Change Student Lives through Education in Zimbabwe

A lot has happened since our last report in March! The weather has certainly changed from warm days and nights to cold days and even colder nights. Across all projects, we have seen great success and we are grateful to our donors and sponsors for this.

A-Level students

Our A-Level students wrapped up the term with some fun activities. Non-residential students gathered at the boarding house for a thought-provoking Life Skills session, a dental hygiene session and each student walked away with a toothbrush and toothpaste. There was a wholesome lunch, birthday cake, picking and eating of guavas with Mrs A, as well as an Easter egg hunt.  The gap year interns, Bethany and Tawana organised a fun day for Residential students. An Easter egg hunt was the highlight of the day, some group competitions, a birthday cake and great meals and snacks. The night was rounded off by Mr and Mrs A presenting students who participated in the SAASTA Physical and Life Sciences Olympiad with their prizes. Special mention goes to Ngoni for being the overall best in SADC for Physical Sciences.

Once on their school holidays, we did not hear much for the students as they spent time with family and friends before coming back to a term of mock exams. As soon as they returned in May, the team in Harare was back to organising and executing school runs 7 days a week as students navigated lessons, sports and clubs. The hours of study seemed to get longer as the term progressed and we would like to say a big thank you to our donors who made it possible to give each residential student a fleece blanket. These are not only great for when they are studying but serve well during Life Skills sessions or as an extra layer of warmth on their beds. Not long after, a past Makomborero student donated warm, cosy house socks to residential students. This too was very gratefully received. Well done to all our A-Level students on the completion of their exams and we hope with them for great results!

Improvements to the A-Level boarding house

We have made some life-enhancing improvements at our A-Level boarding house. The 440 000 litre water reservoir we mentioned in our last report is now complete and ready for the next rainy season, and many more to come. We took advantage of the school holidays and built an outside pantry to allow room for a bigger solar system inside the house. The solar system has been installed and is working well. We would like to thank Beit Trust and all our sponsors and donors for making this project possible. It will hopefully serve hundreds of students to come!

The Makomborero A-Level Scholarship – Recruitment process

Our recruitment process for the 2027 A-Level Scholarships is well and truly under way. In the month of May, our team travelled 1231km to leave application forms at 59 schools. The schools targeted are high density schools in Harare, disadvantaged schools on the outskirts of Harare and rural schools where most students are from low income families. Amongst other donations, a total of 590 exercise books and 2950 pens were given to students from these schools. Approximately 200 man hours were involved in the planning, purchasing, packaging, delivery of forms, cleaning and re-stocking of the car. A total of 7 members of staff were involved in the delivery and collection of forms at some stage.

In early July, a team of 14 sat down to read just over 600 application forms from all parts of Zimbabwe. It was a long and emotional day for the team as they made some tough decisions on who to call to the 1^st Round of the Testing Process. This will happen at the end of July and by the end of August we should have our 16 scholarship recipients! So much is involved in this process, none of which would be possible without the support and donations of our sponsors and donors – thank you!

University students

Our local university students are taking a well-deserved break after a demanding final semester of the year! They were continually writing exams and being assessed in their various areas of study. As always, the semester was longer for medical students who coped well under a lot of pressure in understaffed and under stocked clinics as well as rigorous exams. Five students have flown the University Residence nest this semester and though we were sad to see them go, we are excited about their futures and the impact they will make in Zimbabwe. We continue to provide a free home to our local University of Zimbabwe students and free transport to campuses in the mornings. Thanks to donors and sponsors, we were once again able to provide stipends, a once-a-week cleaning service, electricity, gas, water and a lovely meal to see students off at the end of the semester. We are looking forward to an intake of 9 undergraduates in August, 8 of whom will be staying at the University Residence.

Alumni

Thank you to our alumni who continue to support current students in the most engaging and practical ways! Their mentorship programme continues to serve all A-Level students and this term they held two sessions with students as well as a fantastic Africa Day lunch and celebration.

Girl Child Mentorship programme

Our Girl Child Mentorship Programme has gone very well this term. Our mentors, who are also Makomborero alumni, have shown their usual dedication to the mentees from 3 high density schools who are on their year long journey with us. Winter months are challenging for attendance and we experienced this at one of the schools. However, high attendance was maintained at the other two schools. Mentees continued to have fun and thought-provoking Life Skills sessions, more library books have been read and the blanket squares are very nearly finished, ready to be put together. An end of term lunch is just a few days away and each mentee will be given a hygiene pack and will learn to paint t-shirts.

Mobile Science Lab

The Mobile Science Lab saw its final session for the term a few days ago! There was high attendance maintained throughout. It was amazing to watch the 15 students turn their theoretical knowledge into practical knowledge with the help of teachers Nyasha and Shawn who are Makomborero alumni. They designed and made 3D models and each student took a model away with them. There will be a new intake in September which will be our final one for the year.

Mutsidzira

All three Mutsidzira participants are doing well with their projects and learning a lot about what it means to run a profitable business.

UK Annual Supporters Event

We are so excited to let you know that our UK Annual Supporters Event took place on Thursday 11^th of June! It was a wonderful evening for our students to shine and talk about their journeys so far. We heard from Tinaye, a graduate who is navigating the professional working environment; Tinotenda, a cyber-security student at the University of Zimbabwe who is already dabbling into entrepreneurship; and Ruvarashe who is in Upper Sixth as a Non-Residential student. You can get a more in-depth report of how the night went here.

What’s next?

In a week, we will host our 1^st Round of the A-Level Scholarship testing and this is the biggest event on our calendar, demanding the engagement of nearly all staff members as well as an army of volunteers. A-Level students will be on school holidays in August. University students are up for a long semester that will stretch from August to December. Both the A-Level boarding house and the University Residence are marked for some improvements and maintenance work.

Thank you

Thank you for all your donations and support in the last 3 months. You continue to make it possible to change the lives of students at Makomborero!

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