A rural school, whose pupils had to walk long distances to school, received a wonderful gift last Friday, when the Department of Transport, in conjunction with the Vhembe District municipality, handed over bicycles for use by the pupils.

More than 100 pupils of the Tshikundamalema Secondary School at Maramanzhe, bade bye-bye to the long distances they used to travel on foot, as they would from henceforth be using bicycles. The official handover was made In the presence of parents, community leaders and officials from the government.

Tshikhundamalema Secondary school is one of the most remote and disadvantaged schools in the Vhembe district and lacks most of the basic resources, with learners from surrounding villages having to travel many kilometers to school. The school presently has more than 400 pupils, who are drawn from many surrounding villages.

Mr Mashudu Nephalama, principal of the school, said the long distances pupils traveled to school were affecting them negatively . “We had more than 40 pregnancies at the school last year and this year we started with 12 learners who were pregnant. This could be attributed to the long distances learnes have to walk together and the lifts they get to and from school,” he said.

Nephalama said learners did not have a chance for early morning studies and afternoon study was off, as they had to rush home after school. “They are always tired when they reach school. It is only a miracle that we still manage to have some passes at the end of the year. With these bicycles, we just hope that the situation will improve,” he said.

The acting Vhembe executive mayor, Cllr Livhuwani Ligaraba, urged all to make use of bicycles as they have been proven to be one of the best modes of transport. “Bicycles will not only save one, but will also keep our bodies healthy as they are a form of exercise. This has been proven in many overseas countries where even aged people are still going strongly,” she said.

Brenda Muanalo, a Grade 11 pupil and one of the recipients of a bicycle, said the bicycles were an answer to their prayers. “We have suffered for a long time and we regard this as an intervention from God,” she said.