Falcon & the Community
Falcon College carries out a wide variety of programs in its surrounding community. These programs are oriented toward long-term change and community development, and range from teaching younger and underprivileged children in a variety of areas to direct donations and local fundraising. We aim to impact schools and other beneficiary communities from throughout Umzingwane district. In addition to serving and developing our community, these programs also aim at integrating all Falcon students with students from other schools in our area and providing them with the opportunity to experience and lead. Please see the brief descriptions below:
Interact Club:
Interact is a club for young people ages 12-18 who want to join together to tackle the issues in their community that they care most about.
The Interact club has created positive changes through helping the local primary school Carlisle and providing it with necessary goods such as stationery, uniforms etc. Boys have entertained the elderly people at old people’s homes, provided provisions and clothing to children’s homes, at local level cleaning and clearing the Esigodini – Falcon road. We are arming the boys to help the under-privileged members of the society, as per rotary motto “service before self ”.
Additionally through the Interact club, Falcon College boys:
- Carry out hands-on service projects
- Make international connections
- Develop leadership skills
- Have fun!
Sports with Kids:
These programs occur on a weekly basis at Falcon, involve seven different primary schools, and impact hundreds of children in our area. With the aim of inputting long-term, self-sufficient programs within the beneficiary schools, Falcon boys lead and teach sporting skills to younger children from rural schools, which have few resources and limited extramural opportunities. We also host tournaments in each sport such that the schools can use what they have learned on our first-class fields. These programs include soccer, hockey, tag rugby, basketball, swimming, and cricket (according to the current sporting season). We have also carried out tennis programs.
Reading with Carlisle School:
This is a weekly program that impacts all grade levels from our closest primary school, Carlisle. Using modern and innovative ESL models, Falcon boys teach reading skills including phonics, comprehension, spelling, vocabulary, and general practice in reading.
Green Living/Keeping the Community Clean:
This involves three large-scale initiatives: 1-visiting local schools to conduct interactive and fun learning seminars about the impacts of waste, litter and recycling; 2-a weekly litter pickup that moves between Esigodini and Falcon; and 3-a school-wide effort to sort and recycle our waste (recyclables are brought into Bulawayo for recycling after we sort/separate on campus).
Secondary Schools Maths and Science:
Falcon has facilitated and hosted a variety of significant events in the hopes of bringing up the district maths and science. These include district-wide quiz bowls in maths and science for O-level students; the development of a database of electronic learning materials and past paper exam questions; teacher forums for district-wide ideas-sharing; and an upcoming science camp.
Conservation Programs:
Each term, Falcon hosts 1-2 Conservation Camps in Quiet Waters for secondary and primary school students from throughout the district. These camps integrate a relevant curriculum and fun activities covering the following content areas: wildlife identification and management; soils, flora and erosion; invasive plant species; impacts of mining; the water cycle; local geology; and leadership training.
Other (donation facilitation, etc.):
We also organize and facilitate a wide variety of fundraising and donations, including computers to rural schools; solar geysers to our local village; school materials and Speech Day prizes to Carlisle Primary and Esigodini Primary School; and stationary and textbooks to schools throughout the district. We are currently working on facilitating a foreign donation of an entire water system to a local rural school which currently has no access to safe/running water.