At Brookstone, Servant Leadership is a way of life. We talk about it, teach it, model it, and act on it in a variety of ways and working with a variety of organizations.

This past week, we were so honored to host one of our friends and partners here on campus, Magura Mhaka, head of school for Petra Primary School in Zimbabwe. He was in town to visit and experience Brookstone classrooms and the community to take back new ideas to Petra.

Virginia Flory, Elley Smith, Magura Mhaka, and David Cowser

Last year, we sent several students and teachers to visit Petra School in Zimbabwe. Among those were seniors Virginia Flory, Gracie Pippas, Don Dakin, Elley Smith, along with 4th grade teacher, David Cowser. This time they welcomed Magura to Columbus and enjoyed catching up with him and visiting over dinner at Lake Harding.

Don Dakin with Petra students in 2016

A glimpse into one of Petra’s classrooms.

Gracie Pippas speaks to the students at Petra.

Virginia Flory, Elley Smith, Gracie Pippas and Don Dakin in Zimbabwe.

This past fall, Brookstone families working with our Servant Leadership department put together 465 shoe boxes filled with gifts and supplies to be sent to the students at Petra all the way across the world.

However, the Petra students were not the recipients, they were the deliverers!  They actually took the boxes to another school, Hope Primary School, to deliver them to their students. What a beautiful picture of partnership and service.

Enjoy these clips from the Hope students!

Hope Primary Thank You

Pictures of Petra High School students delivering the shoe boxes to Hope Primary School.

This young boy holds a picture of Brookstone students Josephine and Rand Meeks, who put their picture in the shoebox they packed.

Former Brookstone Parents Dr. Steve and Jane Beatty facilitated the delivery of the shoeboxes. Steve, who is from Zimbabwe, is an opthamologist here in Columbus, Georgia and still travels to Petra annually to deliver medical care.

We are grateful for this partnership with Petra and look forward to working with them for many years to come. It’s a blessing for all of those involved!