Tinashe's Story
I was born in Harare, Zimbabwe, as the first born in a family of three siblings - two boys and a girl. We lived in a township called Highfield in a two-roomed house. From a very young age my mother always reminded me that the only way to better myself and my life was through education and if I worked really hard I would change my circumstances and my future. Growing up was not easy but my mother always made sure that we were fed and had somewhere warm to sleep and cricket kept me away from the ills of a bad world and the distractions that confront a young man. I completed my primary school education at Chipembere Primary School where I finished with an 82% average. I was offered a cricket scholarship by a former group A school, Churchill Boys High School.
This was a big and welcome change in my life and I was accepted into residence with a full scholarship and I also began to excel in cricket. I was selected to represent Zimbabwe at the U15 World Cup and the Zimbabwe U16 team during the 2000-01 cricket season. During my O levels in 2001, I managed to secure the highest O level results in Churchill’s 50 year history when I obtained 6 A's and three B’s in the Sciences stream. It was while I was at Churchill that I met Mr Peter Roebuck and little did I know that that encounter would lead to a lifelong association. I completed my A levels in 2003. Despite some shortcomings I managed to pull through and was appointed senior prefect in my High School year and also represented Zimbabwe at the ICC U19 World Cup.
After my A levels, I went to work in order to put my young sister through high school and I prayed that, with that done, I would somehow go to university afterwards and fulfil my dream. However the dream for me to continue with my education whilst playing cricket proved futile but relentlessly I promised my mother that one day I will fulfil our dream of me reaching tertiary education but unfortunately she never lived to realise that dream. On the 31 December 2005 my mother passed away due to chest complications and on that day I vowed that I would do anything it takes to realise her dream and also live out mine. I left Zimbabwe cricket and came down to South Africa to see how I could achieve my dream of tertiary education
I came down to South Africa to play cricket for the Highveld Lions academy and, even though playing club cricket would provide a living for me playing in Gauteng, I was finding it difficult to pursue my university studies and I was not fulfilled. So I applied to study at The University of the Western Cape under the NGO Sports Skills for Life Skills (SS4LS) and the LBW Trust to which I had been introduced by Mr Peter Roebuck. They offered me a chance to play cricket whilst studying and it is here at UWC that I have realised my dream. However, hardly had I begun when news came from Zimbabwe that my little brother Tinotenda had died within 6 months of my mother’s passing. It broke me and shattered my world to lose my family like that and it was even harder because I was here alone in a foreign country. However I persevered and managed to arrange tuition support from the LBW Trust for my young sister Tendai, who is still back home in Zimbabwe, to do a part-time diploma course.
I had health issues related to stress and, in my second year, I began to collapse and was ill for the whole of first semester. The doctors said that I had bleeding ulcers and should stop school for a semester or so until I got better or else I would risk losing my life. They said I did not have enough red blood cells any more due to the internal bleeding. I collapsed twice more whilst at university but I refused to stop going to class and instead took up the IS programming stream which was highly demanding. Both N. Kock and Peter Roebuck suggested that it was not a bad idea to consider taking a break and studying something less stressful but I chose to soldier on. Somehow I managed not only to get through my second year and the programming stream.
I managed to regain full health in 6 months and, by November 2008, I was again playing cricket for the University's first team at the National Club championships where I excelled and was the best spinner. I was listed as one of the top ten bowlers of the whole tournament. I passed my programming modules to the amazement of everyone around me and my lecturers as I had missed so many tests and assignments at the beginning. It was then that I realised that in life at times we must have an almost infinite capacity of not knowing what cannot be done and sometimes have to just keep on going.
My health continued to recover in my third year but I was still under treatment. The ulcers are healing and I do not stress as much as I know I am realising and living my dream of playing top level cricket and studying as well. I am still playing cricket and my sister is studying back home. These two things bring joy to my heart. Things have been tough and have not been home for three years but I have managed to achieve my goals and not let setbacks pull me down. Currently I am just about to finish my honours year at UWC and have just finished the cricket season playing for UWC’s first team
I was recently received the award of the Computer Society of South Africa ICT Student of the Year for 2009. It was an achievement I only dreamed possible a few years back and now to be the best ICT student shows that hard work and ambition does pay off. I am graduating next week Cum Laude with an 84% average in my last year and am looking towards studying towards my Master's degree at one of the world’s leading universities given the chance.
In the SS4LS program I am a motivational speaker and mentor to the other students at the university, who like me, are coming from broken troubled homes. I assist them to adapt to university life, set goals and live to achieve as I can relate to what they are going through. As one of the senior students supported by the LBW Trust, I assist by being a mentor and older brother to the younger lads through offering tutoring assistance to those students that need help to adjust and cope with the university workload and how to balance their cricket and academic lives. I also assist in maintaining the SS4LS website and act as the technical consultant and webmaster. At the university, I am involved with the e-Learning department which facilitates the use of ICT in the classroom. I do a lot of training of previously disadvantaged students like me in how to use computers and the internet to get educational materials and, in particular, how to use the University of the Western Cape KEWL platform as a leaning tool.
After having acquired the necessary skills, I intend to come back home to settle in Africa and help mould the way the continent progresses. I am looking at ways that ICT can be used to help develop Africa and how we can use computers and technology to help bridge the education gap that is found in Africa. This will be achieved by making education free and easily accessible to all regardless of location and money. |
