Source: Presidential scholarship changing lives – herald
Wallace Ruzvidzo
Herald Reporter
DALUBUHLE Tshuma’s life has taken a remarkable turn, thanks to President Mnangagwa’s ED-UNZA Scholarship Programme.
Launched in 2019 by President Mnangagwa, this transformative programme seeks to bridge the gap among students from all walks of life.
This programme has already changed countless lives, building a fund of US$2 million with the goal of supporting 100 students each year and reaching a target of US$10 million by next year.
With all their needs covered, students under this scholarship can focus on their studies without the burden of school fees.
As Dalubuhle puts it, there is now no difference between himself, a boy from the humble villages of Lupane, and “Albert”, who hails from affluent suburbs.
Currently studying law at Great Zimbabwe University, Dalubuhle’s path has not been an easy one.
He faced immense loss early in life as his mother passed away in 2012, and his father died when he was just two years old.
After being adopted by a foster mother in grade 7, he found a new sense of hope and determination.
“Dalubuhle grew up in Ndengwende village in Lupane. I got involved in Dalu’s life as a spiritual mother and by then he was in Grade Seven.
“So in December 2014, his teacher told me that Dalubuhle did not have money to go to Secondary school, so I adopted him. In 2015, he started his Form 1,” narrated his foster mother.
“We were not financially stable for him to further his education at the university level. He stayed at home, doing piece jobs.”
Dalubuhle discovered the ED-UNZA scholarship through a WhatsApp group shared by a supportive teacher.
“My biological mother passed away in 2012 and then my biological father passed away, I think when I was around two years old, because I do not have a memory of him. The finances could not be put in one place for me to be able to go to school.
“I told mum that I wanted to do law, I was in a certain group of former Mabewa High School learners, so there is a teacher who sent the advert to the group,” he said.
Initially, his foster mother was sceptical about his chances of being accepted.
But one day, she received a call with the incredible news: Dalubuhle had been awarded the scholarship!
“By then, I did not have much faith that he would get the scholarship,” said his mother.
“One day I received a call from Great Zimbabwe, congratulating me that Dalubuhle had been accepted for his degree.
“It is an opportunity for him to further his studies, to mix and mingle with great minds…(and) also to help other people who are less privileged when you make it in life,” she said.
The ED-UNZA Scholarship also pays tribute to President Mnangagwa’s days at the University of Zambia, where he studied law after enduring years in prison before Zimbabwe’s independence.
Dalubuhle’s story is just one shining example of how the ED-UNZA scholarship is lighting the way for many, proving that dreams can indeed come true, regardless of one’s background.
His foster mother had nothing but praise and kind words for President Mnangagwa.
“We do not even put a cent towards his education; everything is covered.
“May God bless you (President Mnangagwa) with a longer life so that you will continue to bless other people and other families like us,” she said.
Dalubuhle also expressed gratitude to the President for affording him a chance that has drastically changed the course of his life.
“What we are grateful for is that even in such deep, rural places, the Presidential Scholarship was able to find someone there.
“Now it shows that the tentacles of such a machine (Presidential Scholarship programme) reach every place.
“Besides the school fees, tuition, accommodation and food for the whole semester, we are also given a monthly stipend…it has changed my life drastically,” said a visibly excited Dalubulhe.
Because of the President’s kindness, the youthful law student said even his peers do not believe him when he tells them that he comes from a village in Lupane.
Such is the impact that the scholarship programme has made.
“I usually tell people that I come from the villages, but it is hard to differentiate between me and someone who comes from Harare because we are now at par.
“It is all the works of the President; he makes sure that there is no difference between a Dalubuhle who comes from Lupane, and an Albert who comes from affluent suburbs,” he said.
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