USAP Zimbabwe Profiles
Since it's inception in 1999, USAP has helped tens of Zimbabwean students get accepted to top notch colleges in the United States. Some have since graduated and are working in various fields in the United States and elsewhere around the world and some have chosen to remain in academia at various instituations in the United States. There are over a hundred USAP students from Zimbabwe alone and each one of them has an amazing story to tell. Below are brief profiles of some of our students just to give you a glimpse of our diversity as a people as well as the diversity of our their career paths and futures.
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Tafadzwa Muguwe
Swarthmore College '05
University of Oxford, UK '07
Harvard Medical School & MIT '11
Tafadzwa Muguwe is an intern in internal medicine at Mount Auburn Hospital and also serves as a resident tutor for undergraduates in Cabot House at Harvard College. He graduated in May 2011 with a M.D. degree from the Health Sciences and Technology (HST) program at Harvard and MIT. Tafadzwa hails from the Midlands city of Gweru where he was born. He completed Ordinary and Advanced Level at Kutama High School and entered Swarthmore College on a full scholarship, graduating Phi Beta Kappa with a B.A. in biology. At graduation he received the Ivy Award, 'given by vote of the faculty to the senior man outstanding in leadership, scholarship, and contribution to the college community'. He subsequently spent two years as a Zimbabwean Rhodes Scholar in Oxford where he read for M.Sc. degrees in immunology and global health. Upon completion of his internship at Mount Auburn Hospital, Tafadzwa plans to train in ophthalmology at the Massachusetts Eye and Ear Infirmary.
Anywhere "Siko" Sikochi
Middlebury College '05
Darden School of Business, MBA '11
Anywhere (Siko) Sikochi is currently an MBA graduate student at Darden Graduate School of Business, University of Virginia. Siko was most recently an Associate in the Financial Markets Practice at CRA International, Inc. in Washington DC. He joined CRA in Boston as an Analyst in their Financial Markets group, and was promoted to Associate in the same year in 2007. Prior to joining CRA International, he was a Consultant with FTI Consulting based in the Lexecon, Harvard Square office.
Having been selected into USAP in 2000, he was able to attend college in the United States on a full scholarship from Middlebury College, Vermont. In May of 2005, he graduated magna cum laude with double major in Economics and Russian (with departmental honors in Russian). During his four years at Middlebury College he held a number of leadership positions as well as traveled for study abroad in Moscow. While in Moscow, he interned with the Educational Advising center, where he worked with the first group of USAP students from Russia. He also did two other internships during his undergraduate career, first in Zimbabwe with the US Education Advising on a grant from the Department of State, and then at the Boston Federal Reserve Bank. He has since founded and lead a non-profit organization, Tatenda Foundation, incorporated in Massachusetts to assist his local community of Banket, Zimbabwe and others similar to it across the country and the African continent.
In his spare time, Siko enjoys studying and reading Scriptures and other books, watching movies, and running. He has completed two marathons, one half-marathon, and several shorter races since 2006. At Darden Siko is a member of the General Mngmnt and Operations Club, and the African Businees Organization. He teaches Sunday school to Young men ages 14 - 18 at a local Latter-day Saints Church and sings in the Choir. He holds a valid fishing license he's used a few good times in Virginia.
A proud father of Satriah Erina, born October 5th 2009, Siko strongly believes that his success to this stage was made possible through USAP.
Rainos Alma Mutamba
Trent University, Canada '05
University of Toronto, MSW '09
Mutamba is a Mbira musician, storyteller and social Worker based in Toronto. Over the past 10 years, he has worked with communities in Peterborough and Toronto to support local and international humanitarian efforts. Mutamba has been focused on supporting those affected by HIV/AIDS and the preservation of Zimbabwean traditional ways of being with nature and the spirit. Mutamba has been personally affected by HIV/AIDS and has dedicated his life to support others that have been affected. He has spoken at film festivals and conferences and been invited to lead workshops on HIV/AIDS in community centres, churches and community forums. In recognition of his dedication to community work, Mutamba has received awards in community organizing and student leadership from Trent University and the University of Toronto respectively. Since 2010, Mutamba has been working on building Ubuntu Learning Centre in Zimbabwe, which is dedicated to the recovery and preservation of traditional knowledge systems and spiritual ways.
Prince Chidyagwai
Lafayette College '05
University of Pittsburgh, MA '08
Rice University, PhD '10
Dr. Prince Chidyagwai is currently a Research Assistant Professor in the department of mathematics at Temple University. Prince grew up in Marondera, Zimbabwe. Upon completion of his A-levels at Marondera High School he attended Lafayette College where he graduated with degrees in Mathematics and Computer Science. He earned a masters degree in mathematics at the University of Pittsburgh and finished his Ph.D in Computational and Applied Mathematics at Rice University during the summer of 2010. Dr. Chidyagwai enjoys teaching and his research interests are in numerical methods of partial differential equations.
Bernard Matambo
Oberlin College '05
Brown University '07
Bernard Matambo was born and raised in Zimbabwe. He attended Oberlin College, graduating Class of 2005. While at Oberlin he majored in Economics and Creative Writing before proceeding to Brown University where he completed a Master’s in Fine Arts. Upon completion of his graduate program, Bernard worked as a lecturer at Brown in Africana Studies and Literary Arts. His writings while at Brown received both the Beth Lisa Feldman Award for Fiction and the Matthew Assatly Award. His work has appeared in Witness, Pleiades, The Laurel Review, VespertinePress, and elsewhere. Currently, Bernard is a visiting assistant professor creative writing at Oberlin College.
While in college he was involved in numerous activities including leading the African Students Association, the Student Academic Ambassador Program, and was an active member of the President’s Diversity and Multiculturalism Taskforce.
Previously, Bernard interned with Credit Suisse First Boston (New York), US Embassy Public Affairs Section (Harare), and completed independent research at the World Bank (Washington DC).
Tafadzwa Muzhandu
Mount Holyoke College '05
Reading University, UK '09
Tafadzwa Muzhandu (Fadzie) is currently doing an MSc in Applied Development Studies at Reading University in the UK, after being awarded a Beit-Chevening-Reading (BCR) Fellowship.
Fadzie graduated from Mount Holyoke College (MHC) in 2005. During her studies at MHC, she won a Peace and World Securities Studies scholarship from Hampshire College to go and work in Zimbabwe. She also studied in England for a year at the University of Sussex where she wrote a dissertation on the social and economic impact of HIV/AIDS in Sub-Saharan Africa.
Upon graduation Fadzie worked at Shuvatara School in Kathmandu, Nepal, for five months. After Nepal she went to her home country, Zimbabwe, where she worked as a programme manager for Tariro-Hope and Health for Zimbabwe's Orphans. She also worked as a senior intern at the US Educational Advising Center, where she assisted with the administrative duties. Fadzie has participated in 4 USAP selection committees. She also published an article on Liberal Arts education in the 'View from the World'.
She hopes to get involved in development work, focusing on poverty alleviation and good governance
Cato
The College of Wooster '05
Cato is an IT professional and entrepreneur based in Silver Spring, Maryland. From his base, Cato runs a number of websites and is in the process of creating the ultimate website that will most likely change way things run on the internet forever.
Cato was born in Buhera, a mountainous region in the Eastern Highlands of Zimbabwe. He is the only child in his family. He grew up in the suburb of Mbare in Harare where he attended Harare High School. Upon graduation from high school, Cato attended The College of Wooster in Ohio where he obtained a BA degree in Mathematics. While in college, he served as a member and or an officer in over twenty clubs and organizations through the four years which include the Black Students Association, South Asia Committee, International Students Association, Mathematics Club, and the Wooster Christian Fellowship.
Cato is extremely athletic and loves sports. Having grown up playing soccer and cricket, it was only natural that he would continue playing those sports at varsity level at Wooster. His tremendous passion for the sports and complete dedication to the success of the teams is still being talked about by the coaches at Wooster. During breaks from school and or when the soccer and cricket seasons were off-season, Cato was well known in the community as an enthusiastic ambassador of soccer and cricket. He considers the volunteer work he did outside of school as one of the most fulfilling activity he did in his life.
While in high school, Cato also picked up tennis. He taught himself how to play, mainly by watching the television and playing alone on the wall. However, when he got to Wooster, the challenging academic schedule and his involvement in the soccer and cricket teams unfortunately meant that tennis had to be relegated to the intramural level. Since graduation, tennis has however taken over as the top sport in his life. This summer, Cato will begin volunteer work as a tennis instructor in Silver Spring, MD where he resides.
Outside of work and sports, Cato leads an interesting and very active life. He enjoys hanging out with his friends, hiking in the Shenandoah National Park and the local Rock Creek Park, watching movies, listening to music, reading, and traveling.
Rungano Nyambuya
Ithaca College '05
University of Virginia '06
Born and raised in Mutare, Zimbabwe Ru Nyambuya graduated from Ithaca College in 2005. While at Ithaca, she was one of the pioneering members of MAUYA - African Students Association. In 2004 she interned at Ernst & Young and is now a Senior in the Assurance practice at the firm. Ru completed her Ms in Accounting in 2006 from the University of Virginia. She enjoys watching movies and hopes to travel around the world a lot more.
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