Silobile Moyo, is an Occupational Therapist working in Waltham Forest as a Community Rehabilitation Lead.

At the start of this year, she and some of her Occupational Therapy, Physiotherapy and Rehabilitation Assistant colleagues kindly donated some toys and books to children at Alpha Primary School, in Fort Rixon, Zimbabwe. 

Here is Silobile's story and why she decided to help the children at the school in Zimbabwe where both her parents used to teach.

"We all recognise the value of play in child development and some of the children would likely not have access to toys or adequate books. I am originally from Zimbabwe, and I had a trip planned to go there to be with family following my mother’s passing last year.

My parents were both teachers and in the early 1980s they moved to live on a farm. They found that at the time, most of the children that lived in neighbouring farms did not attend school as it was too far, also the school where they worked was a long distance away and difficult to get to. They allocated space on the farm for a school  and a building, then sought funding and registered the school with government. The school  opened in 1985, initially with a few children and my parents taught several classes each until they had a full compliment of teachers. My parents continued to work there till they retired, they continued to support the school and continued to assume some responsibility. The school has now grown, taking more children as the population has grown in the area.

My sisters and I visited the school at the end of March this year and the head teacher Mr Zhou, kindly allowed us to disrupt the school programme for a short while to meet the children. The toys and books were well received and brought so much joy to the children as you can see in the photo. 

Thanks to the generosity of Waltham Forest therapy colleagues we continued to support the children as a way of remembering my parents. We hope to continue this support in the future.”

Photos:

Silobile Moyo during her visit at the school in Zimbabwe.
Colleagues from Waltham Forest therapy teams that donated toys and books.