[This is excellent. Jan]

University vacation is traditionally a time students spend catching up on school work, relaxing or pursuing attachments in order to learn job-related skills.

Not so for Zimbabweans studying in the US. Many have taken lead roles in community initiatives to benefit the under-privileged, pioneering a renewed sense of Zimbabwean volunteerism common in the culture of the US.
Rumbidzai Sithole (22), a student of the College of Saint Scholastica in Minnesota became involved in the community she adopted at college. During her college days, Rumbidzai immersed herself in voluntary work with an organization in Minnesota that advocated for economic, social, and housing rights for Sudanese refugees. She also actively volunteered with two American non-governmental organizations, the American Association of University Women and Africa Action.

She took a semester off from college to come home to Zimbabwe for nine months and volunteer with a non-governmental organization providing support for the care, treatment and support of paediatric HIV(43)+ patients.

“This way I learn a lot about issues pertaining to human development. I would like to pursue my post-graduate studies in the area of child-centred health policy. My hope is to work in Zimbabwe and directly contribute to my country’s development through ensuring that everyone’s health, social and political rights are honoured,” she says.

Tafadzwa Muzhandu (25), a graduate of Mount Holyoke College in Massachusetts, mentored five children of a Somali refugee family in the US. She currently works as a program manager at Tariro, a small non-governmental trust that provides financial support to orphaned girls to pursue further education.

“My passion is economic development and education and my aspiration is to work in an organization that allows me to shape policy in this field,” she says.

Another student, Tambudzai Shamu (22), will be graduating in May with a degree in Biology from Viterbo University in Wisconsin. Tambu has spent her school holidays in the US volunteering with homeless communities at Catholic Worker Houses and as part of the clean-up effort in Louisiana after the devastation of Hurricane Katrina. This year, she came home for a semester to join research initiatives on HIV and AIDS at the local offices of the Centre for Disease Control based at the U.S. Embassy in Harare.

“I have a strong interest in HIV/AIDS research and have been using my time here to discover more about the disease, its prevalence and work being done on it. I have been introduced to several HIV projects supported by the U.S. Government in different areas and have taken the time to explore areas of interest that will be helpful when I further my studies,” she says.

Statistics from the Open Doors study by the Institute of International Education show that in 2005-6, there were 1,704 Zimbabweans out of 564,766 international students studying at colleges and universities in the United States. Zimbabwe ties with South Africa as the fourth largest student sending country in Africa to the United States. Only Kenya, Nigeria and Ghana in Africa continue to send more students to study in the U.S.

URL: http://www.thezimbabwean.co.uk/viewinfo.cfm?l…/p>