wfn.org | [UMNS-ALL-NEWS] UMNS# 373-Africa University stays resilient, despite economy, committee hears

[NewsDesk <NewsDesk@UMCOM.ORG>]

Africa University stays resilient, despite economy, committee hears

>Sep. 8, 2008

NOTE: Photographs are available at http://umns.umc.org.

>By Josh Tinley*

NASHVILLE, Tenn. (UMNS)-A few days after issuing an urgent plea for
funds, Africa University's advisory development committee celebrated the
school's resilience amid economic hardship.

Committee members learned Sept. 6 that, despite staggering inflation
rates and political unrest in the school's home country of Zimbabwe, the
United Methodist-related institution continues to pay its faculty and
increase enrollment.

In a Sept. 3 letter to United Methodist leaders across the globe, Fanuel
Tagwira, the university's interim vice chancellor, implored
congregations to pay 100 percent of their apportionments for the school
so that Africa University can survive in Zimbabwe's dismal economic
climate.

According to the Zimbabwean government, inflation rose to 11 million
percent in June. A bottle of Coca Cola costs Z$3 trillion, and Zimbabwe
recently cut 10 zeros from its currency, Tagwira told United Methodist
News Service.

Supporters and administrators of the pan-African school near Mutare,
Zimbabwe, remain optimistic. During the committee meeting, Tagwira
announced that Africa University had welcomed the largest class of
first-year international students in its history and that the school
continues to provide three meals per day for each student.

University officials were happy that the enrollment of international
students increased in spite of the political climate in the country.
About 120 of the 450 new students in this year's freshman class are from
outside Zimbabwe. Tagwira also reported that the university is still
making payroll, but some faculty members have asked to leave, and
attracting new professors has been difficult.

>Apportionments are crucial

Elsie Cunningham, on staff with United Methodist Communications, told
the committee that 30 annual conferences remitted 100 percent of their
apportionments for Africa University in 2007, up from 20 in 2006. She
attributed this in part to the agency's "Give faithfully, give hope"
campaign. The church as a whole remitted just over 90 percent of its
apportionments, she said.

Giving in 2008 is about 1 percent ahead of where it was last year,
according to James Salley of the Africa University Development Office.

Apportionments are responsible for half of the university's operating
budget. He noted that annual conferences often wait until the end of the
year to pay their apportionments, but the university needs to receive
apportionment money throughout the year to survive Zimbabwe's erratic
economic climate. At one time, the school had $1.7 million in reserves,
but that money had to be tapped, he said.

"People need to understand," he said, "that as soon as apportionments
come in, they go right back out."

Tagwira also encouraged congregations and annual conferences to send in
their apportionments early.

>Positive signs

The North Texas Annual Conference is well on its way to meeting the $1
million pledge it made to the university last year, according to
committee members Lisa Tichenor and the Rev. Tyrone Gordon, both from
North Texas. The conference has already given $500,000 toward the
construction of a student health clinic on the Africa University campus
that should be complete in three to four months. The second $500,000
will go toward scholarships.

The committee, whose primary task is to help the university's
development office raise "gifts of love" for the school, also learned
that a partnership with the Silver Springs, Md.,-based company United
Converting Corp. will generate additional revenue.

The company produces lightweight insect shield blankets that are
anti-viral, antibacterial and water-resistant, and they repel insects.
The blankets are effective in preventing malaria and other diseases
carried by insects, according to the company. Africa University is
helping distribute blankets branded with the school's logo to parts of
Africa where malaria and other illnesses are most prevalent. The
university receives a royalty for each blanket sold.

Other positives from the development committee meeting included $361,616
given this year for direct scholarships, well above the amount given at
this time last year, and the recent opening of a satellite campus in
Maputo, Mozambique. The committee also discussed saturation events in
which committee members and other university supporters visit
congregations within an episcopal area, making a plea for contributions.
A saturation event in the Nashville area was held in conjunction with
the Sept. 6 meeting.

>God's will

Despite the good signs, Africa University's supporters know times are
tough for the school. Inflation in Zimbabwe has forced the university to
charge tuition monthly, according to Irene Chibanda, university bursar.
"There's no way we can charge fees for the entire semester," she told
UMNS. "Instead of planning for six months, we plan month to month."

The Rev. Jerome King Del Pino, top executive of the United Methodist
Board of Higher Education and Ministry, said the committee needed to
replenish the tenacity of those responsible for opening the university
in 1992. "We don't plan to make our mark then just disappear," he said.
"There is no place to talk about diminishment of resources to this
university."

Del Pino assured the committee that an investment in Africa University
was a safe one.

Committee chair Bishop Ernest Lyght put the university's current
financial crisis in perspective. "The university has been dealing with
economic crisis for several years. They have learned how to deal with
it, and they are dealing with it.

"Africa University, I believe, is God's will. And God's will never
fails."

*Tinley is a freelance writer in Nashville, Tenn., and staff member at
the United Methodist Publishing House.

News media contact: Linda Green, (615) 742-5470 or newsdesk@umcom.org.

>********************

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

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