wfn.org | Q&A: Africa University carries on through challenges

[NewsDesk <NewsDesk@UMCOM.ORG>]

Jan. 18, 2002  News media contact: Tim Tanton7(615)742-54707Nashville, Tenn.
10-31-71BP{013}

NOTE: A photograph of Professor Rukudzo Murapa is available at
http://umns.umc.org/photos/headshots.html.

A UMNS Feature
By the Rev. Dean Snyder*

Africa University, a United Methodist-related school serving the African
continent, is preparing to celebrate its 10th anniversary in 2002. While
Africa University's mission is to serve all of Africa, it is located in
Zimbabwe, a nation experiencing political and economic distress as it
prepares for a controversial presidential election in March. In this edited
interview, Africa University's vice chancellor, Professor Rukudzo Murapa,
discusses the school's successes and the ramifications of the political
situation in Zimbabwe on the university. Murapa is Africa University's
highest official, the equivalent of a university president in the United
States. He was interviewed Jan. 14 in Columbia, Md., by the UMConnection,
the newspaper of the Baltimore-Washington Annual Conference of the United
Methodist Church.

Q: Given the political situation in Zimbabwe, how is Africa University
doing?

A: Africa University continues to exist in a very difficult environment,
politically, socially, and economically. Zimbabwe has indices which show
that it is experiencing 65 percent unemployment and over 100 percent
inflation, and we have elections coming up. 

But, in spite of all these things, I think we have done fairly well, and
continue to do well, thanks to the support we have been getting from the
church community and from families and individuals, particularly in the
United States.

We have also been getting remarkable support from a number of foundations.
They are seeing Africa University as a beacon of hope. The Rockefeller
Foundation, the Ford Foundation, the Kellogg Foundation and others are
making increasing investments in Africa University, which they see as
providing hope in the midst of problems. 

Africa University has been chosen by the Kellogg Foundation to provide
coordination of its support to universities within southern Africa. Africa
University, and myself as vice chancellor, have been asked to do an
assessment of Kellogg's efforts in 10 universities in southern Africa.

The Rockefeller Foundation continues to support our work in the area of
agriculture and also our new effort to build an Institute of Peace,
Leadership and Governance. 

Just before I left home, I was on the phone with the Ford Foundation, which
has indicated that it will be giving us two new grants for institutional
support to allow us to continue to attract academics of high caliber. We
have been fortunate to receive increasing support, while other universities
are suffering. 

Q: To what do you attribute this kind of support?

A: It is because of our status as an independent, private, church-supported
university. It is because we draw our students and staff from across the
continent. There is a multiplier effect at work through Africa University.
Support given to Africa University has direct impact outside Zimbabwe, as
well as within the country, because our students return to their homelands
when they graduate. 

Q: In its beginnings, Africa University was primarily supported by church
funds. How long have you been receiving foundation support?

A: It happened in very modest ways, one student here, one lecturer there, in
the latter part of the 1990s, but significant interest has come only in the
last two years. The Kellogg Foundation, for example, became interested in
our efforts to support agriculture. We initiated a program to train
small-scale rural businessmen who support agriculture with fertilizers,
seeds and implements, and by training the young agriculturalists. 

This is our view at Africa University: Yes, we may not agree with the
government's way of doing land redistribution, but there is a national
consensus that there is a need for land redistribution. The people who have
been settled in these small plots on these farms are people who literally
have nothing other than the clothes they have on their backs. They don't
have the know-how, they don't have the agricultural supports, they don't
have marketing facilities. We see them as a target group that we can provide
knowledge and skills to, a group we can train. We have developed programs on
agribusiness to support these new resettled farmers. 

The truth is that we cannot wish them away. The reality is that they are now
there and they must be productive or otherwise the nation starves. So we
have designed these programs and gone to the foundations for support.

Q: What has happened to your support from the United Methodist Church during
the past 10 years? Is it stronger now than it was 10 years ago?

A: In term of quantity, it has remained very steady, but when you put that
over against the increasing number of students, new programs and the capital
development taking place, it is really falling behind the needs of a growing
university. When we go to the next General Conference in 2004, we hope to
make a case for increased support for Africa University. Clearly we cannot
exist now on the same level of support that we received in 1994 and 1995. 

Q: Are you building any new buildings right now?

A: Yes. Thanks to the support we are receiving from USAID, we have begun a
building for our new Faculty of Health Sciences. Just last Monday, we
commissioned phase two of the Jokomo-Yamada Library, which will house our
information technology center for distance education as well as our computer
center. We are constructing a building for the Faculty of Theology that
should be completed by July thanks to the support of the South Carolina
Conference. 

Q: What is the progress on opening the school of health sciences?

A: The board approved it last year, but it hasn't opened yet because the
financial support was not in place. We are now in the process of putting
together the curriculum. The Health and Welfare Division of the General
Board of Global Ministries is providing us with the help of Dr. Cherian
Thomas for at least a three-month period to help us finalize plans for
curriculum, staff and budget. If all goes well, we are hoping to start at
least two programs, one in nursing science and another in health science,
this next academic year. 

Q: Are you eventually going to have a medical school?

A: Down the road, yes, but we must learn to walk before we run.

Q: What is the Institute for Peace, Leadership and Governance?

A: This is a new institute we have been working on with the support of the
foundations and the United Nations development program. We intend to set up
a world-class institute that will produce a new type of leader for the
African continent, not only political leaders, heads of state and senior
government officials, although that is important, but leadership across the
board - church leadership, school leadership, leadership in civic
organizations and the private sector. How can we bring about a new culture
of leadership, a new culture of governance? We are now at the stage where we
are recruiting students for that program, starting at the master's level.

Q: Will this program draw students from across the continent or is it
focused on Zimbabwe?

A: Everything that we do must be continentwide. It will draw from across the
continent. We expect to attract students through our relationships with
groups active in the area of change, such as United Nations organizations
dealing with children, food distribution, refugees and mediation, and
organizations like the Organization of African Unity. In fact, the chair of
our advisory council is the outgoing general secretary of the Organization
of African Unity, Salim Salim. We are also talking to the councils of
churches across Africa. 

Q: How is AIDS impacting Africa University?

A: It is affecting every facet of life in Africa. Indeed, if Africa is
facing a major threat, it is HIV-AIDS. We have had countries such as Uganda
come to grips with the realities of this disease, and some statistics show a
slowing down of incidence. But even then, when you consider the numbers of
those affected, it is still very frightening. What are we doing at Africa
University? Last year, I appointed a universitywide task force on HIV-AIDS
to raise awareness among students and to develop counseling groups. More
than that, we are establishing a collaboration with St. Jude Children's
Hospital and the Methodist Health Center in Memphis. St. Jude's Hospital has
developed an HIV vaccine which was recently approved by the U.S. Food and
Drug Administration for testing. The testing will be done jointly by St.
Jude and Africa University. 

Q: Has the political situation in Zimbabwe affected Africa University's
ability to draw students from other countries?

A: Not at all, thank heavens. Whatever else you want to say about the
political situation, the government has a lot of respect for Africa
University. President Mugabe continues to talk about being the first
graduate of Africa University, and we are proud of this. He received our
first honorary degree. Generally we have had a lot of support from the
government. Last year, the Ministry of Higher Education and Technology made
a grant to purchase computers for Africa University. The government
continues to respect the church and the university. Africa University is a
pioneer institution. So, in spite of everything else, there has been
support. Students from other countries have not been negatively affected at
all.

Q: What about students from Zimbabwe?

A: They have had some difficulty because of inflation, but we have tried to
cushion this with scholarships. We are in a dilemma. If you look at the
mission of Africa University, it is our goal to target those poor families
who have not had the opportunity to send their children to a university. Yet
these are the people least able to pay. At the same time, the university
must generate income and meet costs, so we also need students who are able
to pay. We try to strike a balance.

Q: Zimbabwe is scheduled to hold elections soon. No matter how the election
turns out, will Africa University still have a future? 

A: Absolutely, no doubt in my mind. There is no event I can see taking place
as a result of the election that would diminish the role of Africa
University.

Q: We here in the United States hear stories about war and widespread
destruction in Rwanda and Sierra Leone. Could this happen in Zimbabwe?

A: Zimbabwe is nowhere near that, far from it, both in terms of the tensions
that exist now or even the propensity for confrontation. Zimbabwe's
infrastructure is so strong compared to Rwanda or Burundi, it simply could
not be knocked down. The level of confidence both internally and externally
is still there. If you come to Zimbabwe as a visitor, you will ask, Where is
the problem? Some of the international students at Africa University say,
What are you complaining about? 

But if I were to say one thing to the international community, the church
included, I would say: Do not commit the same error you did with Burundi,
Rwanda or Sierra Leone, which was sitting by the wayside with folded hands
when massive genocide was taking place and the sacredness of life was being
trampled on. We must remain engaged. Even where we have confidence that
things will not fall apart, we must ensure that they do not in fact fall
apart. The only way to do so is to remain engaged rather than drop out. We
committed errors by sitting on the wayside. Let's not repeat that.

Q: It appears from reading news reports that Zimbabwe seems to be developing
a strong independent press. Is that true?

A: No doubt about it. We have a very vigorous independent press in Zimbabwe.
In fact, the government sees it as too vigorous, too independent, hence the
passage recently of a new law, called Draconian by many, which seeks to
limit that freedom.

In the past we have seen the offices of the independent press bombed, but it
did not shut the press down. Today the biggest selling newspaper in Zimbabwe
is not the government's newspaper, it is the independent Daily News. 

Even this new law that has been passed has already been taken to court, and
one wonders whether, if the judiciary remains independent, it can stand.
Yes, there is a very vigorous independent press. 

Q: Could you say a word more about how inflation is affecting your students?

A: Very simply, it is like this: I go to the board with a budget in which I
have included the cost of meals for students. A month later, maybe a week
later, there is an erosion of that cost because of inflation, which
currently stands at 104 percent. I cannot continue to buy food at the price
I presented to the board, so I must pass on the cost by raising the price of
food for the students. Therefore the student ends up not eating three meals
a day. 

Literally we have students eating two meals a day. Occasionally you find
students eating one meal, because the cost keeps rising. We try to keep
increases as minimal as we possibly can, but we have to pay the prices set
by the Grain Marketing Board. 

Now the government has imposed price controls, again partially because of
the election, but that has brought its own problems. Shortages arise. Bread
is in shortage now because of price controls. Either way, prices go up or,
if you try to control prices, you have shortages. This impacts the students.

Q: What else would you like United Methodists to know about Africa
University?

A: I think something we need to emphasize is that we are not just an
academic institution. We have a very vigorous outreach program to respond to
immediate needs in communities both near and distant. We run a series of
programs in emergency and disaster with the support of the United Methodist
Committee on Relief. We have trained well over 300 individuals from 25
different African countries. 

These individuals are now engaged on a daily basis in addressing emergency
problems, dealing with children, orphans, the elderly, victims of conflicts,
some in war-torn countries. They are trained for six-week periods at Africa
University in capacity building, policy development, designing strategies,
coordination, and maximizing support from church and international agencies.
This program has become so successful that we are now training people from
as far away as New Guinea and Indonesia. We are now getting requests for
help with training from Latin America. 

We have also designed a program to assist communities devastated by cyclones
in Mozambique, Zimbabwe and Botswana. Africa University has identified
specific communities where each of our faculties has taken on the
responsibility to design a program to assist the devastated community. For
example, the Faculty of Agriculture has put together programs that train the
women in those communities to grow and preserve vegetables. Then, the
Faculty of Management trains those same women in how to market the
vegetables. The Faculty of Education goes into the same community to work
with the teachers on literacy programs. We have a very active outreach
program in addition to our commitment to academic development.

# # #

NOTE: Africa University's Web site is at
http://users.harare.iafrica.com/~auinfo/au.html.  

*Snyder is editor of UMConnection, the newspaper of the Baltimore-Washington
Annual Conference.

*************************************
United Methodist News Service
Photos and stories also available at:
http://umns.umc.org