wfn.org | Africa University celebrates 10 years, dedicates buildings

["NewsDesk" <NewsDesk@UMCOM.ORG>]

Nov. 18, 2002 News media contact: Linda Green7(615)742-54707Nashville, Tenn. 
   10-31-71BP{528}

NOTE: For related coverage, see UMNS stories #512, #527, #529 and #530.
Photographs are available.

By Linda Green*

MUTARE, Zimbabwe (UMNS) - People from around the world gathered at United
Methodist-related Africa University Nov. 15-17 to celebrate the school's 10th
anniversary, with special events that included the dedication of two new
dormitories and a theology building.

Ten years is a short time in the life of a university, but Africa University
has become one of the most active in Africa in that time, noted Vice
Chancellor Rukudzo Murapa, after a processional opening the formal
celebration event Nov. 16. Africa University's curriculum and programs will
play a role in the rebirth and reunification of the continent, he said.

The school was born in a scrub field in 1992, with 40 students meeting in
renovated farmhouses for classes in theology and agriculture and natural
resources. The university today has been described as "cosmopolitan endeavor"
with a world-class campus and a diverse community of 1,500 people. It is also
the first United Methodist-related, degree-granting institution in Zimbabwe.
  
More than 1,000 students from around Africa are enrolled there, and 899
graduates are working and providing leadership around the continent and the
world. They are agriculturalists, teachers, researchers, entrepreneurs and
pastors "who are responding to the critical needs with ideas that work and an
attitude of service," Murapa wrote in an anniversary message.

Africa University has not only diversified and expanded its programs since
its beginning, but it has become a "continental university," according to
Swithun Mombeshora, Zimbabwe's minister of higher and tertiary education. He
gave the institution high marks for its contributions to Zimbabwe's national
development, noting that it has widened access to education and introduced
relevant disciplines and programs.

"Our combined efforts have resulted in an institution that is a place of
hope, renewal and innovation and a source of a new leadership model for the
people of Africa," Murapa said. "In view of these phenomenal accomplishments,
there is cause for celebration."

"Africa University is proof that when we put God in front of our plans, they
will be implemented, no matter how long it takes," said Tsitsi Kagurabadza,
the university's food service manager and one of 25 people to receive a
10-year pioneer service award. "It is prime. It is holy ground." The
institution is "a beacon of light" in Africa, implementing knowledge with a
spiritual foundation, she said.

"Seeing it come from its humble beginnings to come to this permanent place
with an infrastructure is like the coming up of mushrooms," she said. She
admitted that she did not think the university would make it this far, and
said she was reminded of the apostle Paul, "who says that when things get
tough, people do more."

The opening ceremony featured African dignitaries from across the continent,
as well as United Methodist pastors and church leaders from the United
States. Murapa got them in a celebratory mood by leading the Africa
University Choir in singing "Happy Birthday" to the university. The
celebration was a rare and historic occasion, he said, because "you only
celebrate a 10th anniversary one time." 

Africa University has built a solid position in the field of higher
education, and the anniversary is a time to reflect on and honor the
contributions that it has made, Murapa said. He also encouraged the United
Methodist Church and the citizens of Africa to "finish the work we have been
commanded to do." The school still needs prayers, as well as gifts and
collective commitment, to "survive despite the ever growing hostile
socioeconomic environment," he said.

Graca Machel, a well-known education advocate in Mozambique, was an honored
guest at the Nov. 16 event. The university conferred upon her an honorary
doctor of law degree for her work in championing education, literacy, human
rights, social justice and development in Africa. 

Machel thanked the university for its work in promoting the well-being of
African children, respect for women's rights and peace across the continent.

While the 21st century is a time of great promise, it is also a time of
"great misery" for millions of Africans, she said. She described the
overwhelming poverty that the continent is experiencing at a time when other
nations are prospering, and the AIDS pandemic that has left 11 million
children without parents. The disease has affected more than one-third of
Africa's countries, she said. "If the rate of infection were stopped today,
we (would) have to deal with the impact for the next 20 to 30 years."

Machel gave the statistics not to cast a pall over the celebration but as
part of an appeal for the students to work for eradicating AIDS and poverty
and to regain a sense of what being African is about. Because of the
continent's numerous problems, some African students are ashamed of who they
are, she said, noting at the same time that people of her generation
struggled to liberate their countries and people from colonial rule. 

Africa University presents an "opportunity to bring together a wealth of our
diversity to build a deep sense of oneness," Machel said. She asked the
students to revive "our sense of self-worth, self-use, self-confidence and of
our dignity and our pride of being." She also asked them to use their
knowledge to generate wealth for the future by identifying the root causes of
poverty.

She urged the students to build a culture that acknowledges differences and
respect, noting that mutual acceptance will provide opportunities to resolve
conflict. "In some places on our continent, it is much easier to buy a gun
than a book," she noted. 

Machel challenged Africa University to be an institution that gives value to
Africa and African culture. The university can address poverty and HIV/AIDS
by promoting research, training and curriculum that emphasizes positive
behavior, she said.

The visitors at the anniversary celebrations included 80 people from the
South Carolina Annual (regional) Conference, who came to see the formal
dedication of the Bishop J. Lawrence McCleskey Faculty of Theology Building.
The conference had financed the building, named for the South Carolina
bishop.

The South Carolina Conference has 244,000 members, including the largest
constituency of African Americans of any U.S. conference. The theology
building is a result of the conference's three-year campaign to raise $2.5
million for Africa University and church projects in Zimbabwe. Of that, $1.7
million was given to construct the theological building, $300,000 to endow
scholarships at the university and $500,000 to support Zimbabwe Annual
Conference children's programs.

The theology building provides a separate facility for people preparing for
full-time ordained ministry in the United Methodist Church. The building was
designed to be a place where men and women will acquire theological education
and training for ministry in an African context. The construction of the
building also has helped relieve overcrowded classrooms and offices. 

Eight South Indiana delegates attended the dedication of two residence halls
that their conference had financed. The buildings were dedicated as the
Rukudzo and Helen Murapa Hall of Residence, honoring the vice chancellor and
his spouse, and the James Henry Salley Hall of Residence, for the
university's associate vice chancellor for institutional advancement. 

During the dormitory dedication service, Murapa said the buildings are
manifestations of God's love by people far away but close in faith. The dorms
will allow some students to have a place to call their own for the first
time, he said. "For them to know that it is theirs for the time that they are
here is a source of gratitude ... for without you and without God speaking in
you and sending you to do what you are doing, they (the students) would not
be what they are. ... And we say to our friends from South Indiana thank you
... not for what you did, but for being obedient servants of God by giving
his words to us through this gift."

Indiana Area Bishop Woodie White said it was a privilege for the South
Indiana Conference to share in building two dormitories. "Thanks so much for
giving us the opportunity to share God's abundance in this place."

Dora Largent, South Indiana's conference lay leader, challenged the students
to use their potential and talents to share God's love not only in Africa but
across the globe. She encouraged them to follow God's call because God has
"has lots of creative surprises" in store.

Speaking on behalf of the students, Ken Mwez expressed gratitude for the
dormitories. Because of the South Indiana Conference's good will, 110 extra
spaces in triple occupancy have "gone a long way in alleviating the problem
of accommodation at Africa University," he said. The dormitories will house
male students, but female students will live on the lower floors until
another dorm is built for them.

At the end of the dedication, the South Indiana visitors announced that their
conference had raised $50,000 more than its $1 million capital campaign goal
for the dormitories. That money will be given to the university for use in
dormitory projects or for other needs, the group said.

The university also celebrated the pending launch of its Institute of Peace,
Leadership and Governance. The first such effort on the continent, the
institute will serve as a forum for debate, research, analysis and
scholarship on peace and governance issues. The university has spent two
years developing the institute and its programs. The first students will
enroll in January, and Machel has accepted an appointment to join the
institute's faculty.

Mombeshora praised the institute, calling it an important innovation for
meeting the challenges of peace, leadership and governance that face Africa
today. "These are critical ingredients if Africa is to realize her full
potential in national development and unity," he said. "Peace is life itself,
and every one of us should treasure it." 

# # #

*Green is United Methodist News Service's Nashville, Tenn., news director.

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United Methodist News Service
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