TWENTY ZIMBABWEAN STUDENTS GET SCHOLARSHIPS WORTH MORE THAN US$4.5 MILLION TO STUDY AT AMERICAN UNIVERSITIES

Paul Engelstad, Public Affairs Officer

The US Embassy Charge d'Affairs, Katherine Dhanani, cuts the cake to celebrate the departure of 2007 USAP students to study in University colleges and universities.

Twenty economically disadvantaged Zimbabwean students have collectively been offered full four-year scholarships worth over US$4.5 million dollars to study at some of the finest colleges and universities in the United States. Embassy of the United States Charge D’Affaires Katherine Dhanani recognized these students during a send-off ceremony held on Friday, July 27 at 1000 hours at the U. S. Embassy’s Public Affairs Section in Eastgate Building.

The United States Student Achievers Program (USAP) assists highly-talented, economically-disadvantaged A level students to negotiate and finance the process of obtaining full scholarships to study at selective US colleges and universities. In addition to being straight A students, USAPers also exhibit demonstrated leadership potential and the ethos of giving back to their community.

The USAP students, who participated in the program during the 2006-2007 academic year, represent the best and brightest of Zimbabwe. They come from a variety of home areas and high schools this year including Evelyn Girls High in Bulawayo, Kutama College, Hippo Valley in Chiredzi, Harare High, St. Patrick’s in Gweru, St. Faith’s Rusape, Gokomere in Masvingo, Highfields and Marondera High.

Charge d’Affaires Dhanani said the Embassy views student exchanges as an excellent bridge between the people of the United States and Zimbabwe. She noted that the USAP students are an exceptional group: “These students exemplify the hope for Zimbabwe’s future. All have achieved extremely high academic standards despite severe hardships. They stand as an example of what this country can achieve. We are proud to have worked with such determined and gifted youth and wish them the best as they embark on this educational journey.”

The USAP students will be attending a range of highly-selective colleges in the United States including Duke, Brown and Yale Universities, the Universities of Pennsylvania and Chicago, as well as top ranked liberal arts colleges such as Amherst, Vassar, Davidson and Mount Holyoke. Their academic and career goals range from medicine and scientific research to engineering to finance and economics to social development.

Since the establishment of USAP at the US Embassy in Harare in 1999, over 150 USAP students have enrolled with full scholarships covering tuition and fees, room and board, books and other expenses for four year bachelor degree studies. The first cohorts, who began in 2000, are now pursuing graduate studies or gaining practical work experience in the United States, in other countries and here in Zimbabwe.

The Embassy recently reviewed over 455 applications and selected the eighth cohort of 31 USAP students, currently in U6, who will strive to enroll in US institutions starting August 2008.

USAP recruits students directly through secondary school headmasters and “A” level teachers from all high schools throughout Zimbabwe and requires an extensive application process similar to that of highly selective colleges in the United States. The students spend a year in the program growing together and working through the college application process, with all costs of the program borne by the Embassy. The US colleges and universities provide the scholarships. Local corporate and individual sponsors have also contributed to the students’ expenses including visa fees, immunizations and air tickets.

The experience of USAP students studying in the United States over the past seven years has been exceptionally positive. Academically, they have performed extremely well, and many have worked with professors as teaching assistants or in academic research, especially in Math and Science fields. Socially they have been engaged in, and have spearheaded, a wide variety of initiatives– clubs, sports, music and dance troupes, community service and leadership activities on campus and in their surrounding communities.

As an alliance, the students have formed their own listserv and website (www.usapglobal.org) to support one another and provide a sounding board for ideas, the sharing of triumphs and challenges. The current USAP students in the U. S. also manage a US-based trust fund that assists future USAP students to reach their dreams of studying in the United States by financing visa fees, immunizations, college and university deposits and occasionally paying airfares. In June 2007 the USAP students in the U. S. held their fourth annual USAP conference on the campuses of Smith and Amherst Colleges in Masschusetts to further unite the USAP students who reflect the best of Zimbabwe’s youth.

The USAP program, established in 1999, has been replicated in 15 other countries around the world, including Bangladesh, Brazil, Colombia, Ecuador, Latvia, Madagascar, Malawi, Mongolia, Nigeria, South Africa, Uganda, and United Kingdom.  

Issued: July 27, 2007