I believe no matter how big we dream, if we don’t get people to support and motivate us we won’t get anywhere. I really want to thank my family and Makomborero Zimbabwe for their continuous support and for providing me with the platform to dream big and achieve my dreams.
My name is Bright Zenda, 21 years of age and currently I’m studying medicine at the University of Zimbabwe. I was born and raised in Hwedza by my mother and grandmother whilst my father was working on farms. I later moved to the City partly because of illness and my father had secured a job at a Tobacco firm. Unfortunately two years later when I was in Grade Two, my father lost his job. It came as a blow to my family – we had rent to pay, school fees and we needed food. We started selling eggs and counter books. My mother and I (when I was back home from school) were stationed at busy roads where we sold eggs and my dad was moving around selling books and eggs on his bicycle. Sometimes the business did not go well and I was sent home occasionally because of arrears in school fees.
I really worked hard at school but sometimes the situation at home would get to me and it affected my concentration. It was until I started secondary school that I figured how I wanted my life to turn around. Growing up I always used to say I wanted to be a doctor or an engineer not quite sure though what it meant but when I was in Form Two I started working towards this goal. The hard work paid off when I obtained the best O’level results at Zengeza High School and the same year I was awarded a Makomborero A’level Scholarship to St Georges College to study sciences. This will remain one of the most wonderful things to ever happen to me. I truly cherish every moment I got to spent at the boarding house, the life lessons, the people I shared the house with; all contribute to the person that I am today.
I passed my A’levels and made it into medical school – a dream come true! Looking back, it has been a tough road but I thank God for making it here. Now my new dream is to get through medical school and become a good doctor and save lives. I really want to the thank God for the opportunity to be part of Makomborero, besides the financial support Makomborero has helped me grow, and look at life from a different perspective. It’s easier now to get through some difficult situations because of the skills I have acquired during my A’levels and sometimes I really sit down and think if I had not been part of the Makomborero Scholarship program how could I have handled some of these situations.