This newsletter is to update you on the success of the 3rd term 2018.
Condolences
Three weeks ago we tragically lost our Chairman, Pagiel Chimudzi. He was a humble, gentle, wise man – who we relied on for wisdom, direction and was an ever present sounding board. He was an incredible husband and father – such a role model to so many – he loved so well! Seeing the pain his wife and children face now with a life without him breaks our hearts and we continue to support them through this very sad season in their lives. Pagiel will be greatly missed by Makomborero and many, many others!
Term News
This term always feels like a long one and I think it is due to the length of the exam period and how our students have to pace themselves through it.
The term started with the respective schools’ Prize Givings. All such different evenings, celebrating the wonderful individual characteristics of each school but also incredible to witness how so many of our students shine!
St George’s
- Chiko – Major A level Commendation
- Brandon – Major A level Commendation
- Munya – Major A Level Commendation and Coppinger Prize for U6 Mathematics
- Tino – L 6 Form Commendation
- Patrice – L 6 Form Commendation and Duguid Prize for L6 Chemistry
- Simbarashe – L 6 Form Commendation
Gateway High
- Muzi – Subject Prizes for Chemistry
- Shyline – Subject prize for Biology
- Kuda – Subject prizes for Mathematics and Physics
Hellenic Academy
- Lincoln – Best in Physics and Mathematics
- Donald – Best in Economics U6 Prize
- Roy – Trophy for Resolve and Determination
Well done to Tinaye and Muzi for being made prefects this year at Gateway – what an achievement after only 1 year at the school. Proud of you guys and we know you will serve the school well.
We hosted the amazing Campbell family – Colin and Linda from the UK. They so humbly embraced Makomborero, spending time with students and staff and immersing themselves in Zimbabwe and all we do! We felt encouraged by their visit and they were shining lights to us! Peter in Lower Sixth so loved sharing his family with the Campbells too – what a humbling home visit. Thank you both! Your trip meant so much to us!
This term has also been a term of Leavers dances for the three schools and our students have loved the joy of getting dressed up and attending their dances with friends and celebrating the end of their school journey.
While our Upper Sixth got ready to bid farewell, our Lower Sixth Hellenic and St Georges students were able to go on their leadership camps. These times are so good for our students to feel more apart of their schools and they love the challenge of the time away!
We started our recruitment process in September, as in every year and we are well and truly in the throws of it at the beginning of December – hoping to finalise places before Christmas. It continues to be a hard process that pulls incredibly hard on the heart strings. We improve on what we do each year and our aim this year has been to make each round incredibly memorable and beneficial, even though it is a rigorous testing process. We love hearing feedback from students who don’t make it through that even the testing process filled them with hope and purpose! It is incredible to see how the Makomborero family comes together at this time, to make sure this process is a success. What an incredible team we have, including our current students! We could not do this without you guys!
Our Graduation is a wonderful celebration of our Internal and External students as they leave us. This year’s was particularly special and I shed tears as I bid goodbye to them and they now step into what lies ahead of them. So proud of each of their journeys and excited for their futures. The students sang a beautiful song as they bid farewell. They will forever be in our hearts! What a fantastic Internal and External bunch of students.
We also ended the year with our wonderful Christmas party – bringing together again all the Internal and External students. Good food, good fun and little gifts!
Zimbabwe has been a hard place to live and work in for many years and just over the last few months things have become incredibly hard. Despite petrol and diesel queues, no bread and no flour at times and other things to contend with – our Makomborero Team have kept the Makomborero organisation going and we are so thankful to each and every one of them for the role they play.
The Girl Mentorship Programme Pilot has proved to be a huge success and we are so thankful to our incredible mentors and how generously they gave of their time and energy to make this programme so successful. We have seen 9 girls’ lives radically change in 2 terms. We look forward to the growth of this programme next year and look forward to the continued cycle of change and growth in young, vulnerable girls lives. We ended the term with a fun workshop painting t-shirts that represent their journey on the programme, it was a special morning!
Past Students
A few graduation celebrations for the end of the year.
- Rodwell Kajau graduated from the Brunei Universiti Teknologi with a Bachelor of Engineering in Electical and Electronic Engineering. He is back in Zimbabwe seeking employment.
- Paidamoyo Zhuao graduated from the University of Zimbabwe with a Bachelor of Pharmacy and is currently practicing as a pharmacist.
- Chido Kadare graduated from the University of Zimbabwe with a Bachelor of Business Studies, Banking and Finance degree and Lawrence Chakandinakira graduated from the University of Zimbabwe with a Bachelor of Geo Informatics and Survey degree. They are both still looking for employment.
We are so proud of our university graduates and wish them well in their endeavours past graduation! We will continue to help them seek employment!
Prince Chakanyuka, studying at Edinburgh University, travelled with the Enactus Edinburgh Team to the semi-finals of the Enactus World Cup in Silicon Valley, USA. What a wonderful experience for him!
Fundraising
We had a great Open Air cinema movie night in September which was a success and we are thrilled this has become a yearly tradition in Zimbabwe – thank you Rumbi and Open Air Cinema.
We managed to raise £3568 in one week on our Big Give Christmas challenge. Thank you to all who so generously donated to this. We are always humbled by your support!
We have also had the incredible addition of another local Zimbabwean company to our corporate sponsorship. They have come in and offered to do various maintenance on our Resource Centre over next year and plug our deficit for the University Grant Scheme. This has been incredibly humbling and we are grateful for their support, especially in the current economic climate.
Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year
Thank you to all our dedicated sponsors and supporters – we could not continue the work of Makomborero without you. We hope you all have a wonderful Christmas break and we look to the New Year with hope and anticipation!
