, which is worrisome. Honouring such talent from Shamva is a form of motivation to the girl child so that she knows her worth and takes school work seriously,” he said.

Most children in the Shamva community, he said, dropped out of school before the age of 15, with some of them going for marriages while others became domestic helpers.

“The girl child has to be motivated in order for her to know her value in life and to aim high. They must know that there is more to life than marriage and dropping out of school,” he said.

The award comes at a time when the province is currently recording an increase in early child marriages.

Bhari joins a few of the girls in the province that have managed to excel exceptionally well, raising the province’s banner high.

Bhari who was ecstatic after the gesture and said it would give her an opportunity to attend a boarding school, an act which she said was “a dream come true”.

“Ndiri kufara kuti ndichaendawo ku boarding school kuburikidza nekugona kwandakaita kuma sports. Ndaishuvirawo kuenda ku boarding this is a dream come true,” she said.