Swimming lessons for the whole family!

Kuda Vana is situated next to a large reservoir, providing plenty of water for irrigating, drinking, cooking and… swimming! Unfortunately only the older children could make the long walk to the best swimming hole, so they decided to find a way to allow the youngest members of the family to cool off on a hot summer day.

For many weeks now, Kuda Vana hasn’t seen any rain. The first week of March has been particularly hot.

 Several weeks ago on a Sabbath walk to the dam wall, Uncle Knowledge and some of the children discovered a swimming hole that was created by a waterfall on the dry side of the dam wall. Since discovering the swimming hole, children capable of walking the distance have walked out to swim every Saturday afternoon. 

While the Sabbath swims were fun and refreshing for these kids, many children were not able to make the trip to the dam wall. It was too far and the terrain made it impossible for some to go. 

As the heat continued to beat down day after day, Uncle Knowledge had an idea. After yet another Sabbath swim, he asked the kids if they would help clean out one of the water tanks for the little children to swim in. The tank was on campus, so the little ones could just walk over to cool down. 

Children at Kuda Vana find great joy in the small things, including a refreshing swim in the water tank!

 The older children agreed, and the following Sunday morning at 9:00am, they climbed into the tank and began scrubbing the green algae from the tall walls of the tank, which was over 6 feet deep. They removed leaves and other debris until the tank was unrecognizably clean. 

 After their hours of work, the older children climbed and helped each other out of the tank and sat around the edge admiring their work. Uncle Abisha ran a hose to the tank, turned it on, and let the water run until it was one foot deep. The older children sat and talked for some time, some splashing in the running water. Around 2:00pm, they heard voices coming from afar. 

 Soon, many little children were running towards the tank in swimming clothes. They practically ran out of their flip flops and into the arms of big sister Tamira, who began to pass the kids over the wall to Kudzai. One after another, the tank slowly filled up with little ones. They quickly took to the cool water, splashing one another and swimming with shrieks of joy. 

Our Assistant Administrator, Uncle Knowledge, joined the youngest kids in a swim in the water tank

 The older children, still seated around the edges of the tank, laughed and cheered when Uncle Knowledge lowered himself into the water as well. He played with them, sang songs and helped those who were a bit more timid. 

 They swam for over an hour. Eventually, the children began to tire and feel the chill of the cold water, so once again, they were hoisted over the wall. They all ran home and took a bath. All the little ones slept soundly that night, hoping that maybe the next week, they’d do it all again.