Help keep rural pupils in school

Supporting someone’s education is about improving their lives and working towards a better community. The good thing about education is that no one can take it away from them. Mopane Foundation is committed to supporting rural school pupils who are orphaned or vulnerable therefore not able to pay their tuition fees. 


It is heart-breaking to hear that a student cannot afford to progress to the next stage of their studies as the school would be holding on to their Zimbabwe’s Schools Examination Council (ZIMSEC) results because of outstanding school fees balances. Due to inflation, school uniforms and school shoes’ prices have gone up, many students are attending classes without complete uniforms.

 Some children will be discouraged and drop out of school. Help us to keep these children in school by donating either of the following: school fees, uniforms, and school shoes, stationary and other educational materials. Get involved, you can make a donation, partner or volunteer with us. We would love to hear from you. Contact: info@mopanefoundation.org . Visit our website: www.mopanefoundation.org

Pen pal friendships- a story of pure love

EVEN though the idea of having a pen pal has somehow become less popular, there are individuals in this century who still who engage in pen pal friendships to build meaningful relationships while making a difference in other people’ lives.

Meet pen pals, Zima Dlodlo and Rejoice Tshili who have been writing and receiving letters from each other for a year now.

Zima is 16 year old girl based in Scotland who has completed GCSEs studies and now doing her lower 6. Apart from her studies, she part time job so as to fund her involvement in community charity work.

Zima Dlodlo pausing for a picture

In 2018, with the help of her parents, she contacted Mopane Foundation International requesting to participate in our pen pal program. We gave her a list to choose from and she chose Rejoice as her pen pal.

Rejoice is a young girl doing grade 4 at Somakhwili Primary school in Nkayi. She comes from a less privileged household, as a result she started school very late after community’s intervention.

Rejoice Tshili in her school uniform pausing for a picture 

Zima wrote her first letter which the organisation scanned and forwarded to Tshili’s teacher who then printed and delivered it to Rejoice. Responding to the first letter, Rejoice gave her letter to the teacher who scanned and forwarded to us and we passed it to its recipient, Zima.

It was within few months of communication that Zima committed herself to forgo her luxuries by paying her friend’s fees as well as buying her uniforms every term.

Zima’s dream as friend, mentor and a sister, is to see Rejoice happily attending school and successfully completing her studies.

We are grateful for everything that Zima is doing to support her pen pal’s education.  We are highly indebted to the Dlodlo family for raising and nurturing such a leader as their daughter.

Mopane Foundation International invites all individuals who are between 10 to 18 years and interested in developing pen pal friendships with our beneficiaries. The idea behind the program is to create meaningful relationships and networks between our rural pupils and international students. It is through the program that they can also improve their English language. For more details, contact us on: nekenomsa@yahoo.co.uk

"Help me celebrate my birthday with a donation"

On the 21st of January, the founder and director of Mopane Foundation International, Nomsa Nekevane, launched a birthday fundraiser on Facebook asking friends and family to support a cause. The fundraising link on her timeline will be expiring on the 31^st of January.

“I dedicated my 49^th birthday to raising at least £200 towards uniforms and school shoes for 33 pupils who don’t have complete uniforms. So far my timeline has received £61, I am kindly appealing to everyone for any amount of donations so that we will be able to by uniforms and school shoes for these children” said Nomsa Nekevane during an interview.


Mopane Foundation International, is a charity organisation that strives to ensure that rural orphaned and vulnerable pupils have access to education through fees, stationery and grocery materials sponsorship. At the moment, the organisation has 38 beneficiaries in Matabeleland South, Matabeleland North and Midlands’s provinces.

Nomsa Nevekane, founder and director of Mopane Foundation International

Nekevane said the major challenges faced by the organisation include financial constraints and retaining volunteers.

“There is so lots of work that needs to be done but we have less funding. We rely on public donations, sometimes we fail meeting the targets which often result in or team contributing towards the shortfalls. Retaining volunteers both in UK and Zimbabwe is not easy considering the economic conditions, few people are willing to volunteer their time.”

She added: “We are however so grateful to our friends, families and everyone who has supported us. It is a rewarding experience seeing the pupils excelling and going places. In August 2017, two of our pupils managed to bring science competition Merit awards from South Africa. In 2017 again, we introduced a $100 competition for Grade 7 candidates, the price was scooped by a student who got aggregate 13 followed by aggregate 6 in 2018. This is a lot considering that these are rural pupils who don’t have enough learning resources.

“The idea is to motivate and give them the exposure necessary for their success. My prayer is to see them completing their studies, graduating from colleges and universities becoming independent and inspiring other children in their communities.” Nevekane concluded.

Every child should have access to education

AS Mopane Foundation International, we understand the need for every child to be in school because education is a fundamental human right and necessity of life. We understand the pain felt by both parents and guardians when pupils are turned away from school for non-payments of school tuition fees.

We currently have 38 school pupils as our beneficiaries of our ongoing school fees sponsorship programs in Matabeleland South, Matabeleland North and Midlands’s provinces. Among these students are 20 girls and 18 boys, the youngest doing Grade 3 and the eldest in Form 4. These are either orphaned or vulnerable children from unemployed households or child-headed families.

Some of the Mopane Foundation International Beneficiaries pausing for a picture

As schools opened few weeks ago amidst the country’s inflation, it is a reality that school tuition fees, uniforms and stationery prices were hiked up. Many students especially in the rural parts of Zimbabwe have not yet fully paid their tuition fees. As a result some pupils are turned away from school, while some attending school in their clothes, and walk to school barefooted and/without enough stationery.

These children need assistance in terms payment of their tuition fees, provision of stationery, uniforms and other educational materials. According to 2018 figures, the lowest school fee bill for a primary school per child was $20 per term and highest is at $165 per term based on 2018 rates. This suggests that our budget for tuition fees is slightly above $4000 per year excluding the uniforms and basic stationary. 

Apart from educational needs, we also assist a few of our beneficiaries where there is an urgent need with basic grocery items as attending classes on hungry stomachs may impact their classroom performance.

We are kindly inviting well-wishers, philanthropists, donors to join hands with us and support a good cause as we commit to enabling rural pupils gain access to quality education. Your support will go a long way in transforming someone’s life as we work towards the success of their dreams. Getting involved include: volunteering,donating money towards school fees, donating uniforms and/ stationery as well as grocery items. 

We accept donations through our charity account or Paypal:

Mopane Foundation International

Sort 201221

Acc 13684474

Barclays Bank

Paypal pay info@mopanefoundation.org

For more information contact: +447450287082