Women Leaders Transforming Southern Africa

Dear friends,

We are delighted to welcome a new cohort of Graça Machel Scholars to Canon Collins!

Eleven inspirational women are starting their studies soon. Among them are: 

Relebohile Hlabana (Lesotho): Honours in Chemistry at the University of KwaZulu-Natal

Nosizwe Khayelihle (South Africa): Honours in Agricultural Economics at Stellenbosch

Mannyalleng Relebohile Alice Makhetha (Lesotho): MSc in Renewable Energy, also at Stellenbosch

Masozi Victoria Nkunika (Zambia): MSc in Oncology Nursing and Palliative Care at Wits

Paula Monjane (Mozambique): PhD in Health Policy and Management at Erasmus University in Rotterdam                                                                                                                    

We are proud to be supporting these exceptional women in realizing their visions for their communities. We look forward to charting their progress! 

At Canon Collins Trust we are passionate about scholarships because of their potential not only to transform the lives of the recipients, but also to impact their communities. Our scholarship recipients go on to lead change, whether as directors of civil society organizations, pioneering researchers, or innovative policymakers. Graça Machel Scholars are no exception, as the following recent updates illustrate...

Dinah Katonda (M.Ed at Chancellor College, Malawi in Education Policy, Planning and Leadership) is Senior Primary School Inspector and Advisor at the South East Education Division in Zomba, Malawi. She is also chairing the newly-launched Malawi Canon Collins Trust Alumni Association. She leads a committee of seven Canon Collins alumni, who in turn lead a fast-growing group of alumni from across the country, tasked with the mission of "developing, capacitating and empowering...alumni with the skills to change their communities for the better". 

Grace Ntaote (PhD Education, Nelson Mandela University) is now lecturing at the Lesotho College of Education in Maseru. Her research explores ways of assisting Lesotho educators to offer care and support to vulnerable children orphaned by AIDS. In Lesotho, where HIV prevalence is the highest in the world, Grace's research is not only topical, but also of great value as the country's education system works on its response to the crisis. 

Your donations enable us to continue supporting women like the individuals profiled above. We thank you most sincerely for your support.

Best wishes

Emily

PS- We have a new website! Check it out: www.canoncollins.org.uk 

Dear Supporters,

We are pleased to inform you that the scope of support offered through the Graça Machel Scholarship is expanding. In February this year, a pilot programme was launched, for which the Canon Collins Trust and Mrs Machel have partnered with universidad.es. Two scholars - Vania Matola from Mozambique and Rina Mandimbiniaina from Madagascar – are being sponsored to study towards a Masters degree in tourism in Spain.

Although their Masters courses are only starting at the end of September, Vania and Rina have already spent 6 months in Spain, participating in an intensive language course. They have decided to live with local families, in order to enhance the opportunities of learning the language as quick as possible. Earlier this month, they have both successfully passed their language exams on advanced level, which is all the more impressive, give that neither of them spoke any Spanish until February. The additional language skills will be a great asset for the scholars upon their return home. However, much more importantly, they will be able to contribute to the development of tourism sectors in their respective countries.

Spain, as one of Europe’s leading holiday destinations and a country where the tourism sector is very well-developed, is a great place to study tourism-related matters. Both scholars underline that their home countries have great potential, but the tourism sectors in both Mozambique and Madagascar are still underdeveloped and largely foreign-owned.

Rina already has experience of sustainable tourism through studying geography back in Madagascar. “My principal objective will be to develop sustainable tourism, beneficial for local people” – she says - “I have always wanted to do something for rural people of Madagascar. Involving them in their own development is considered as an important tool to deal with poverty. All of the formation and research that I was doing focused on that issue”. 

Through her Masters in Tourism Planning and Innovation at the University of Tarragona, Rina hopes to acquire practical skills in community based tourism, and devise programmes which benefit local people and contribute to poverty-reduction.

Thank you once again for your support, which turns our scholars’ ambitions into opportunities for development and growth in their home countries.

Best wishes,

Karolina

Canon Collins Trust