SPOTLIGHT ON MAKOMBORERO A-LEVEL STUDENTS

2024 – It’s a wrap!
We are so excited to finally be in 2025! We’ve had the last crumbs of fruitcake and hope we’ve seen the last christmas tree needles and fallen bits of tinsel on our floors. It’s back to work for the Zimbabwean team and back to school for Makomborero A-Level students. Most of the local university students will go back to lectures at the end of February except for the few medical students who are currently doing clinic rotation.

A SUPPORTERS EVENING WITH LAURA ALBERTYN
We’re delighted to announce that Makomborero Co-founder Laura Albertyn will be travelling to the UK in April. She will be hosting an intimate evening and we would love to have as many of our supporters there as possible. Get ready to be inspired by her on-the-ground insights, stories, and experiences. This in-person event is a fantastic opportunity to connect with like-minded individuals and show your support for educating young people in Zimbabwe. Don’t miss out on this unique chance to meet Laura and be part of a memorable evening.

Date: Thursday, 3 Apr 2025
Time: 18:00 – 21:00 BST
Location: The Abbey Centre, 34 Great Smith Street,  London SW1P 3BU

Welcoming and Settling 2025 A-Level Scholarship recipients
The end of 2024 involved lots of preparations for our incoming Class of 2025. Part of this is the provision of backpacks, lunchboxes, stationery and drinking bottles to both Residential and Non-Residential students. Non-Residential students also got a solar lamp to help with their studies through the extended power cuts that have sadly become part and parcel of life in Zimbabwe. Uniform shopping for the Lower Sixth Residential students was done a little earlier with much less stress thanks to moving our testing process to May-August.

Free eye tests were done for all our Lower Sixth students thanks to Russel at Icare and medical tests were also performed thanks to Dr Dimingo. With adding St Johns College as one of our partner schools, we have re-juggled school runs and drivers Robson and Johnwell have been incredible at making the early mornings work. The first week for Residential students was filled with orientation evenings that were informative but fun too! The bed-making competition always manages to draw everyone in, even the slightly shy ones. School fees have been paid for all Non-Residential students thanks to donors and sponsors and lessons for all A-Level students have started well!

First meet –up
Last month we gathered together all of our A-Level students for the first time! We enjoyed watching them get to know each other. They had a packed session which included the beginning of Group Therapy, going through Makomborero policies as well as some fun talks with Mr Mahz. Upper Sixes finally get to be big sisters and brothers to the Lower Sixes whose journey at Makomborero is just beginning.

The moment you’ve all been waiting for
Over the next few Newsletters we will be introducing the incredible young men and women who have been awarded A-Level Scholarships and joined the Makomborero family. First up are Matifadza, Tapiwa and Nokutenda. They were each granted a Residential A-Level Scholarship.

Matifadza – A Future Software Engineer
Matifadza is a talented chess player who is the second born in a family of three girls. Her father runs a small catering business from home and her mother is a government school teacher. Matifadza is a brilliant artist who enjoys painting and drawing. She hopes to use her passion for computer science to make the world a better place.
Matifadza is attending St Georges College

Tapiwa – Future Civil Engineer
Tapiwa is the forth born child in a family of six children. Tapiwa stays with his cousin in Chinhoyi. His mother is a subsistence farmer in Karoi. Tapiwa loves gardening and he listens to gospel sermons during his free time. He is passionate about construction and has a vision of opening an organization to sponsor the disabled and orphans. Tapiwa aims to motivate students who have a similar story as his.
Tapiwa is attending St Johns College

Nokutenda – Future Cardiologist
Nokutenda is the last born in a family of three girls. Her parents are both teachers and live in Norton. She is a focused young lady who aspires to come up with significant inventions in the science field and help save lives. Nokutenda is a dedicated artist who loves to draw realistic portraits.
Nokutenda is attending Hellenic Academy

• A Level                   – 11A*’s – 15A’s – 7B’s
• AS Level                 – 27A’s – 10B’s – 2C’s
• ZIMSEC                  – 7A’s – 4B’s

International Day of Education
We celebrated the International Day of Education this month which tied in wonderfully with the staff meeting the Zimbabwe team held. Apart from discussing the serious business around educating and safeguarding our young people, there were some hilarious and priceless moments! The quiz had everyone fighting for a surprise prize and it’s safe to say a Makomborero meeting without doughnuts is not a Makomborero meeting! At one point all the ladies were wondering where the gents had gone. Can you spot them in this clip?

It’s almost kick-off time
The team in Zimbabwe is busy preparing for the start of all other Makomborero projects. We’re currently recruiting 30 girls aged 13-15 for our Girl Mentorship Programme which will be taking place in 3 schools in the high density areas (ghettos) in Harare. A further 15 students aged 14-16 are being selected from 3 other schools in the high density areas in Harare for the Mobile Science Lab. A programme is being put together for this year’s Ndeipi! Small Business training. And finally we’re getting ready to welcome our university students back at the University Residence at the end of February.

AND FINALLY
Thank you to our donors and sponsors for all you give to make the work of Makomborero keep going. We leave you with this wonderful African proverb, ‘A person is a person because of people.’

Mercy on behalf of Mark and Laura Albertyn and the whole Makomborero team