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List of Zimbabwe students who received US scholarships

by Staff reporter
21 Jun 2015 at 10:48hrs | Views
Twenty seventy Zimbabwean students who went through the United States Embassy sponsored United States Achievers Program (USAP) received full scholarships to study at various American universities and colleges.

The students were capped by Ambassador Bruce Wharton, who hailed the occasion as celebrating "the transformative power of education."

The students are Alpha Ngwenya  (Arizona State University), Alvin Chitema (Wesleyan University), Clarety Kaseke (Barnard College), Clive Tinashe Matsika (Arizona State University), Cybil Mupazviriwo (Ashesi), Eric Khumalo (UC Berkeley), Esau Mhandu (Ashesi), Fadzai Mataru  (Yale University), Farai Albert Mutonhori (University of Rochester), Jennipher Alista Panashe (Ashesi), Joel Tshite (University of Southern Indiana), Kudakwashe Chieza (Ashesi), Kudzaishe George Zharare (Massachusetts Institute of Technology), Lincoln Mtemeri (Arizona State University ), Liqhwa Nokukhanya Lubimbi Ncube (University of Pennsylvania), Lovender Phiri (Arizona State University), Malvern Madondo (College of St Scholastica), Mpoyana Panashe Mayangamutse (Michigan State University), Munashe Mugonda (Franklin College), Nomaquawe Ncube (Wellesley College), Ntombizodwa Makuyana - Arizona State University, Rutendo Madziwo (Smith College), Sancharz Runyararo Gore (Harvard University), Shantel Marekera (Arizona State University), Sisasenkosi Mandi (Brown University), Tapiwanashe Blessing Zvidzwa (Grinnell College), and Tatenda Makuvatsine (Lander University).

The students earned a combined total of $6,1 million in scholarships for four years of study in the U.S.

Among them are 14 MasterCard Foundation Scholarship recipients who will study at University of California Berkeley (1), Arizona State University (7), Wellesley University (1), Michigan State University (1) and 4 students at Ashesi University which is an American-styled institution based in Ghana.

The students were part of USAP, implemented by Education USA Advising Center based at the Embassy's Eastgate offices with satellite offices at the Gweru Memorial Library, Bulawayo Public Library and the Turner Memorial Library in Mutare.

The program assists academically gifted, economically disadvantaged students with leadership and an ethos of giving to negotiate application processes and earn scholarships to top American colleges and universities.

Since it's inception in 1999, USAP has helped tens of Zimbabwean students get accepted to top notch colleges in the United States.

Some have since graduated and are working in various fields in the United States and elsewhere around the world and some have chosen to remain in academia at various institutions in the United States.

"The track record of USAP alumni proves that giving talented, motivated, and high-achieving young people the opportunity to pursue higher education can position them to change organisations, industries, communities and even countries," said Ambassador Wharton.

This year's 27 graduating students were selected from diverse Zimbabwean schools including Victoria Falls, Chipinge, Chinhoyi, Murewa, Mutare, Bikita.

They include students who come from humble backgrounds but were able to attend top mission and private high schools on scholarships from Capernaum Trust and Makomborero as well as students who attended local high-density and rural schools.

Guest of Honor is Dr. Sekai Nzenza, who is also the Board Chair and Managing Director of Amatheon Agri Zimbabwe, told the excited students to return to Zimbabwe and contribute to the development of the country. Quoting from a song by Zimbabwean musical icon Oliver Mtukudzi - dada nerudzi rwako - he reminded the students that their relatives and parents are the people who have made them what they are and will continue to have meaning in their lives.

"There is a sense of inferiority when you go to strange new places, that sense of inferiority is normal but it must be overcome by the sense that I am who I am and I am intelligent," said Dr Nzenza, who herself undertook graduate studies in a foreign land, Australia.

The USAP model has been replicated in Bangladesh, Brazil, Colombia, Ecuador, Ethiopia, Jamaica, Mongolia, Mozambique, Nigeria and Zambia.


Source - sundaymail
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