| Zimbabwe remains good place to live, speakers say
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Robert Armstrong |
Sept. 27, 2006
By Linda Green*
NASHVILLE, Tenn. (UMNS) — Though beset with economic problems,
Zimbabwe is still “a very pleasant place to live,” say United Methodists
working with Africa University there.
Because of the country’s economic condition, officials with the
United Methodist-related school are often questioned about operating in
the country and about how and why the university continues its mission
there. Zimbabwe has been described as a place of desolation and strife,
but people who live there disagree with that image.
“Certainly the economy is in shambles. There is no question about
that,” Bob Armstrong told the Africa University Advisory Development
Committee during its Sept. 23 meeting in Nashville. “The thing that you
do find is that it still is a very pleasant to live.”
Armstrong said someone from the United States viewing the country
from a Western perspective might not view the quality of life favorably.
“There are no security problems any greater than any place else. The
problem is an internal struggle that will have to be worked out by
Zimbabwe for Zimbabwe,” he said.
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A UMNS photo by Linda Green
The Jarvis Brothers sing in concert at Africa University’s Richard Reeves Legacy Society Dinner.
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| The
Jarvis Brothers, a group from Orangeburg, S.C., sings in concert at
Africa University’s Richard Reeves Legacy Society Dinner, Sept. 22. The
dinner, named in memory of a key supporter of the school, was held on
the eve of the Africa University Development Committee’s meeting in
Nashville. A UMNS photo by Linda Green. Photo #06-1136. Accompanies UMNS
story #579. 9/27/06 |
He referred to the country’s 1,300 percent inflation rate, which makes
the cost of living expensive for citizens, and noted that international
costs are the same as they have been for a long time, he added.
Armstrong, a native of Western Pennsylvania, has worked and resided
in Zimbabwe since 1991 as an employee of the U.S. Agency for
International Development. He became a faculty member at Africa
University in 1996 and helped establish the school’s agricultural
business department. He and his wife, Sandy, have since retired and
still live in Mutare, and they will rejoin the university faculty in
January.
They and other Zimbabweans provided the committee with glimpses of life in the sub-Saharan country.
“It is a beautiful place to live,” Armstrong said. “...We thoroughly
enjoy it. We could live practically anywhere we want it, but we choose
to spend half of our time in Zimbabwe, so we think it is fine.”
Armstrong described Africa University as “a role model for what
potential education could be, and it can offer a great example as (to)
what can be done to do educational training in Africa. It is an
institution that should be continued and perpetuated.”
His esteem for the university stems from a “love (of) Zimbabwe and
Africa and helping students. I believe quite frankly that the educated
of the world have an obligation to those who are not educated, and
Africa University gives me a nice medium in which to do that kind of
work.”
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Rukudzo Murapa |
The development committee, established in 1993, works with the Africa
University Development Office in Nashville and agencies of the United
Methodist Church to raise money for the school’s capital, endowment and
operational needs.
University ‘untouched’
Committee member Grace Muradzikwa, chief executive of NicozDiamond in
Harare, Zimbabwe, said Zimbabweans “appreciate the Africa University
miracle. It is unarguably one of the finest universities in Zimbabwe at
the moment,” she said. “With all that is happening in Zimbabwe ...
Africa University remains very much untouched.”
She told her fellow committee members that she participates in
business throughout Africa and is “always happy to get back home.”
“Zimbabwe still remains one of the best places to live despite the
levels of inflation,” she said. “It is a very safe place. It has warm
people with very warm hearts.” She added that the “infrastructure is
still very good.” “With that in mind, I do not know if there could have
been a better place to locate Africa University,” she said.
University Vice Chancellor Rukudzo Murapa said student enrollment is
being kept at a little more than 1,200, and student housing remains a
challenge.
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A UMNS photo by Linda Green
Grace
Muradzikwa, chief executive of NicozDiamond in Harare, Zimbabwe, tells
the Africa University Advisory Development Committee about life in
Zimbabwe.
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| Grace
Muradzikwa, chief executive of NicozDiamond in Harare, Zimbabwe, tells
the Africa University Advisory Development Committee about conditions in
Zimbabwe during the group’s fall meeting Sept. 23 in Nashville, Tenn.
Established in 1993, the committee works with the Africa University
Development Office in Nashville and agencies of the United Methodist
Church to raise money for the school’s capital, endowment and
operational needs. A UMNS photo by Linda Green. Photo #06-1137.
Accompanies UMNS story #579. 9/27/06 |
“Because of the current prevailing macroeconomic environment and the
runaway inflation ... which is the highest in the world, and the
extremely controlled exchange rate, it has become extremely costly to
put up new buildings,” Murapa said. “We are sort of at a standstill with
respect to that.” The school has 1,229 students from 25 countries,
including Benin, Mali and South Africa.
Murapa noted that the university has kept faculty and staff turnover
at a minimum, unlike other academic institutions in the country.
In his report to the committee, James Salley, associate vice
chancellor of institutional advancement, said the university is
“managing by the grace of God.” The university has “to do a juggling
act” to maintain all of its operations, and it “continues to operate
without interference from the government,” he said.
In other actions, the committee:
- Heard about a campaign to build housing for married students.
- Learned of a Senior Servants program opening in the Faculty of Management and Administration.
- Received an update on the clinical trials for an AIDS vaccine by St.
Jude Hospital in Memphis, Tenn., and its approval by the Zimbabwean
government.
- Learned of proposed plans by the university’s U.S. alumni
association for special projects such as a soccer game to benefit Africa
University.
- Learned of an Oct. 9-13 celebration at the school in honor of Dag
Hammarskjöld (pronounced HAM-mar-shold), who assisted emerging nations
in Asia and Africa as the former secretary general of the United
Nations, before dying in a 1961 plane crash in Zambia (formally Northern
Rhodesia).
- Learned about the United Methodist Foundation from its director, Byrd Bonner.
Before the committee meeting, the Africa University Development
Office hosted the Sixth Annual Richard E. “Dick” Reeves Legacy Society
Recognition Dinner. The dinner is held in memory of a key supporter of
the school who died in 1999, and the legacy society was created in 2001
to recognize, honor and thank those who, like the late United Methodist
layman, reach beyond their own lives to have an impact on future
generations at Africa University. The 2006 society honorees included
four people who received posthumous recognition, six who were honored
for deferred gifts to the university, five for contributing to the
general endowment and two for endowing scholarships.
The Jarvis Brothers, a singing group from Orangeburg, S.C., performed
a concert for Africa University’s friends and supporters at the Sept.
22 dinner.
*Green is a United Methodist News Service news writer based in Nashville, Tenn.
News media contact: Linda Green, (615) 742-5470 or newsdesk@umcom.org
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Resources
Africa University
Africa University Development Office
Africa University Fund
Country profile: Zimbabwe
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