Change Student Lives through Education in Zimbabwe

2022 has ended on a high note despite some challenges and the sadness of saying goodbye to our Upper Sixth students. We were able to hold our usual end of year events such as Girl Child Lunch, Testing Process, Graduation and Christmas Party without the re-jigging and the dodging of curve balls that we had become accustomed to for the past two years. It was great to be able to plan our usual events and have them go ahead smoothly. This year has seen our students get involved in annual events that had previously been on hold such as serving in a rural community through black board painting of a senior school and spending time at a local Children’s Home. Financially, it seemed an almost impossible year, especially in this final term where we dealt with massive tuition hikes and rising food and transport costs. We also found that with the disruption of Covid-19 for the past two years, this year we were having to re-teach students the culture and values of Makomborero and re-focus on building relationships. Through all this, we are beyond grateful for a year that felt the most normal of the last three, and we are joyful to be ending the year well!

A-Level Students

Third term is the most demanding for our A-Level students as they all face crucial exams. They did amazingly well under the pressure and we are proud of all of them. Our internal students finished their exams in November and stayed at the boarding house so they could go to their Prom Dances as well as join the various Makomborero end of year events which fell in the first week of December. The students used their time impressively - applying for jobs, organising community projects and even doing some sewing with Mrs Albertyn. Lower Sixes went on leadership camps at their various schools where they learnt some valuable life skills and lessons. Some Upper Sixth students went home for a few days and came back, giving them a welcome change of environment. There were lots of achievements to be celebrated at their various schools during Prize Giving and Speech nights and we are proud of all our students’ achievements.

Our External students also finished their exams in November. We are proud of all their achievements which included winning prizes and being appointed various leadership positions at their schools and school clubs. We had a few occasions where external students went to the boarding house and joined the Internal students. The joint occasions are always a welcome mix of learning, socialising and often eating together. One of the sessions was a CV writing session where they learnt how to apply for jobs with 2023 internships in mind. For community projects, litter picking was the most popular and our students split into groups to cover the areas of Norton, Chitungwiza, Mufakose and Glenview during their clean ups.

We had an intimate and joyful annual Graduation Ceremony to honour both internal and external Upper Sixes and bid them farewell as they leave to spread out to different universities in 2023. It was great to hear directly from them the impact that their A-Level scholarship had had and the evidence was there to see. They made us laugh and cry with their parting words and as per tradition, Mrs Albertyn, Mrs Chikowore and Mrs Tambowoneyi had an opportunity to say goodbye and give them nuggets of wisdom during their speeches. We also had a wonderful annual Christmas Party where internal and external students and staff and their families attended. There was lots of fun, laughter, games and great food!

Testing Process

The testing process for the 2023 A-Level Scholarships is currently under way. We had just over 500 applications this year, calling 206 back to the first round of testing and then 53 to the final round of testing and interviews. In reading the application forms, we not only see the financial and social disadvantages our applicants have, we also see great need for a good education. Every child is deserving of the scholarship and the process of taking only 20 students out of the 500 applicants is truly heartbreaking. This is why each year, it is important to us to make the testing process itself an exercise that instills hope and joy into the applicants and we hope that through testimonials, art therapy and other activities we have achieved that this year.

University students

Our 31 local university students have also had a good semester despite the change in their exam structure and the rise in their university fees. Those living at the Makomborero University Residence are still enjoying the benefits of being a walk away from lectures as well as being able to live in a student friendly environment. We have never been more grateful for the solar system we have at the house as our students currently face power cuts of up to 20 hours a day. Once again, top-ups for university fees were called for this semester and it is sad to see the effect that this has on students. There was a very real possibility that Makomborero would not be able to pay the top-ups that were being required. There was a deadline given, after which if top-ups were not paid, students would not be able to attend lessons. It was a very unsettling time and we tried a few ways to help with the situation including going on a social media campaign to ask for funding. We are so grateful to a local Zimbabwean company who donated funds enough to cover fees for all 31 students.

Other projects

Ndeipi! entrepreneurial business training held the last few sessions for 2022 this term. Congratulations to the Ndeipi! participants who graduated and got presented their certificates at our annual Graduation Ceremony. We are so pleased to hear stories of those who managed to start amazing financially beneficial projects with just one dollar.

Mobile Science Lab did well this term. We had a slight change to our usual format and ran three workshops instead of weekly sessions. An introductory day, a Biology workshop day and a Physics workshop day. This was done to cut down on transport costs and to allow the students attending more free Saturdays so they were able to study for end of year exams. It was a change that worked really well all round and one that we may be keeping for future.

Girl Child Mentorship was a great success this year. The attendance in general was very high although towards the end of the year we had less attendance and we put this down to end of year exams. This term we had our usual end of year lunch which included art therapy and we were able to give gifts of reusable sanitary pants to each student. We are so grateful for the impact that this programme has on both mentees and mentors. 

Round Up

We have struggled financially this term. Sadly, donations and sponsorship figures have gone down while external students’ school fees and local university fees have hiked up by up to 700%. It was way beyond what we had budgeted for, even with top-ups in mind. At one point, we found ourselves in arrears for university fees and we have not been able to provide our university students with their termly stipends. It has been a busy term of trying to implement financial cuts without losing what we value and hold important. It has also been a term of trying to find new sources of income. As a result, we will be recruiting less students in 2023 to try and cover the 2022 deficit. All this brings us to say how grateful we are to our regular sponsors and supporters who have stood by us through this term! We are grateful that they always step in at times of crisis and partner with us so loyally as we educate the children of Zimbabwe. Thank you to staff, students and parents at our partner schools, Gateway High, Hellenic Academy and St Georges College. There is just no way we could run our A-Level Scholarship without all they pour into our students, often going beyond expectations. Thank you to staff at the government schools where our external students attend. They inspire us year in and year out as they do all it takes to educate students despite many obstacles. We can never honour them enough!

Despite all the challenges and unforeseen circumstances, we leave 2022 on a high. As you can see, we have so much to be grateful for, so much that went well! We look forward to journeying with you in 2023.

We wish you all a Merry Christmas and a happy and healthy 2023.

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To our valued supporters of Makomborero Zimbabwe. We are very grateful for your contribution to Makomborero and we look forward to a continued partnership.This report is an update from our team in Harare on the success of the 2^nd term 2022.    

Changing seasons

The start of this second term continued to signal a welcome change from strict Covid-19 restrictions to more and more normal life. For this, we are very grateful! It’s been a wonderful term that has seen all our projects run well. Most students’ classes began when they were scheduled to and planned gatherings for our students were well attended.  It was a term of exams all round and we are so proud of all our students for all they have achieved this term and for persevering through the harsh winter and numerous electricity power cuts. It was a biting May to July and I’m sure we speak for staff and students alike when we say we warmly welcome the change in season!

A level Students

Our external A-Level students were able to meet up on five occasions this term! They continued keenly with their Group Therapy sessions. These sessions make a huge impact on how students view and react to their world. For some of the meetings, we were able to give our external students donated books and clothes which were very well received. We love these meet-ups and the opportunities they give students to catch up with each other as well as for staff to have face to face check-ins with students! We are proud of our external Lower Sixth students who started back at school this term after their O’Level results came out. Many of them moved to new schools and are doing a great job of getting to grips with their new environments. Many are participating in sports such as volleyball, karate, netball and soccer. A few have joined clubs (chess seems a favourite) and it’s lovely to see the interest in youth empowerment clubs and clubs geared towards preserving the environment. Within these, nearly all students have been given positions of responsibility. There is a real positive vibe amongst our external students and they have made us smile with how they are spending weekends writing poetry, doing colour runs, reading, writing songs and growing vegetables.

Our internal students also had a great term this term! They benefited from weekly life skills sessions with Mrs Albertyn. They were able to go home and see their families during some of the weekends – which has not been possible for two years. When they stayed at the boarding house, our Gap year students helped us to ensure that lots of fun and relaxing was had. Africa Day was a particular hit. Students had a picnic on the grounds and played games for small prizes. In the evening they had a celebratory meal which included roasted chickens donated by a past Makomborero student. During the term, the tradition of sharing a few Sunday dinners with the Albertyns was upheld. Apart from eating together, Mr and Mrs A get to have lovely conversations and lots of fun with the students and both parties treasure these evenings. At their respective schools, many got involved in sport and extra-curricular activities which had staff doing school runs all days of the week, most hours of the day and many times during evenings. That said, we were happy to see so many of our students taking part and excelling in different activities!

We had a few occasions that brought both our internal and external students together. One of those was a Ndeipi entrepreneurship taster session which they all said they learnt a lot from. They are now looking forward to the annual camp due at the beginning of next term. The social aspect and togetherness of such occasions is always a huge hit!

University Students

Our university students have had a great term despite facing exams, some of which they found quite tough. Those who have settled at the recently opened University Residence have continued to see a huge change in the quality of their lives. We had the official opening of the house earlier in the term. It was a lovely occasion which united students, staff, board members and well-wishers!

As a goodbye to those who will be going to study abroad, Mr and Mrs Albertyn held a gathering for all alumni. It was a great afternoon of playing games, catching up with old friends as well as making new friends over doughnuts and tea. The timing was great for some of the alumni who were returning from various universities abroad for their holidays.

Similar to last semester, once fees had been paid, two more top ups were called for by all three local universities where our students attend. It goes without saying that this put a real strain on our budget and we are grateful to the donors who helped to rescue us on both occasions.

2021 Leavers

Well done to our 2021 leavers for all their achievements both academically and otherwise. They have made us so proud by taking on various gap year internships and volunteering at different organisations, including at Makomborero Zimbabwe. Others have taken initiative to gather donations for the less fortunate especially during the cold winter spell. Eight students have been accepted at universities outside of Zimbabwe and five have been accepted at local universities. We wish them all a fantastic journey through tertiary education. We believe in each and every one of you!

Girl Child

We have continued our Girl Mentorship programme with the 30 mentees selected in January from the three different schools. Apart from a few chilly mornings, the turn out for sessions was great. It’s lovely to watch the mentees grow and make meaningful bonds with their mentors. They are all learning so much during their weekly sessions. We were proud of them using one of their sessions to pick up litter around their schools as a way of giving back to their communities. To close the term, we held our annual lunch which unifies all three schools. The girls had a fantastic talk from Mrs Albertyn and an informative session on oral hygiene. We are thankful for a generous donation which enabled us to send each girl away with a tube of toothpaste and a toothbrush.

Ndeipi

Ndeipi is our small business training. Our participants are recruited from students’ parents and guardians and for the first time, this year we recruited from parents and guardians of our Girl Child mentees. What an amazing term we have had at Ndeipi! Attendance was great and participants made good progress with their small business initiatives. We had reports of some lovely projects that have been started between last term and this term. We had a donation of some baby clothes and we were able to make bags of about 8 items each for each participant to sell at a profit. This was a great ‘beginner’s project’ for many who did not know where to start.

Mobile Science Lab

Our Mobile Science lab has had a very encouraging run this term. We erred on the side of caution and once again recruited below full capacity due to lingering Covid restriction. We were impressed by this term’s very enthusiastic students who had a high turn-out rate each week. Once again, generous donations meant that we were able to purchase some new equipment for Physics practicals and the students thoroughly enjoyed using these!

Mutsidzira

Mutsidzira is an annual community grant that invites past Makomborero students to apply for financial help in order to fund their proposed projects. This year the grant was won by a peanut butter making project set to assist a small community in Buhera with putting children through education from the profits. We are excited to see this project develop and encouraged by two of the 2021 projects that are still running.

Alumni mentoring

Our Alumni mentorship continues to grow with past Makomborero students mentoring current Makomborero students. We appreciate all the hard work and time that past Makomborero students invest into this project and look forward to all their exciting ideas coming to fruition!

Thank you

Thank you to our staff and volunteers for all the time and effort you put into making this term such a wonderful term. We value being family, working through the challenges together and celebrating the highs together.

 We would like to thank our Mobile Science Lab teacher Tongai who served students from 2015 up to the end of term 2, 2022. Thank you for all you invested into our young people Tongai and we wish you all the best for the future!

 Thank you to Tanatswa for all you invested as one of our 2022 Gap Year students. Tanatswa is leaving his post a little early to go to university! We wish him all the best. We welcome Ropa who will be taking over for the remaining few months.

 Thank you to our partner schools Gateway, Hellenic and St Georges. We are humbled to be able to continue to partner with you and grateful for all the work you pour into our students. Thank you to all teachers and heads of schools where our external students attend. You continue to produce well-rounded young men and women under exceptional circumstances and we are truly grateful.

 Last but not least, thank you to our individual and corporate sponsors! You make a huge difference in the day to day lives of our students whether you are donating stationery, food, clothes or money. Like any other term, it would have been impossible to make it through Term 2, 2022 without you! We deeply appreciate you all!