By Rumbie Mzenda | Fundraiser , Events Coordinator
The lovely purple bloom of the Jacaranda trees in Zimbabwe is a sure sign of the beginning of the Examination season. Exams are indeed in progress and we wish all our students, all the best.
Term 3 is marked by Speech and Prize-giving functions for all the schools we partner with and we are always proud to see our students being honoured for their achievements, both academically and in extracurricular activities. It was prizes galore at Gateway High School with 4 of our students (Belinda, Ruramai, Kuda and Shyline) all scooping academic prizes. Taku also at Gateway came 4th in the Zimbabwean Maths Olympiad. Well done to all of you!
Munya and Chiko won prizes at St Georges. It’s heart-warming to watch these boys grow and flourish in their new learning environment.
Another special Prize Giving evening at Hellenic Academy too, Chenai and Donald both received academic prizes. Donald, L6th student, was made Prefect at Hellenic. He becomes the 4th Makomborero Prefect; we have had 2 at Hellenic, 1 at St Georges and 1 at Gateway. We are so proud of him. It’s often hard for our students’ leadership abilities to be recognised only 9 months into their new school, as they make huge cultural adjustments so when they do stand out we are super proud and excited.
Recruiting is underway for 2018! We are in the process of collecting Application forms from schools and individuals for our 2018 students. We can't believe it is that time of year again!
Students’ updates
Four (4) of our Lower 6th students qualified for the Yale Africa Initiative. Shyline and Roy went to Rwanda; Kuda travelled to Uganda and Isabel attended the session in Zimbabwe. This was a great opportunity for them to learn and interact with their peers from different countries.
We bid farewell to 6 students off to start university life internationally and locally (4 students) at the UZ and NUST.
We celebrated our first two UZ graduates Simba and Terrence and incredibly both have been able to secure their first jobs. Simba is a Pharmacist at a major referral hospital and Terrence will be working for a big engineering group. Brian also graduated from NUST as an Actuarial Scientist with UK qualifications too. We are still hoping he will find a job soon. So proud of these young men.
It’s always great having our past students around on their holidays back in Zim. This last month we had Tinashe Z, a 4th-year Computer Engineering student at Izmir Institute of Technology in Turkey. During his time in Zim, he has been interning at Women’s University in Africa in their department of Information Technology.
Mobile Science Lab
We completed our first 7-week Biology pilot Sessions in our Mobile Science Laboratory. It was learning curve but also such an awesome opportunity to see students doing the practical side of their Biology syllabus. We thank Tongai our Science teacher and his assistant Stuart for leading the sessions. Our students, both past and present volunteered throughout in setting up and in the running of the programme. We look forward to welcoming many, many more students in our Mobile Science Lab.
Makomborero Camp
We were able to hold a 3-day camp at our Resource Centre for our internal and external students. This was a great opportunity for our students to bond and build deep lasting relationships, as well as hopefully learn something!
The programme started with Community service at a rural school 60kms east of Harare. The school Head was very grateful for our effort in improving their pupils' learning experience by painting all their blackboards, including the wooden boards used outside for lessons under the trees. The newly painted boards surely bring a glimmer of hope to some of the most marginalised communities in Zimbabwe!
Our Students also had a fantastic day with the Maker Club, making 4 legged robotic walkers, as well as various leadership sessions. During one of the evening sessions, students were challenged to present on how bringing life to Sustainable Development Goals for Africa is possible and how they can impact their communities. This was an incredibly inspiring evening! The last day of camp ended with a birthday party for all of the students with some great games.
Fundraising
During September we held 2 events, a Music and Arts Concert organised by Tinashe one of our pioneer students and a fantastic Open-air Movie screening of SING in partnership with Openair Cinemas. We thank Hellenic Academy for their great support in both events and everyone who managed to attend. In these hard economic times every little count. We also thank our wonderful GlobalGiving family for their continued support in making the work of Makomborero possible. So many individuals give so generously.
Upcoming Events
We are extremely pleased to invite you to join us to get Up Close and Personal with Makomborero. This year, our event will be held at the Institute of Directors on the 21st November and will give guests the opportunity to meet two of Zimbabwe's finest exports - Charlegne and Prince. These two Makomborero success stories are now both studying at Edinburgh University on Mastercard scholarships. We also look forward to our Annual Graduation Ceremony in Harare, as we say goodbye to the class of 2017 and the end of year Christmas party for all our students.
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