WE PLAY EDUTAINMENT GROUP

OUR STORY

THE JOURNEY SO FAR……. Hakim Mahere & Ricardo Ncube are the Co-founders of We Play Edutainment group, an organisation founded in 2018 that specializes in teaching STEM education through edutainment methods to young learners in Zimbabwe. We use a combination of various teaching tools such as music, play, fun, storytelling and relevant educational gadgets and toys. Currently we are based in Gweru, Zimbabwe and have empowered more than 3000 young learners across the midland’s province. Our programs provide lessons in robotics, space science, technology, engineering, virtual reality, science experimentation and much more. As We Play, our aim is  to empower young learners through technology and science, bridging the knowledge gap between Africa and the rest of the world. Our mission is to innovate the African traditional education systems, whilst our vision is to see Africa’s development thrust being developed through STEM related solutions. THE BEGINNING BY HAKIM MAHERE………….
It was in the year 2015 when I was working in South Africa , when a friend of mine working for a renowned farmer who owned multiple farms and small aircrafts, invited us for a tour at the farm where he worked. As he took us for a tour, when we entered one of the aircrafts what I saw that day changed my line of thought forever. Inside the aircraft hangar I saw some of the most advanced and unique educational gadgets and toys lying around, and I thought to myself these could teach some valuable stem related lessons. When I enquired to whom they belonged, my friend indicated that they belonged to the farmer’s children. Apparently, they often played and learnt using these gadgets and toys; talk about fun but practical education. Right then and there it clicked in my mind that this was a gap present in our education system.  These young children were getting exposure to technological gadgets that challenged their way of thinking and probably positioned them far ahead of their peers in terms of mindset development. Whereas for many young people in most African set ups education is more on the theoretical than it is practical, more so for STEM related subjects. So, the next day I started researching on how I could fill in this gap and that marked the beginnings of We Play edutainment. 

Every journey has its share of challenges; what were yours? and did you ever feel like giving up?
Funding was a big challenge for me at the start, getting people to invest in my idea. However, I managed to use my savings that I had to purchase the first few gadgets to kickstart the project and grew from there. Additionally, at the start of the project, schools (which were our target market) did not think the idea was viable and lacked understanding of what the concept was trying to achieve. As a result, we had to educate them about our mission and how their students would benefit from the various programmes we had to offer. Lastly, access to government schools was also a challenge however, we eventually managed to get a breakthrough into that market by engaging the Ministry of Youth and the National Arts Council.

Any notable milestones or achievements you would like to share?
To date we have managed to empower more than 3000 learners since we started. We also partnered with the British Council of South Africa through their education department; the National Arts Council of Zimbabwe; and also, an American stem education partner called Steamsational. Since our launch we also released two STEM related books.

What is the big picture i.e., where to from here?
Our goal is to impact the whole of Zimbabwe and the rest of Africa. We want to expand our programs across Africa and help shape the future of the education sector and systems.

OUR JOURNEY SO FAR IN PICTURES!!!!!!!!