The Zimbabwean
By Natasha Hove
15 July 2009
BULAWAYO – A Christian NOG, Blue Diamond, is set to build a secondary school and a clinic for underprivileged girls here. Eric Bloch, the chairman of the organisation, said the project sought to
empower underprivileged girls through the provision of free secondary education and skills building geared towards gender equality.
“Girls have been discriminated against a lot, they are abused, neglected and forced to drop out of school. But this organisation seeks to get them back into formal education. We want to develop a more confident girl child who can fully exercise her rights in society,” said Bloch.
The Minister of Education Sports Arts and Culture, David Coltart, who was the guest at the launch applauded the idea. “If we don’t promote the girl child, the nation will never achieve the aspirations that we aspire to have as a nation,” said Coltart.
The organisation will target HIV-orphaned girls, teenage parents and victims of all gender based abuses. “As an organisation we believe these young girls have the right to go back to school despite their past experiences,” said Bloch.
“We have already found proposed sites in Emganwini and Killarney suburbs but we are still waiting for the Bulawayo city council to approve them. We have spoken to the mayor (Thaba Moyo) and he seemed to be enthusiastic about the idea. We hope that the project will get the council’s approval,” he added.