Zimbabwean student overcomes adversity to earn U.S. scholarship
He's 19 years old, just graduated from high school and the memory of the 2005 Operation Murambatsvina is still fresh.
“The bulldozers came on 16 June 2005. We woke up to the sight of six giant crushers, gun wielding soldiers and an endless chain of camouflaged vehicles. We watched from a safe distance beside small heaps of our belongings as they finished off the few remaining houses,” recalls Dominic.But that's not stopping Zimbabwean Dominic Mhiripiri (19) from his dream of continuing his studies in the United States where he will pursue Business Studies and Engineering.When Murambatsvina started, Dominic was doing his O levels, commuting from a shack in Chitungwiza’s Unit D suburb, 35 km south east of Harare. With his O level exams four months away, he recalls his challenges brought by the Zimbabwe government actions during the chilling Zimbabwean winter at that time. In 2005, the Zimbabwean government implemented Murambatsvina, a massive demolition program aimed at allegedly illegal urban structures, which rendered over 700,000 homeless. Some students, like Dominic, were affected. “With my family now gone, I had remained behind to continue with school,” says Dominic. “I scavenged for living space from one unfortunate distant relative to the other, while painfully languishing out of school for at least two weeks.”And hardly four days upon his return to class, Dominic represented his school at the annual District Public Speaking Olympiad where he scooped gold. He attributes this to the high level of confidence his teachers had in him. Ironically, he notes, the event was graced by the town mayor, who was oblivious of the difficult situation most students faced just recently. Dominic is one of the 19 disadvantaged students who went through the United States Achievers Program (USAP) program conducted by the U.S. Embassy in Harare. All 19 students collectively received scholarships worth US$5, 250,300.00 from top American colleges and universities at a recent ceremony presided by U.S. Ambassador James McGee on July 25th. Now in its tenth year, USAP has been recruiting disadvantaged students from Zimbabwean schools who spend a year in the program growing together and working through the college application process.
The U.S. Embassy pays all costs of the application process. The Embassy has acknowledged the difficult challenges that the 19 students underwent in the last two years. “Your achievement is all the more impressive given the difficulties of the last few years and especially of recent months,” said Katherine Dhanani, Deputy to Ambassador McGee during a pre-departure orientation seminar held for all departing students early mid July. “Today, too many of Zimbabwe's brightest students after they complete their studies see no future for themselves applying their learning back home in Zimbabwe,” she added.For Dominic, Operation Murambatsvina marked a turning point to his already challenging situation. “I lived through it all, and not only survived, but became totally changed. I learnt to live away from a family I loved so much to survive on my own,” says Dominic. “this prepared me for what I am going to face in the U.S., which has always been my first choice in tertiary education.”Dominic left on Tuesday August 6th for Brown University in the U.S., all expenses paid thanks to the Advancing Africa Scholarship Fund launched at the World Economic Forum on January 25th this year. Issued: August 19th 2008
This article was produced by the Public Affairs Section at the U.S. Embassy in Harare. Queries and Comments should be directed to Paul Engelstad, Public Affairs Officer, E-mail hararepas@state.gov Website: http://harare.usembassy.gov
