wfn.org | Africa University graduates its largest class

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

June 22, 1999	News media contact: Thomas S.
McAnally*(615)742-5470*Nashville, Tenn.    10-31-71BP{344}

NOTE:  Photographs of Karihano Dieudonne, the Rev. Bridget Elba and Vivian
Johnson are available for use with this story. 

By Andra Stevens*

OLD MUTARE, Zimbabwe (UMNS) -- United Methodism's Africa University
presented degrees to 140 students Saturday, June 19, the largest graduating
class in the school's history. 

The university, located in Zimbabwe, has a total of 94 graduates from four
previous graduation ceremonies.

The 1999 class represents  four faculties --  agriculture and natural
resources, education, management and administration and theology - and 11
African countries: Angola, Burundi, Democratic Republic of Congo, Ghana,
Liberia, Malawi, Mozambique, Sierra Leone, Tanzania, Uganda and Zimbabwe. 

Thirty percent of the graduates are female. The faculty of agriculture and
natural resources gave  21 graduates  bachelor of science degrees; the
faculty of management and administration gave  13 graduates master of
business administration degrees; and the faculty of theology gave nine
graduates the bachelor of divinity degrees.

The faculty of education, launched in 1996, graduated its first group of
students. Eighty-eight graduates, all Zimbabweans, received bachelor of arts
degrees. Most are certified classroom teachers who enrolled in a unique
two-year program designed to upgrade teachers' content knowledge in their
teaching subjects and to improve their professional competence.

"These are mature persons with extensive experience in the field of
teaching," said James Quarshie, dean of the faculty of education.  "They are
well-trained and competently able to teach their subjects up to "A" level in
the secondary schools, but we also feel that they are prepared to assume
initial leadership training positions in education."

When the two-year program was launched in the 1997-98 academic year, it
proved immensely popular with hundreds of certified and experienced teachers
applying. It opened in August 1997 with a hundred students.

Among them was 33-year-old Isaiah Sabwe, a Zimbabwe National Army teacher,
who said he wanted to be a soldier with a difference because he realized
that the general public in Zimbabwe had a misconception that "soldiers are
uneducated and rough people". 

Sabwe received his certificate in education from Belvedere Teachers College
and joined the staff of Allan Wilson School in Harare in 1989. In 1991, he
transferred to Seke 2 High School and was head of the Technical Subjects
Department. Against the advice and misgivings of friends and family, he
resigned from the Ministry of Education to join the Ministry of Defense
Education Corps at Inkomo Secondary School in Harare in 1992.

"When I joined the army, I diverted slightly from educating children to
offering adult education opportunities to army officers," said Sabwe.  "The
program at Africa University has enriched me and improved my skills so that
I can now teach my two majors -- English and geography -- up to advanced
level." 

"The two-year bachelor of arts in education degree program extends a chance
to thousands of college qualified teachers who did not make it to university
because of limited places ," he said.

Fellow graduate Natalia Manyeza said she owed her success in the program to
supportive lecturers and her own maturity. She described the course content
in her two majors -- geography and history --  as "extensive" and a "great
challenge". 

Sabwe, Manyeza and many of the other students preparing to graduate this
month can also take credit for their impact on Africa University. They came
into new programs in a relatively new institution and helped to refine and
shape both the university and its offerings. 

"We want to focus more on critical gaps in teacher education in Africa,"
said Quarshie. "The programs that will emerge will be more specific and
offer teaching professionals training that is not currently available in the
region," he said. The faculty of education is considering offering
specialized training in language education -- English, Portuguese, French
and others -- early childhood education, guidance and counseling and African
arts and music education.

Among the students graduating from the faculty of agriculture and natural
resources is 27-year old Dieudonné Karihano from Burundi. After graduation,
Karihano will go to Zambia to train for the church's  "Missioners of Hope"
program.

Part of the United Methodist Bishops' Initiative for the Children of Africa,
the program is training 100 men and women from all over the world  to serve
on projects aimed at alleviating suffering, attacking the causes of poverty
and improving the quality of life of African children. The missioners will
serve will serve for two to five years in various countries in Africa in
projects specifically aimed at improving the lives of children.

"When I heard about the program, I felt immediately called," Karihano said.
"I wanted to help because of my own experience of war. Someone helped me and
now I have the opportunity to help others."

Karihano hopes to put his skills and knowledge to work in helping
communities to provide food for their children. "We cannot only preach the
Gospel and teach people," he said.  "We must use our resources to improve
the conditions they live in."

Though he does not know where he will be sent, Karihano is confident that he
will be able to cope. "I lived in exile in Kenya with my bishop (Alfred
Ndoricimpa) and others, and at AU I've lived with people from 16 African
countries without any problems," he said.

Vivian Johnson, a theology student from Liberia who received her bachelor of
divinity degree, agrees.  "This community is like a family to me," she said.
"I've learned to live with people from other cultures, from backgrounds that
are different from mine and it has given me an open mind to people. I don't
expect them to all be like me."

Karihano said Africa University is a place where people who have lost hope
are finding it again.  "I thank God for that," he said. "I remember a time
when I couldn't imagine that I would ever get to university. Now I am
leaving AU with the chance to help other people regain hope in themselves
and their futures."

When she gave her remarks on behalf of the graduating class of 1999 at this
year's ceremony,  the Rev. Bridget Elba of Sierra Leone said Africa
University is "holy ground."

"It is no longer a dream," she exclaimed. "The dream is now an exciting and
marvelous reality and we, as graduates, are supposed to help in building
communities of faith, hope and love throughout Africa and the world." 

Elba, a grandmother and former teacher, came into the ministry after a
career in education. She had served in the Sierra Leone Conference of the
United Methodist Church for 10 years. In addition to her bachelor of
divinity degree, she was honored as the female graduate with the highest
grade point average. 

"The award came as a surprise but I am really honored," she said. "I hope it
will serve as a positive example to others, especially age-wise. I'm proof
that though opportunities may come late in life they can still be tapped.
Age is not an obstacle to attaining your dreams." 

# # #

*Stevens is director of the Africa University Office of Information.

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