A-level Scholarship Programme
We provide a scholarship programme for around 8 promising students each year. These students are selected from hundreds of applicants following a rigorous academic and character based selection process developed by Mark. All of the students are provided with a high quality A-level education at three top private schools in Harare, a home to live in and all the resources they require to make their study life as easy as possible. These students have all been recruited from the surrounding townships of Harare and each of them has an incredibly inspiring story of how they fought against tremendous odds to get through their GCSEs and come out with outstanding results.
The A-level Scholarship Scheme started in 2011 and we have had 6 groups of students graduate from Makomborero. Our 8 second-year students from the 2017 intake are all doing well, and we have just recruited a further 8 first-year students for 2018.
Our past students have all achieved extraordinary A-levels results! Here are their results, and stories of what they’re all doing now:
Makomborero also supports a number of A-level students who don’t qualify for the scholarship scheme (8 per year), paying their school fees at local government schools, examination fees and providing them with textbooks.
University Grant Scheme
Support for our students doesn’t stop after A-Levels. In order to ensure that our scholarship students go as far as they can with their education, Mark and Laura work with these students to apply for university scholarships around the world. Those students who don’t benefit from university scholarships are offered a grant to study at a Zimbabwean university. These grants will be repaid once the students are in full-time employment, making this scheme self-supporting. We will have our first University Graduates in 2017.
Mobile Science Laboratory
In Zimbabwe, many schools in the high density (township) suburbs and rural areas are unable to afford to run science laboratories. The result is that pupils learn the theory behind practical experiments, without having any hands-on experience to draw from.
Makomborero is in the process of converting an old shipping container into a Mobile Science Laboratory, that can be moved from school to school, enabling as many pupils as possible to have practical experience of using science equipment, as well as giving the teachers hands-on training and helping them gain confidence in using the small science kits each school is supplied by the Ministry of Education. The Mobile Science Laboratory will spend a total of 4 weeks at each township school, and we will supply a teacher’s guide as well as worksheets, notes and multiple choice questions for each student to keep.
We need your help to make this happen, and we are running a Global Giving Campaign to fund this project.
Girl Mentorship Programme
Makomborero works with schools in the high density area to identify vulnerable* girls in From 2 and to provide a mentorship programme that gives them hope and vision for their futures beyond the society pressures they face. We hope to address, in a very small way, the gender imbalance we experience with our scholarship programme and see more girls making it through to Form 4 and not dropping out at Form 2. This project is run by Makomborero past girl students who have grown up in the environments these girls are in and know their very real struggles first hand. Our aim is to provide a source of inspiration and hope through giving life skills training, teaching a handicraft, and hosting inspirational speakers.
*Vulnerable – girls who have incredible family pressure, due to economic situation, to drop out of school, girls whose education is not a priority, girls who feel that they have no hope beyond getting married and leaving school before they are 15, girls who see no purpose in education, girls with disabilities, girls who struggle to see the value in education etc.
NDEIPI Business Training – ONE Hope Initiatives in partnership with Makomborero Zimbabwe
Ndeipi is an entrepreneurial, small business training course focusing on changing the response to the question ‘Ndeipi?’ (What’s up?) from ‘Hapana’ (Nothing!).
In a country where there is over 90% unemployment, poverty and debt are major problems leading to homelessness, alcohol abuse, crime, prostitution, poor health and feelings of helplessness. It is a commonly held belief that people are unable to do anything about their situation as they are viewed by investors as a high risk group. With little experience in managing money they will often fail to pay back loans, or generate an income because of the social and economic situations they are facing.
Ndeipi teaches participants that they can earn an income using the resources that they already have, rather than needing a big loan or donation. Each participant will receive training in income generation and how to manage money, and US$1(or equivalent). It is a small amount to demonstrate what can be done with so little whilst reducing risk to the lender. On completion of the course participants are awarded a certificated if they have pitched their business, repaid their loan and taught and empowered another person with a micro loan.
We are excited for what these sessions will hold for our families and know that this programme will play a vital role in lifting these families out of the cycle of poverty and empower them to help generate an income. Makomborero Zimbabwe families have benefited from Ndeipi in the past but not in this exclusive programme set up especially for Makomborero.
Revision Schools
Each year Mark and Laura run revision schools in the surrounding townships of Harare. These revision schools target pupils and students about to write their GCSE in October, so are run during the August school holidays. This is a much needed service for these schools, and is a wonderful way for our scholarship programme students to give back to their communities, as well as volunteer teachers from Zimbabwe or abroad. Makomborero has been welcomed with open arms by the headteachers of many high schools we partner with. Our team of volunteers and students find it very humbling working with these schools and to see the hope that many pupils and students are given just by teachers who come from very different backgrounds to them taking the time to invest in their lives. The heads often say it is an incredible motivator for them.
Support of Rural Schools
Mark and Laura have a vision for education throughout Zimbabwe and love supporting rural schools. In previous years they have worked in Mondoro/Ngezi supporting local government schools, helping to raise achievement. As a young family whenever they go on holiday they pop into rural schools along the way painting blackboards and leaving textbooks. These schools often don’t receive much outside help and are always so so grateful for any support that they receive. It is hard to describe some of the conditions of these schools and what an impact something as small as painting a black board, donating text books, resources, chalk etc, can be. With time they hope to establish a more strategic work with rural schools but, with a young family and Mark working a demanding job, they will continue to serve in this way.
