By Chenayi Kumuterera
Jan. 24, 2019 | MUTARE, Zimbabwe
Two undergraduate students, both orphans, are attending Africa University thanks to scholarships provided by the Zimbabwe West and Zimbabwe East conferences.
Mike Chiranda and Ashley Mutowo received the first Bishop’s Episcopal Area Fund Scholarships.
“Bishop Nhiwatiwa has a passion for Africa University,” said Margaret Makadzange, Zimbabwe West conference lay leader and a member of Africa University’s board of directors.
The former episcopacy associate chair, Makadzange said the scholarship came as an initiative from the Episcopacy Committee with the support of Nhiwatiwa. She said the bishop’s administrative assistant, the Rev. Alan Masimba Gurupira, worked with the episcopacy office to select the recipients.
“It is our hope and prayer that the scholarship will grow to cater to more students, after Mike and Ashley graduate in June 2020,” Makadzange said.
Chiranda said his hope was revived when he received the scholarship.
“Thanks to the grace of God I was awarded the scholarship. I was happy. It was that candle I was looking for in the dark. It was my hope revived, and my future has meaning again,” he said.
Chiranda is the fifth child in a family of six.
“My father died when I was two months old and my mother died when I was 5 years of age. I grew up from different guidance. Life was not easy,” he said.
While the United Methodist Orphan Trust Fund and Harare United Methodist Church’s Inner-City Ruwadzano Rwe Wadzimai women’s group helped pay his primary and secondary school fees, he did not have a way to further his education.
“I did sciences at Ordinary Level and proceeded to do mathematics, physics and chemistry at ‘A’ level of which I attained 10 points, but the future looked bleak since I had no one to cater for my university fees,” he said.
“Having the bishop’s episcopal scholarship supporting me not only gave me hope but strengthened my faith in my church,” he said. “The church showed me that it’s really the embodiment of Christ, the church that fulfills the real essence of Christ’s agenda with humanity on earth.”
Chiranda is now working toward his medical laboratories degree at Africa University.
“Many thanks to Bishop Eben K. Nhiwatiwa, board members, the late Charity Dirorimwe, who was Harare Inner-City RRW point person for my scholarship, and the church at large for helping me to fulfill my destiny. I’m grateful.”
Chiranda hopes to work in a laboratory in the future and aspires to get his master’s degree in forensic pathology.
Mutowo, 23, is also grateful for the scholarship. He said he was “overwhelmed with joy and confused” when he received the scholarship.
“I couldn’t believe God had heard my prayers. If there was any word to explicate more than happy, I would have used that word to put in plain words how I felt.”
Mutowo’s parents divorced while he was in high school. He said he stayed with his mother who could not afford his school fees. Thankfully, an aunt paid for his A-level schooling.
After graduation, he had to stay at home for two years because he lacked the funds to continue his education. He started working part-time jobs hoping to find a purpose in life, he said.
“I would like to thank the bishop’s cabinet, episcopacy, the church and the bishop himself for granting me a lifetime opportunity,” Mutowo said.
He is currently working toward a degree in social sciences in psychology. “I aspire to be one of the most prominent philanthropists and psychologists,” he said.
Africa University Vice Chancellor Munashe Furusa, in his speech at the Zimbabwe West Annual Conference on 7 December 2018 at Murewa Mission Centre, shared the impact of the conference’s generosity.
“I would like to express our deepest gratitude to Bishop Nhiwatiwa and to you collectively and individually for your strong and consistent support of the university,” Furusa said to members of the annual conference. “The resources you are providing through your individual and collective giving contribute toward scholarships for our less fortunate students and toward building an inviting learning environment that inspires hope and dignity.”
In a show of support, he donated $200 U.S. to the Bishop’s Episcopal Fund at the gathering.
“Africa University has grown and developed because of the Holy Spirit-guided vision shared across Africa and within the worldwide church because of the faith-filled commitment and generous support by the people called United Methodists and because of the steadfast investment by friends and partners within and beyond The United Methodist Church.”
Furusa said on the African continent, the Zimbabwean annual conferences stand out in their support of the university.
“The two scholarships that you established for students at Africa University, one for the East and the other for the West Conference, together with your support through the Africa University Sunday program, are challenging the other annual conferences on the continent to consider supporting the university.”
Kumuterera is a communicator for the Zimbabwe West Annual Conference.