Student Edge: America's Plenty Inspires African Entrepeneurs
What first strikes you about Getrude Chimhungwe ’08 and Mufaro Kanyangarara ’07 is their gracious manner and utter lack of self-aggrandizement. Celebrated by the college, the Alumnae Association, and their peers for winning a $10,000 grant in spring to improve the health care of Zimbabwean girls orphaned by HIV/AIDS, Getrude and Mufaro are nevertheless visibly unmoved by all the attention, except for a little squirming in their chairs.
“I don’t like being in the limelight,” admits Mufaro, a statistics major, brushing a hand across her face. Being accepted into Harvard’s School of Public Health this fall hasn’t exactly helped to deflect the attention. Getrude is enrolled in the dual-degree engineering program with the University of Massachusetts. While these two friends are quick to point out that MHC has given them previously unimaginable opportunities and opened their eyes to their own potential, the style they share is quiet, steady, and absolutely focused on accumulating knowledge and skills to help alleviate Zimbabwe’s stunning social and economic problems.
On hearing of the Davis Foundation’s generous offer to fund motivated young people with ideas for peace, Getrude and Mufaro got together and brainstormed ideas. Rather than offering food or school materials to some of their country’s many orphans—the adult HIV/AIDS prevalence rate is 25 percent and sadly took both of Mufaro’s parents—they settled instead on an income-generating business plan to provide long-term, sustainable help.
They first thought about a mushroom farm and a water-hole-boring business before landing on a chicken and egg farm. “We realized that [it] was a manageable thing to do,” says Getrude, whose uncle is currently in the business. Given their relative affordability in a nation facing a 1,500 percent inflation rate, eggs are in high demand. By aligning the business with a nonprofit organization—Tsungirirai, which cares for orphans’ basic needs and runs a health clinic—they figure both the children and the customers will realize some measure of physical, mental, and spiritual health.
In June, Getrude and Mufaro began overseeing construction of the chicken runs, the purchasing of the first 250 baby chicks, and the hiring of project managers and security guards. They anticipate the project’s estimated annual income of $18,000 will give 700 orphans the care they need to begin to thrive.
Despite the chaotic economy and political instability of their country—many young Zimbabwe professionals would love to emigrate, they admit—Getrude and Mufaro say their exposure to America’s plenty has made them even more committed to bringing even a percentage of that lifestyle to the orphans.
“For me it’s a desire to make the world a better place,” says Getrude. “Some people helped me to be where I am … so I want to make someone else’s life better.”—M.H.B.
Photo by Paul Schnaittacher
