School's agriculture students receive top awards
6/19/2001 News media contact: Linda Green · (615) 742-5470 · Nashville, Tenn NOTE: For related coverage, see UMNS stories #278 and #280.
By Andra Stevens* MUTARE, Zimbabwe (UMNS) -- Two graduating students from the Africa University faculty of agriculture and natural resources are the winners of the school's most prestigious awards.
Presented during the June 16 graduation ceremony, the awards are the ZIMRE Prize for the Best Overall Graduating Student and the Community Award for the student who best exemplifies the Africa University spirit and leadership credo.
Brian Kumbirai Mangwiro of Kadoma, Zimbabwe, was this year's ZIMRE Prize winner. He received a bachelor of science with honors degree in agriculture and natural resources. Throughout his four years at the university, he consistently made the Dean's List for maintaining a grade point average of 3.5 or better out of a possible 4.0.
"I am very happy, and I have to give a lot of the credit for this award to my lecturers because they always helped me to focus on the importance of my education," Mangwiro said. "I am also grateful for the support I got from my mother and my friends, especially my late girlfriend, Tambudzai Chiondegwa."
The 24-year-old Mangwiro dedicated his prize to Chiondegwa, who died in an accident last August.
For his mother, Clara Dete, the ZIMRE Prize is a tremendous affirmation after all the sacrifices she made to keep her son in school.
"Brian's education came through suffering and God's love and grace," she said. "I would borrow from family and friends for his fees because as a divorced woman raising five children through petty trading, there was never enough for all our needs. I am so grateful to Africa University for giving Brian a merit scholarship from his second year until now."
Mangwiro hopes that there will be scholarship support from Africa University for him to continue his education. He wants to study biotechnology or molecular biology at the master's level and return to university as a lecturer. He hopes to begin his graduate studies in the coming year.
Jacques Kalombo, a fellow agriculture student and the outgoing Students Representative Council (SRC) president, is the 2001 Community Award winner. The award recognizes outstanding leadership and service to the community.
Born in Lubumbashi, the Democratic Republic of Congo, Kalombo is the second oldest in a family of eight. He's been a student for five years, spending one year learning English and four years studying in the faculty of agriculture and natural resources. He chose to specialize in agribusiness.
"Kalombo is only the second international student to be elected president of the student union in Africa University's nine-year history, and given the population of national students, you realize that he is somebody who is really in touch with his constituency," said Sam Mugandani, Africa University's assistant registrar for student affairs.
Kalombo was elected president of the council in the 2000-2001 academic year, and he headed the most diverse and representative council in the school's history. Under his leadership, the Students' Union wrote and got its constitution accepted by the university's board of directors. The group also renovated its physical space and worked to restore students' confidence in their government, after two years of incidents of mismanagement and misappropriation of union funds.
"I had been praying for all Africa University students to be united, and I couldn't achieve this as a general student," Kalombo said. "That's why I sought out the role of SRC president.
"It is my conviction that the process that led to our new Students' Union constitution is the best example of democracy in action I've ever encountered. Our constitution reflects the uniqueness of the cultural diversity that is Africa University as well as the church-relatedness of this institution." Africa University is a United Methodist-related school.
The constitution provides for a student parliament to monitor the activities of the SRC executive and guard against mismanagement of union resources. It also allows for incentives for members of the executive. They will have access to 10 percent of the Students Union subscription fees to share equally in order to reduce the temptation to corruption. In addition, to ensure a smooth transition from one executive to the next, elections are to be held three months before any executive is due to leave office.
Kalombo's leadership style and skills were pivotal in maintaining dialogue and good relations in the university community, Mugandani said. "He was persuasive and worked very hard at building consensus among students."
His constituents and fellow students highlight his listening skills as the key to his success.
"Jacques listened to everyone, patiently and with respect, and always gave people the sense that their views had been heard and considered when decisions were being made," said Claudine Mujawayesu, a graduating student from the faculty of management and administration.
Kalombo is returning to the Democratic Republic of the Congo to work in the agriculture sector.
# # #
*Stevens is Africa University's director of information.
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