BY GRACE CHIRUMANZU
Hope Sadza (Pictured) is on a mission to share her dream with all African women. As founder and Vice Chancellor of the Women’s University of Africa (WUA), she now wants to roll out her successful programmes beyond Zimbabwe and Zambia and in to Namibia and Malawi.
“The target now is to go through the whole of Africa and pick on the women who have been left behind,” said Sadza. She is the first woman in Africa to create a tertiary institution that allows ordinary women to advance themselves and improve their way of living.
"We call it the second opportunity university; it allows women the chance to start all over with their education. We help them achieve their dream and live a life they have always desired,” she said. WUA offers women Bachelor of Science degrees in areas of management, agriculture, entrepreneurial skills, information technology and education. The university gives a flexible schedule as women take their classes in the evening, on weekends and in block releases.
WUA has produced 1 000 graduates since its establishment in 2002. The shortest programme runs for three years with the longest taking four. It gives first preference to employed applicants aged 24 and over. The oldest student the institution has empowered so far is Tsungi Hungwe-Chimbunde, who at the age of 64 graduated after a three-year degree programme in reproductive health in 2005.
According to Sadza, students have not found problems getting employment after years of empowerment with the university. She told The Zimbabwean ***** that the expansion into Namibia and Malawi should be up and running by 2011 and 2012.
“We will sign an MOU with their universities as we have done with the University of Zambia. We propose to start with 25 students and this time these mature students will pay for themselves or can be supported by their employers,” she said.
“We currently have 20 Zambian women with us. Since we are an opportunity university accommodating married women who are also the working class with lots of responsibilities, we have given them a flexible programme that allows them to manage their social life as well. They (Zambians) are here for three months and they go back for three months. While they are in Zambia they will also be doing open distance learning with the University of Zambia, using modules prepared by WUA.”
Since there are no hostels that accommodate foreign students, the University has a house in Harare’s low density suburb of Mount Pleasant. The institution has survived on funding from African Capacity Building Foundation, with scholarships from Econet Wireless and Zimbabwe Women’s Resource Centre and Networking (ZWRCN).
African Capacity Building Foundation donated a bus to the university and has committed itself to paying tuition fees for the foreign students from Zambia. Econet funds the top 20 outstanding students, while ZWRCN caters for four of the brilliant but poor students.
“Our lecturers are committed and have a passion for working with women. Lecturers have to be people who share the same dream of empowering women because a lot of patience is needed with them.”
It is the joy she has seen in the university’s graduates during past graduation ceremonies that continues to inspire Sadza to keep working with mature women.
“When I came up with the idea of establishing a university many people asked whether as a woman I could do it. But making it this far has proved to them that it is possible not only for me as a woman but for them as well. They have come to accept that everything has a beginning,” she said.
The university has registered a total number of 1500 students. “We want to go up to 4 000 students and we need more women in areas like law and sciences, I have realized that the women who graduate become more and more hungry for education. So we have opened an MBA and Masters in Development Studies as well,” explained Sadza.
Due to the economic challenges that have faced the country in recent years, WUA have seen over 200 dropouts. “It is a sad situation that we don’t have enough scholarships, but we have tried to make it easy for our students allowing them to write the exams and pay their tuition fees on collection of their results.”
Sadza began her career as a primary school teacher, became an officer in government and ended up as a Public Service Commissioner in 1989 resigning in 2000 to open WUA. She followed her dream to attain her PhD with the University of Zimbabwe.
“Before I did my PhD, the time management was a challenge. People had suggested I go to England for my studies but I could not because I had a family to look after. Then I just thought of how many women could be in my situation,” she said.
“Women fail to get the opportunity to go to university once they get married, it is difficult for them to manage the time. But we give them education with flexible timetable. In Africa 85% of the economy is based on Agriculture and 80% of the food is produced by women. Women know how to produce food but they don’t know how to manage, process it and add value as a finished food. We want to give them the knowledge to manage business and be leaders in society.”
Sadza and WUA were awarded winner of the 2007 "Empowering Gender through Tertiary Education" Award at the International Business Women's Conference, in Washington D.C. At the Women Entrepreneurs and Achievers Network (WEAN) awards held in Lagos, Nigeria the same year; she was named Africa's most influential woman in education.
Sheila Portia Tshuma (Pictured)
Regency Casino Operations Manager, Sheila Tshuma (44), believes without the knowledge she got from the Women University in Africa she would not be where she is today.
Tshuma co-owns one of the top of the range Casinos in Zimbabwe with her husband. She was one of the pioneers of WUA, where she attained a degree in General Management in Entrepreneurial development.
“I found the programme very inspiring, the entrepreneur development programme inspires you to take up the challenge of starting your own business, you learn everything how to make a business plan and how it could fail. One of the errors some small business owners make is being everyone in their companies. You would find that in most companies the owner is the seller, the driver, the secretary and this programme just teaches one how to run a business properly by having to employ people with the right skill.
“A lot of the women we went to school with are actually running their own businesses now, I recommend that degree to anyone planning to start their own business.
“The University has given an opportunity to us mature women. When I finished my A levels I didn’t have the requirements points to go to UZ but with the opening up of the Women’s University one didn’t necessarily have to have such requirements as they only require one’s working experience.
“So I like that idea about Women University where they are saying anyone can go to University. From there on I went to Chinhoyi University to do my Masters in Strategic Management but when I compare my programme from my undergrad and postgrad, I still think I learnt more from WUA; no disrespect for Chinhoyi. It has changed my life even at a social level; you get to view everything with a critical mind.”
Tsungirirai Hungwe-Chimbunde (Pictured)
Tsungirirai Hungwe-Chimbunde (68) is a holder of BSc Honors degree in Reproductive Health and Family Sciences with Women’s University in Africa. She registered to embark in this degree at the age of 60 in 2002, the year the university was established.
She was awarded the Ndoro Shield in 2005. The Shield is awarded to the model female student who has shown the embodiment of the university values, hardworking, determination, dedication to studies and a source of inspiration to the African Women.
Chimbunde was the deputy Minister of Women’s Affairs back in 1990 and a former Deputy Minister for Health and Child Welfare.
“Anything good does not come on a silver platter, it is through determination and perseverance, which are the characteristics of an African woman,” she said.
“During our time, not many girls were accessing secondary education, let alone university education. I only enrolled for my university degree at 60. I could not do it at a tender age. Having acquired my diploma in nursing, the traditional profession for a black woman person, I got married and had three children. The marriage did not see us through our lives and we parted ways. I took responsibility to look after my three children. Then it was not easy. However, with that load I did not lose hope, deep down I had that desire to acquire a degree.
“The establishment of WUA and its target group answered my prayer. I quickly grabbed the opportunity. My grandchildren now do not have an excuse not to be graduates. All other women should know that age is just a number.
“Being educated opens someone’s mind. One is able to think outside the box, get a confidence boost and earn respect. I’m now able to express myself much better and understand issues and interpret them better. I wish I had such qualifications during my time as Minister, I always look back and say I could have done better.”
Hope Sadza (Pictured) is on a mission to share her dream with all African women. As founder and Vice Chancellor of the Women’s University of Africa (WUA), she now wants to roll out her successful programmes beyond Zimbabwe and Zambia and in to Namibia and Malawi.
“The target now is to go through the whole of Africa and pick on the women who have been left behind,” said Sadza. She is the first woman in Africa to create a tertiary institution that allows ordinary women to advance themselves and improve their way of living.
"We call it the second opportunity university; it allows women the chance to start all over with their education. We help them achieve their dream and live a life they have always desired,” she said. WUA offers women Bachelor of Science degrees in areas of management, agriculture, entrepreneurial skills, information technology and education. The university gives a flexible schedule as women take their classes in the evening, on weekends and in block releases.
WUA has produced 1 000 graduates since its establishment in 2002. The shortest programme runs for three years with the longest taking four. It gives first preference to employed applicants aged 24 and over. The oldest student the institution has empowered so far is Tsungi Hungwe-Chimbunde, who at the age of 64 graduated after a three-year degree programme in reproductive health in 2005.
According to Sadza, students have not found problems getting employment after years of empowerment with the university. She told The Zimbabwean ***** that the expansion into Namibia and Malawi should be up and running by 2011 and 2012.
“We will sign an MOU with their universities as we have done with the University of Zambia. We propose to start with 25 students and this time these mature students will pay for themselves or can be supported by their employers,” she said.
“We currently have 20 Zambian women with us. Since we are an opportunity university accommodating married women who are also the working class with lots of responsibilities, we have given them a flexible programme that allows them to manage their social life as well. They (Zambians) are here for three months and they go back for three months. While they are in Zambia they will also be doing open distance learning with the University of Zambia, using modules prepared by WUA.”
Since there are no hostels that accommodate foreign students, the University has a house in Harare’s low density suburb of Mount Pleasant. The institution has survived on funding from African Capacity Building Foundation, with scholarships from Econet Wireless and Zimbabwe Women’s Resource Centre and Networking (ZWRCN).
African Capacity Building Foundation donated a bus to the university and has committed itself to paying tuition fees for the foreign students from Zambia. Econet funds the top 20 outstanding students, while ZWRCN caters for four of the brilliant but poor students.
“Our lecturers are committed and have a passion for working with women. Lecturers have to be people who share the same dream of empowering women because a lot of patience is needed with them.”
It is the joy she has seen in the university’s graduates during past graduation ceremonies that continues to inspire Sadza to keep working with mature women.
“When I came up with the idea of establishing a university many people asked whether as a woman I could do it. But making it this far has proved to them that it is possible not only for me as a woman but for them as well. They have come to accept that everything has a beginning,” she said.
The university has registered a total number of 1500 students. “We want to go up to 4 000 students and we need more women in areas like law and sciences, I have realized that the women who graduate become more and more hungry for education. So we have opened an MBA and Masters in Development Studies as well,” explained Sadza.
Due to the economic challenges that have faced the country in recent years, WUA have seen over 200 dropouts. “It is a sad situation that we don’t have enough scholarships, but we have tried to make it easy for our students allowing them to write the exams and pay their tuition fees on collection of their results.”
Sadza began her career as a primary school teacher, became an officer in government and ended up as a Public Service Commissioner in 1989 resigning in 2000 to open WUA. She followed her dream to attain her PhD with the University of Zimbabwe.
“Before I did my PhD, the time management was a challenge. People had suggested I go to England for my studies but I could not because I had a family to look after. Then I just thought of how many women could be in my situation,” she said.
“Women fail to get the opportunity to go to university once they get married, it is difficult for them to manage the time. But we give them education with flexible timetable. In Africa 85% of the economy is based on Agriculture and 80% of the food is produced by women. Women know how to produce food but they don’t know how to manage, process it and add value as a finished food. We want to give them the knowledge to manage business and be leaders in society.”
Sadza and WUA were awarded winner of the 2007 "Empowering Gender through Tertiary Education" Award at the International Business Women's Conference, in Washington D.C. At the Women Entrepreneurs and Achievers Network (WEAN) awards held in Lagos, Nigeria the same year; she was named Africa's most influential woman in education.
Sheila Portia Tshuma (Pictured)
Regency Casino Operations Manager, Sheila Tshuma (44), believes without the knowledge she got from the Women University in Africa she would not be where she is today.
Tshuma co-owns one of the top of the range Casinos in Zimbabwe with her husband. She was one of the pioneers of WUA, where she attained a degree in General Management in Entrepreneurial development.
“I found the programme very inspiring, the entrepreneur development programme inspires you to take up the challenge of starting your own business, you learn everything how to make a business plan and how it could fail. One of the errors some small business owners make is being everyone in their companies. You would find that in most companies the owner is the seller, the driver, the secretary and this programme just teaches one how to run a business properly by having to employ people with the right skill.
“A lot of the women we went to school with are actually running their own businesses now, I recommend that degree to anyone planning to start their own business.
“The University has given an opportunity to us mature women. When I finished my A levels I didn’t have the requirements points to go to UZ but with the opening up of the Women’s University one didn’t necessarily have to have such requirements as they only require one’s working experience.
“So I like that idea about Women University where they are saying anyone can go to University. From there on I went to Chinhoyi University to do my Masters in Strategic Management but when I compare my programme from my undergrad and postgrad, I still think I learnt more from WUA; no disrespect for Chinhoyi. It has changed my life even at a social level; you get to view everything with a critical mind.”
Tsungirirai Hungwe-Chimbunde (Pictured)
Tsungirirai Hungwe-Chimbunde (68) is a holder of BSc Honors degree in Reproductive Health and Family Sciences with Women’s University in Africa. She registered to embark in this degree at the age of 60 in 2002, the year the university was established.She was awarded the Ndoro Shield in 2005. The Shield is awarded to the model female student who has shown the embodiment of the university values, hardworking, determination, dedication to studies and a source of inspiration to the African Women.
Chimbunde was the deputy Minister of Women’s Affairs back in 1990 and a former Deputy Minister for Health and Child Welfare.
“Anything good does not come on a silver platter, it is through determination and perseverance, which are the characteristics of an African woman,” she said.
“During our time, not many girls were accessing secondary education, let alone university education. I only enrolled for my university degree at 60. I could not do it at a tender age. Having acquired my diploma in nursing, the traditional profession for a black woman person, I got married and had three children. The marriage did not see us through our lives and we parted ways. I took responsibility to look after my three children. Then it was not easy. However, with that load I did not lose hope, deep down I had that desire to acquire a degree.
“The establishment of WUA and its target group answered my prayer. I quickly grabbed the opportunity. My grandchildren now do not have an excuse not to be graduates. All other women should know that age is just a number.
“Being educated opens someone’s mind. One is able to think outside the box, get a confidence boost and earn respect. I’m now able to express myself much better and understand issues and interpret them better. I wish I had such qualifications during my time as Minister, I always look back and say I could have done better.”
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