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In Lupane, Catholic sisters bring early childhood education to rural areas
BY MARKO PHIRI
Zimbabwe in recent years has promoted early childhood development, or ECD, making it mandatory for every child to attend such classes before they are accepted into the first grade.
This policy, however, has not been without its challenges, including a shortage of ECD educators and few government-run schools that offer such classes.
That has led to a flourishing of fly-by-night unregistered schools offering preschool lessons.
It has been particularly tough in rural areas, long left behind in the country’s development agenda where children often fail to go to school because of a lack of education facilities and parents’ failure to pay for tuition.
To fill that gap, a diocesan congregation of Catholic sisters has set up two early childhood education schools in Lupane, a poor rural district about170 kilometres north of Bulawayo, Zimbabwe’s second-largest city.
Lupane is a small farming and livestock rearing hamlet with a population of about 200,000 people.
At its centre can be found modern conveniences such as banks, supermarkets, bars, and long-distance buses and truckers going as far as the tourist city of Victoria Falls, 223 kilometres west.
Lupane’s centre is a hive of activity that belies the poor rural incomes found in some villages stretching more than 20 kilometers into the hinterland.
The Servants of Mary the Queen, known by their Latin abbreviation AMR () are a congregation of Indigenous nuns formed in 1956 by Mariannhill missionaries in Bulawayo.
The congregation has about 70 sisters whose apostolate straddles teaching, nursing, communication; general pastoral work; and working with the Bulawayo archdiocese and its rural missions spread across the country’s southwest.
Local government education officials have hailed the early childhood education development programmes run by the sisters as a first in the region with state-of-the-art facilities.
There are two early childhood programs, one in Lupane centre and another at the primary school about two kilometre in Matshiya village.
“All children must attend ECD classes. We want to produce well-grounded citizens and the best place to start is in early childhood education,” said Sr. Praxedis Nyathi, who heads the AMR Primary School, from early childhood education to grade seven.
She specialised in early childhood education after having made her final vows as a religious in 1998.
According to Nyathi, the school opened in 2018 in Matshiya village with just over 100 children, from early childhood development classes to grade seven.
That number has since grown to about 500, highlighting the ever-present need to provide education in the country’s rural areas.
At the AMR Primary School, where more classrooms are still under construction, Nyathi says it is challenging to persuade families in rural communities to enroll their children in ECD.
“Some parents try to cut corners and delay enrolling their children and attempt to bring them straight into the first grade.
“But we have made it clear that we will not accept any child who has not attended ECD classes,” Nyathi told GSR.
In Zimbabwe’s rural areas, it is not unusual for parents to choose to send sons to school and keep their daughters at home, believing that the investment in their education will be lost once the girl marries.
Nyathi says the sisters are trying hard to change that attitude.
“We have such cases but ever since we opened the ECD classes, we have been hard at work convincing families to enrol the girl child too.
“We are making small strides but there is still a lot of work to be done,” Nyathi said.
That need to enroll more children at ECD is emphasised by Sr. Midlred Chiriseri, an AMR sister who teaches at the nearby AMR Secondary School, which offers what is known as Form 1 through Form 4 classes for students ages 13 to 17.
Students from the ECD and primary schools run by the congregation feed into the secondary school.
Actually, there is a need to enroll more children at all school levels, Nyathi said.
Parents must be persuaded to bring their children to school, follow up on their schoolwork and be involved in their children’s education.
“It’s a real challenge here in the rural areas where up to 80% of students are non-readers, meaning they cannot articulate themselves as other literate learners of their age would.
“So we have to start them early at ECD to address that,” Chiriseri told GSR.
“What we also need are more religious in Catholic schools if we are to fulfil our mission to instil Catholic values in learners,” Chiriseri said.
The irony is that while some parents remain reluctant to enrol their children, Nyathi says the existing ECD classes are oversubscribed.
“We have a situation where ideally we should have 20 children in one class, but we in fact have up to 42 children, which is a strain on our teachers,” Nyathi said, because the school doesn’t have enough teachers.
The country faces a shortage of teachers , including ECD educators.
Nyathi said that her congregation and other religious congregations send some sisters for teacher training, but it is still the government that deploys them after they graduate, often sending them to government-run schools.
Zimbabwe is celebrated as one of Africa’s most literate countries, and the education ministry says that such gains since the country’s independence in 1980 would not have been possible without the contribution of the Catholic Church.
The country’s education officials say more than 3,000 primary and secondary schools are required to meet Zimbabwe’s education commitments, with rural areas being particularly in need.
Bulawayo Archbishop Alex Thomas has praised the sisters, calling on them to be “educators of life.”
The journey ahead will include ensuring that learners who pass through the AMR schools are well equipped for life as adults, Nyathi said.
She would like to see not just academic excellence but also aptitude in practical subjects that ensure self-reliance in a country where there are few formal jobs.
“Catholic schools should be a place where children find Christ, and by starting them early at ECD, we try to produce self-respecting learners who will make meaningful contributions in their respective communities,” Nyathi said. – Global Sisters Report
BY NOKUTHABA DLAMINI
In the small town of Bela-Bela, a quietly flourishing business is unfolding — one that turns wildlife into livelihood, education, and economic opportunity. On a humid afternoon, we walked into the operations of Estelle Nel Taxidermy (and its parent networks), where rows of beautiful animal mounts — from antelope horns to zebra skins, skulls to full-body trophies — line the walls.
But beyond the busts and custom mounts lies a deeper purpose: this is not simply a display of hunting trophies. It is a system of sustainable use — where animals that die naturally or are hunted legally are completely utilised: meat, skin, horns, bones — nothing goes to waste, and everything acquires value.
As we discovered from our conversations, this network extends beyond taxidermy. Adjacent to the showrooms are processing facilities, butcheries, and game-meat wholesalers — all integral to transforming South Africa’s wild fauna into a formal, regulated, and sustainable economy.
“This is home” — an artisan’s vocation
I sat down with Melanie Viljoen, who serves as Export Secretary at Estelle Nel Taxidermy. Her voice was calm, resolute.
“For me, it’s like this is home and it’s something that I love to do. I love art. I studied art at school. I can’t think of anything else I’d rather do.”
She told us she’s been with the business for thirteen to fourteen years. Over that time she’s mastered a unique craft. “I’ve found my niche,” she said, “and I’m not going anywhere.”
Melanie explained how the business flows: outfitters bring in international clients to hunt on private farms, then process the animals: trophy mounts for some, meat for others. Locals also bring animals — sometimes for trophies, sometimes just for meat. There is even “school-mount” work: smaller species, sometimes a mother and its young, carefully preserved — not just for hunters, but for children to touch and learn about wildlife up close.
“We mount animals that have died naturally or were hunted… we use everything, from the meat to the skins and curls. It’s a sustainable way of doing business, and everything has a monetary value.”
This, she says, is both business and passion — blending artistry, conservation, and commerce.
From workshops to global markets — taxidermy meets commerce
According to membership details o South African Taxidermy & Tannery Association, Estelle Nel Taxidermy offers a wide range of services: from mounting mammals, birds, reptiles; tanning skins and capes; cleaning, mounting and articulating skulls, bones, horns, tusks; to producing novelty leather items, polished horn décor, engraved bones, hoof lamps — even gunbags and furniture. They offer full export packing and crating services, and help clients ship internationally.
What this means is that skins, hides and trophies — once the culmination of a hunt — become far more than personal souvenirs. They become export commodities, contributing to livelihoods of artisans, packers, shippers, and everyone in between.
Yet, as Pieter Swart President of South African Taxidermy & Tannery Association (SATTA)/chairman of SUCO-SA) told us, that path to global markets is not without obstacles.
“Certain airlines allow the shipping of these trophies. I think it’s about four airlines that you can ship them overseas, but the rest refuse to take their hunting trophies to destinations. As well as the sea shipments — there’s only one ship going to America every three months. The rest of the shipping lines refuse to take hunting trophies.”
He lamented the difficulty in logistics. And yet, he sees themselves as part of a broader — and misunderstood — effort. “This anti-animal works movement created the idea that hunting is killing the animals and destroying them to extinction — but that is actually quite the opposite,” he said. “More and more, the guys are farming the animals; that is creating a better future for the animals.”
In other words: regulated, sustainable use — of every part of the animal — can coexist with conservation, economic empowerment, and community upliftment.
Next door to the taxidermy showroom, we toured a modest but hygienic meat-processing Camo Meat facility, run by people like Ina Hechter. They explained that their business started small — in 2012 as a private processing butcher for animals from farms. Around 2017 they expanded into wholesale for local markets. Export remains limited, but local demand is growing.
Their meats include species typical of the South African game-meat industry: kudu, impala, springbok, wildebeest, zebra and others. What began as a niche — somewhat stigmatised — trade is slowly gaining acceptance. Some supermarkets and lodges are carrying game meat; more restaurants are offering “veld flavour.”
Ina told me that in times of drought — when traditional livestock farming may suffer — game-meat businesses often see increased activity. Farms with overstocked wildlife or animals unable to survive drought may harvest and sell meat, skins and other resources. In this way, what might have been a loss can become income, conservation, and food security.
“Our parks are so small that they can’t sustain all the animals that are there,” Ina said. “Especially in drought years … when it’s not raining a lot you will see they die and then they sell the animals.”M
She sees game meat not only as a business, but as part of a broader sustainable economy — offering healthy, lean protein to consumers, easing pressure on overburdened habitats, and circulating value in rural and peri-urban communities.
More than meat and trophies — a conservation-economy model
What struck me during the tour was how holistic the operation is. It isn’t just about hunters bringing back trophies. It’s about using every bit of what exists: meat, skins, hides, horns, bones — even skulls, and decorative by-products. From full-body mounts to polished horn décor, from retail game-meat packages to furniture made from hoofs: this is a full-value chain.
Companies like Estelle Nel Taxidermy are members of formal trade associations and provide professional services — tanning, mounting, packing, export documentation — and in doing so, they help formalize trade in wildlife products.
Meanwhile, the game meat industry — though historically informal — is slowly growing more regulated. According to a recent national biodiversity-economy strategy, game-meat production supports economic growth, food security, and employment. The most commonly produced and consumed species: impala, kudu, wildebeest, springbok.
In other words: when properly managed, this sector has the potential to transform perceptions of wildlife — from being simply “wild animals” to resources that can feed, employ and uplift entire communities.
Challenges — logistics, stigma, regulation
But it’s not all smooth. As Pieter Swart highlighted, export logistics remain a bottleneck: only a few airlines transport trophies; shipping lines are often reluctant; sea freight to markets like the United States may come only every few months. This makes it harder for the industry to scale globally.
Domestically, the market for game meat and wildlife products still battles cultural and regulatory stigma. Many people still frown at game meat; supermarkets and restaurants are only slowly integrating it.
Regulation is another issue: for the industry to be sustainable, wildlife needs to be farmed or managed responsibly, harvesting must follow quotas, and processing must meet health and safety standards. When abattoirs, tanneries, and exporting agents comply with regulation, this gives the industry legitimacy — but it also requires oversight, capacity, and buy-in from all stakeholders.
Our visit painted a picture of a wildlife economy that’s evolving: where skilled artisans turn skins, horns, skulls into enduring art; where processors supply game meat to homes, restaurants and hotels; where farms, outfitters, taxidermists, meat processors, exporters, and even children (learning from mounted displays) all form part of an ecosystem.
It’s a world that challenges simplistic ideas of wildlife as either “pristine wilderness” or “endangered species.” Instead, it shows how — if managed with respect, regulation, and purpose — natural resources can sustain livelihoods, build economies, and forge a bridge between conservation and commerce.
For many of those involved — from Melanie Viljoen to Ina Hechter and Pieter Swart — it’s not just business. It’s home. It’s art. It’s the future.
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