AU Today Summer 2013: 20th Anniversary

Throughout her life, Marjorie Jean Light-foot has loved learning through books, drama, art, music, nature, travel and people. Her range of interests has led her to dramatize, direct, produce and act in works of Chau-cer, the Brontes, Maria Edgeworth, Virginia Woolf and Henry James, as well as write scholarly articles and teach.

Marjorie, born in Oak Park, Ill., is the young-est of three children of Maybelle and Cecil Light-foot. Her mother was a teacher and librarian and her father a pharmacist. Marjorie grew up attend-ing Sunday school at the Congregational church in Western Springs, Ill., but also frequenting the Presbyterian, Baptist, Methodist and Lutheran churches in Chicago and its suburbs. This fostered her ecumenical outlook.

Supported by scholar-

ships and a fellowship, Marjorie earned her undergraduate degree at Brown University (R.I.) and her master’s and doc-torate degrees at North-western University (Ill.). She taught in the Depart-ment of English for three years at Northwestern, three years at the Uni-versity of Arizona, and 40 years at Arizona State University, retiring in 2004. Teaching provided her with the opportunity to share her love of liter-ature with her students, her “kids,” as she calls them. Retirement has of-fered Marjorie the chance to continue taking classes and traveling the world.

Marjorie first learned about Africa University in the Contemporary Issues Sunday school class at Dayspring United Meth-odist Church, Tempe, Ariz. A member of the class, the Rev. Dr. Darvin Miller, traveled to Africa University in February 2012 with a group of 41 from the Desert South-west Annual Conference and spent a week on the campus interacting with students, faculty and staff. Dr. Miller was much impressed with all that he saw and heard and shared his photographs

and enthusiasm with the Contemporary Issues class upon his return.

Marjorie has read that two-thirds of the world’s illiterates are female. So she was particularly im-pressed that at Africa Uni-versity, women comprise one-half of the student population; women are roughly 30-35 percent of the faculty and staff; four of the highest ranking staff are women; one-third of the deans are women; gender equality has been mainstreamed throughout the curricula of the six fac-ulties or schools; and the university is pan-African, drawing students from more than one-half of the 55 nations of Africa.

The Marjorie Jean Light-foot Endowed Scholarship Fund will educate women from Kenya and Tanzania for generations to come.

“I am putting some of my resources and all my best wishes in Africa University,” Marjorie said. “Endowing a scholarship for a female student from Kenya or Tanzania will help to provide superb role models for the educa-tion of women.”

—Elaine Jenkins,AU Development Office

Summer 2013

In this issue:

606213/50M

Marjorie Jean Lightfoot: Changing the World Through the Education of Women

Fam

ily P

hoto

Marjorie Jean Lightfoot

100 Percent Sup

po

rtTh

ank yo

u for sup

po

rting

Africa U

niversity

thro

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your 100 p

ercent rem

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Africa U

niversity Fun

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2012. Jurisdictio

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As A

frica Un

iversity celebrates 20 years o

f realized

dream

s, we lo

ok fo

rward

to yo

ur full sup

po

rt in 2013.

•AfricaU

niversityislo

catedin

Old

Mutare,

Zim

bab

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d is th

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Celebrating the Connection betw

een Africa U

niversity and U

nited Methodist

CongregationsSum

mer 2

013

Sharai M

uon

wa

Aspecial fund to prom

ote wom

en’s enrollm

ent at Africa

University w

as launched by Z

imbabw

ean Vice President

Joice Mujuru at the M

utare cam

pus on April 19, 2013.

The G

irl Child Scholarship

Initiative, which is the brain-

child of Africa U

niversity, will

provide fees for disadvantaged fem

ale students who intend to

study at the university. Speaking at the event, D

r. Fanuel T

agwira, vice chancel-

lor of Africa U

niversity, high-lighted the im

portance of the initiative and the visit to the cam

pus by the vice president. “T

his is a historic day in the life of A

frica University and

a great opportunity for you,

Honorable V

ice President, to see w

hat The U

nited Method-

ist Church has done for Z

im-

babwe and A

frica,” he said.T

he university was granted

an official charter by President R

obert Mugabe in January

1992, when few

had the con-fidence that the church could set up a university. T

agwira

said the university has made

conscious efforts to promote

gender equality and equity at the university cam

pus by deliberately increasing the num

ber of female students.

Currently, 52 percent of the

students are female, com

pared to the previous year’s 50-50 m

ale-to-female ratio.

Dr. Ignatius C

hombo, acting

minister of higher and tertiary

education, said the Zim

ba-bw

ean government appreciates

the work of U

nited Methodist

missionaries. “T

he United M

ethodist C

hurch has been a resolute, cooperating partner in educa-tion in Z

imbabw

e,” he said. “You have been steadfast despite the innum

erable chal-lenges that you have faced and you have rem

ained resolute to the vision of the founding fathers of this institution: to educate the A

frican child.”R

ebecca Mutyam

bizi,

Scholarship Initiative and an

said, “This is the first such

initiative by any university in Z

imbabw

e, and we have the

first female vice president of

the Republic of Z

imbabw

eand in South and C

entralA

frica as our patron, on her

In her remarks, M

ujuru em

phasized that the govern-m

ent of Zim

babwe has alw

ays believed in the education of the Z

imbabw

ean population. Z

imbabw

e’s literacy rate is 93 percent, the highest in A

frica. She added that the govern-m

ent recognized the issues affecting the girl child, w

hich included poverty, sexual harassm

ent, abuse and early m

arriages. “W

e are proud that you have lived up to our expectations and have achieved w

hat you set out to do. W

ith students from

24 to 29 African coun-

tries, you truly deserve to call yourself A

frican,” M

ujuru said.

— M

uonwa, program

officer, Inform

ation Office, Africa

University

Africa UniversitySiboninkosi Hove, the youngest in a

family of 18 children, is a third year

business student at Africa University.

She could not attend school without

scholarship support from AU

.

Girl C

hild

Scholarsh

ip In

itiative Pro

motes W

om

en’s En

rollm

ent

at AU

Girl Child Scholarship Initiative Promotes Women’s Enrollment at AUSharai MuonwaZimbabwe’s vice president visited the campus to announce a special fund to provide fees for disadvantaged female students from Zimbabwe who intend to study at AU.

Dream Catchers and Visionaries Paul Black Africa University’s 20th anniversary celebration was a time of remembrance of God’s movement, the institution’s achievements and expectancy toward a vibrant future.

Upper New York Joins as Africa University Celebrates 20 Years of SuccessMaidstone MulengaUpper New York got rousing applause as officials shared the conference’s commitment to providing eight endowed scholarships through its $1 million campaign.

A Partner in MalawiMercy Chikhosi NyirongoMercy Chikhosi Nyirongo fulfilled her childhood dream of becoming a nurse. She wanted to be a part of the health-care solution in Malawi.

Africa University Celebrates 19th Graduation CeremonySharai MuonwaAU graduates urged to play a part in the development of their nations.

Marjorie Jean Lightfoot: Changing the World Through the Education of WomenElaine Jenkins Marjorie Jean Lightfoot places some of her resources and best wishes in Africa University.

1

alumna of A

frica University,

first visit to Africa U

niversity.”

chairperson of the Girl C

hild

Thr

ough

out h

er li

fe,

Mar

jori

e Je

an L

ight

-fo

ot h

as lo

ved

lear

ning

th

roug

h bo

oks,

dra

ma,

ar

t, m

usic

, nat

ure,

trav

el

and

peop

le. H

er r

ange

of

inte

rest

s ha

s le

d he

r to

dr

amat

ize,

dir

ect,

prod

uce

and

act i

n w

orks

of C

hau-

cer,

the

Bro

ntes

, Mar

ia

Edg

ewor

th, V

irgi

nia

Woo

lf an

d H

enry

Jam

es,

as w

ell a

s w

rite

sch

olar

ly

artic

les

and

teac

h.M

arjo

rie,

bor

n in

Oak

Pa

rk, I

ll., i

s th

e yo

ung-

est o

f thr

ee c

hild

ren

of

May

belle

and

Cec

il L

ight

-fo

ot. H

er m

othe

r w

as a

te

ache

r an

d lib

rari

an a

nd

her

fath

er a

pha

rmac

ist.

Mar

jori

e gr

ew u

p at

tend

-in

g Su

nday

sch

ool a

t the

C

ongr

egat

iona

l chu

rch

in W

este

rn S

prin

gs, I

ll.,

but a

lso

freq

uent

ing

the

Pres

byte

rian

, Bap

tist,

Met

hodi

st a

nd L

uthe

ran

chur

ches

in C

hica

go a

nd

its s

ubur

bs. T

his

fost

ered

he

r ec

umen

ical

out

look

.Su

ppor

ted

by s

chol

ar-

ship

s an

d a

fello

wsh

ip,

Mar

jori

e ea

rned

her

un

derg

radu

ate

degr

ee a

t B

row

n U

nive

rsity

(R

.I.)

and

her

mas

ter’

s an

d do

c-to

rate

deg

rees

at N

orth

-w

este

rn U

nive

rsity

(Il

l.).

She

taug

ht in

the

Dep

art-

men

t of E

nglis

h fo

r th

ree

year

s at

Nor

thw

este

rn,

thre

e ye

ars

at th

e U

ni-

vers

ity o

f Ari

zona

, and

40

yea

rs a

t Ari

zona

Sta

te

Uni

vers

ity, r

etir

ing

in

2004

. Tea

chin

g pr

ovid

ed

her

with

the

oppo

rtun

ity

to s

hare

her

love

of l

iter-

atur

e w

ith h

er s

tude

nts,

he

r “k

ids,”

as

she

calls

th

em. R

etir

emen

t has

of-

fere

d M

arjo

rie

the

chan

ce

to c

ontin

ue ta

king

cla

sses

an

d tr

avel

ing

the

wor

ld.

Mar

jori

e fir

st le

arne

d ab

out A

fric

a U

nive

rsity

in

the

Con

tem

pora

ry I

ssue

s Su

nday

sch

ool c

lass

at

Day

spri

ng U

nite

d M

eth-

odis

t Chu

rch,

Tem

pe,

Ari

z. A

mem

ber

of th

e cl

ass,

the

Rev

. Dr.

Dar

vin

Mill

er, t

rave

led

to A

fric

a U

nive

rsity

in F

ebru

ary

2012

with

a g

roup

of 4

1 fr

om th

e D

eser

t Sou

th-

wes

t Ann

ual C

onfe

renc

e an

d sp

ent a

wee

k on

the

cam

pus

inte

ract

ing

with

st

uden

ts, f

acul

ty a

nd

staf

f. D

r. M

iller

was

muc

h im

pres

sed

with

all

that

he

saw

and

hea

rd a

nd

shar

ed h

is p

hoto

grap

hs

and

enth

usia

sm w

ith th

e C

onte

mpo

rary

Iss

ues

clas

s up

on h

is r

etur

n.M

arjo

rie

has

read

that

tw

o-th

irds

of t

he w

orld

’s

illite

rate

s ar

e fe

mal

e. S

o sh

e w

as p

artic

ular

ly im

-pr

esse

d th

at a

t Afr

ica

Uni

-ve

rsity

, wom

en c

ompr

ise

one-

half

of th

e st

uden

t po

pula

tion;

wom

en a

re

roug

hly

30-3

5 pe

rcen

t of

the

facu

lty a

nd s

taff;

four

of

the

high

est r

anki

ng

staf

f are

wom

en; o

ne-th

ird

of th

e de

ans

are

wom

en;

gend

er e

qual

ity h

as b

een

mai

nstr

eam

ed th

roug

hout

th

e cu

rric

ula

of th

e si

x fa

c-ul

ties

or s

choo

ls; a

nd th

e un

iver

sity

is p

an-A

fric

an,

draw

ing

stud

ents

from

m

ore

than

one

-hal

f of t

he

55 n

atio

ns o

f Afr

ica.

The

Mar

jori

e Je

an L

ight

-fo

ot E

ndow

ed S

chol

arsh

ip

Fund

will

edu

cate

wom

en

from

Ken

ya a

nd T

anza

nia

for

gene

ratio

ns to

com

e.“I

am

put

ting

som

e of

my

reso

urce

s an

d al

l m

y be

st w

ishe

s in

Afr

ica

Uni

vers

ity,”

Mar

jori

e sa

id.

“End

owin

g a

scho

lars

hip

for

a fe

mal

e st

uden

t fro

m

Ken

ya o

r T

anza

nia

will

he

lp to

pro

vide

sup

erb

role

mod

els

for

the

educ

a-tio

n of

wom

en.”

—El

aine

Jenk

ins,

AU D

evel

opm

ent

Offi

ce

Sum

mer

2013

In t

his

issu

e:

606213/50M

Mar

jori

e Je

an L

igh

tfoot:

Ch

angi

ng th

e W

orld

Thr

ough

the

Educ

atio

n of

Wom

en

Family Photo

Mar

jorie

Jean

Lig

htfo

ot

100 Percent SupportThank you for supporting Africa University through your 100 percent remittance of the Africa University Fund apportionment in 2012. Jurisdiction Total Support and Annual Conferences with 100 percent or more in 2012 (includes 2011 performance)

North Central Jurisdiction 2012 2011East Ohio 100% 100%Illinois Great Rivers 100% 100%Iowa 100.57% 100%Minnesota 100% 102.86%Northern Illinois 100% 100%West Michigan 100%West Ohio 100% 100%Wisconsin 169.31% 151.51%

Northeastern JurisdictionBaltimore-Washington 100% 100%Greater New Jersey 104.69% 100%New England 100% 100%New York 100% 100%Susquehanna 100%Peninsula-Delaware 100% 100%Upper New York 100% 100%West Virginia 100% 112.46%Western Pennsylvania 100% 100%

South Central JurisdictionCentral Texas 100%Kansas West 100%Louisiana 100.03% 100.01%North Texas 100.50%Oklahoma Indian Missionary 100% 100.05%Southwest Texas 100%

Southeastern JurisdictionFlorida 100% 100%Holston 100% 100%North Carolina 100% 100%North Georgia 113.58%Red Bird Missionary 100% 100.06%Tennessee 100%

Western JurisdictionAlaska United Methodist 100% 100.02%Desert Southwest 100% 100%

As Africa University celebrates 20 years of realized dreams, we look forward to your full support in 2013.

•AfricaUniversityislocatedinOldMutare,Zimbabwe, and is the first fully accredited United Methodist–related educational insti-tution on the African continent, established by action of the General Conference.

•AfricaUniversityoffersbachelor’sandmaster’sdegreeprogramsinsixfacultiesoflearning: agriculture and natural resources, education, health sciences, humanities and social sciences, management and adminis-tration and theology. The Institute of Peace, Leadership and Governance offers post-graduatediplomasandmaster’sprograms.

Celebrating the Connection between Africa University and United Methodist Congregations Summer 2013

Sharai Muonwa

A special fund to promote women’s enrollment at Africa

University was launched by Zimbabwean Vice President Joice Mujuru at the Mutare campus on April 19, 2013.

The Girl Child Scholarship Initiative, which is the brain-child of Africa University, will provide fees for disadvantaged female students who intend to study at the university.

Speaking at the event, Dr. Fanuel Tagwira, vice chancel-lor of Africa University, high-lighted the importance of the initiative and the visit to the campus by the vice president.

“This is a historic day in the life of Africa University and a great opportunity for you,

Honorable Vice President, to see what The United Method-ist Church has done for Zim-babwe and Africa,” he said.

The university was granted an official charter by President Robert Mugabe in January 1992, when few had the con-fidence that the church could set up a university. Tagwira said the university has made conscious efforts to promote gender equality and equity at the university campus by deliberately increasing the number of female students. Currently, 52 percent of the students are female, compared to the previous year’s 50-50 male-to-female ratio.

Dr. Ignatius Chombo, acting minister of higher and tertiary education, said the Zimba-bwean government appreciates the work of United Methodist missionaries.

“The United Methodist Church has been a resolute, cooperating partner in educa-tion in Zimbabwe,” he said. “You have been steadfast despite the innumerable chal-lenges that you have faced and you have remained resolute to the vision of the founding fathers of this institution: to educate the African child.”Rebecca Mutyambizi,


said, “This is the first such initiative by any university in Zimbabwe, and we have the first female vice president of the Republic of Zimbabweand in South and CentralAfrica as our patron, on her

In her remarks, Mujuru emphasized that the govern-ment of Zimbabwe has always believed in the education of the Zimbabwean population. Zimbabwe’s literacy rate is 93 percent, the highest in Africa. She added that the govern-ment recognized the issues affecting the girl child, which included poverty, sexual harassment, abuse and early marriages.

“We are proud that you have lived up to our expectations and have achieved what you set out to do. With students from 24 to 29 African coun-tries, you truly deserve to call yourself African,” Mujuru said.

— Muonwa, program officer, Information Office, Africa University

Afric

a U

nive

rsity

Siboninkosi Hove, the youngest in a family of 18 children, is a third year business student at Africa University. She could not attend school without scholarship support from AU.

Girl Child Scholarship Initiative Promotes Women’s Enrollment at AU

Gir

l C

hild

Sch

ola

rsh

ip In

itia

tive

Pro

mote

s W

om

en’s

En

rollm

ent

at A

USh

arai

Muo

nw

aZ

imba

bwe’

s vi

ce p

resi

dent

vis

ited

the

cam

pus

to a

nnou

nce

a sp

ecia

l fun

d to

pro

vide

fees

for

disa

dvan

tage

d fe

mal

e st

uden

ts fr

om Z

imba

bwe

who

in

tend

to s

tudy

at A

U.

Dre

am C

atch

ers

and

Vis

ion

arie

s

Paul

Bla

ck

Afr

ica

Uni

vers

ity’s

20t

h an

nive

rsar

y ce

lebr

atio

n w

as a

tim

e of

re

mem

bran

ce o

f God

’s m

ovem

ent,

the

inst

itutio

n’s

achi

evem

ents

and

ex

pect

ancy

tow

ard

a vi

bran

t fut

ure.

Up

per

New

York

Join

s as

Afr

ica

Un

iver

sity

C

eleb

rate

s 20 Y

ears

of

Succ

ess

Mai

dst

one

Mul

eng

aU

pper

New

Yor

k go

t rou

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app

laus

e as

offi

cial

s sh

ared

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conf

eren

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co

mm

itmen

t to

prov

idin

g ei

ght e

ndow

ed s

chol

arsh

ips

thro

ugh

its

$1 m

illio

n ca

mpa

ign.

A P

artn

er in

Mal

awi

Mer

cy C

hik

hos

i Nyi

ron

go

Mer

cy C

hikh

osi N

yiro

ngo

fulfi

lled

her

child

hood

dre

am o

f bec

omin

g a

nurs

e. S

he w

ante

d to

be

a pa

rt o

f the

hea

lth-c

are

solu

tion

in M

alaw

i.

Afr

ica

Un

iver

sity

Cel

ebra

tes

19

th

Gra

du

atio

n C

erem

on

ySh

arai

Muo

nw

aA

U g

radu

ates

urg

ed to

pla

y a

part

in th

e de

velo

pmen

t of t

heir

nat

ions

.

Mar

jori

e Je

an L

igh

tfoot:

C

han

gin

g t

he

Worl

d

Th

rou

gh

th

e Ed

uca

tion

of

Wom

enEl

ain

e Je

nki

ns

Mar

jori

e Je

an L

ight

foot

pla

ces

som

e of

her

res

ourc

es a

nd b

est w

ishe

s in

A

fric

a U

nive

rsity

.

1

alumna of Africa University,

first visit to Africa University.”

chairperson of the Girl Child

Give Faithfully.Give Hope.Order a family of resources to help tell the story of the AfricaUniversity Fund apportionment:

• AfricaUniversityFund:Pieces of the Dream DVD (600512)

• WeAreAfricaUniversity(600611)

Order these and other resourcesfrom United Methodist Communications by calling toll-free (888) 346-3862.

Hours: Monday - Thursday,7:30 a.m. - 5 p.m., CentralFriday, 7:30 a.m. - 2:30 p.m.

For more information, visitwww.umcgiving.org orwww.infoserv.umc.org.

Learn more about how you canput your faith into action bycontacting the Africa UniversityDevelopment Office at(615) 340-7438,[email protected] orwww.support-africauniversity.org.

VisitAfricaUniversity’swebsiteat www.africau.edu.

Encourage your local church to set a 100-percent apportion-ment remittance goal! Sending a portion of your goal each month makes it easier to reach fullremittancebyyear’send.

Africa University apportionment receipts from local churches pro-vide the basics necessary to oper-ate the university, such as utilities, equipment and faculty salaries.

Honor your friends or family bysponsoring an Africa Universitystudent in their name.

Upper New York Joins as Africa University Celebrates 20 Years of Success

Maidstone Mulenga

Saluting sponsors and sup-porters, the 20th-anniversary celebration marked the high-lights of the “crown jewel” of Methodist education efforts in Africa.

Upper New York Annual Con-ference got rousing applause as

the executive assistant to the bishop, Chris-tine Doran, shared the conference’s commitment to providing eight endowed scholarships through its $1 million campaign.

Washington Area Bishop

Marcus Matthews served in the role as chancellor, standing in for Bishop David Yemba, who could not attend due to health reasons. Matthews, who is also the vice chair of the AU Board of Direc-tors, thanked those who worked tirelessly to bring the Africa Uni-versity dream to reality. He also

made a donation of more than $21,000 — $1,000 for each year AU has been in existence.

Vice Chancellor Fanuel Tag-wira paid special tribute to an-nual conferences and churches that pay their Africa University Fund apportionments in full.

The celebrations moved to the dedication of the Tom Trotter Staff House, supported by Dr. Nancy Carruth, and the Beulah Reitz Guest House, supported by Drs. Barbara and James Holsinger.

Bishop Jonathan Keaton prayed, “We ask you, O Lord, to bless those families for donating those facilities to this institution. We also pray that you grant us the power to be good stewards of your handiwork.”

— Mulenga is director of communications for the Upper

New York Conference

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Christine Doran, executive assistant to Bishop Mark J. Webb, shares the conference’s commitment to providing eight endowed scholarships.

How You Can Help

Africa University continues to be the evidence of faith, hope and belief in the visions of dreamers. We are counting on you!Yourchurch’s100percentapportionment remittance means 100 percent support of AfricaUniversity’soperationalbudget. Consider these addi-tional ways of helping the uni-versity to educate new leaders for the nations of Africa:

Planned Gifts – Planned gifts are the foundation for the long-term survival of Africa University. For many, a be-quest offers an opportunity to make a more substantial charitable gift than would be possibleduringone’slifetime.As you make your estate plans, consider leaving a gift to Africa University in your will. If you already have included Africa University in your estate plans, please let us know so we may welcome you to the Richard E. “Dick” Reeves Legacy Society.

Usahwira – This word in the Shona language means “a beautiful friendship.” En-courage your local church to become a partner with Africa University by supporting one student at the university for four years. The cost to support one student annually is $5,400. Local churches may provide full or partial scholarships.

Endowment Fund – Give to the Africa University Endow-ment Fund (World Service Special Gift #03-01-88). The interest income from the endowment is used to provide scholarships for our students.

Africa University is supported by congregations and individu-als across The United Method-ist Church. Let’s work togetherto continue the transformation of lives and of Africa.

For more information, please contact:

Africa UniversityDevelopment Office

P.O. Box 340007Nashville, TN 37203-0007(615) 340-7438 (phone)

(615) 340-7290 (fax)[email protected]

www.support-africauniversity.org

2 3

Dream Catchers and Visionaries

Paul Black

Roger W. Ireson, former general secretary of the Gen-eral Board of Higher Educa-tion and Ministry, and John W. Z. Kurewa, the school’s founding vice chancellor and current E. Stanley Jones pro-fessor of evangelism, each were conferred with honorary Doctor of Letters degrees during the nearly five-hour commencement ceremony. The men were classmates at Gar-rett-Evangelical Theological

Seminary.“The world needs dream

catchers and visionaries,” said James Salley, associate vice chan-cellor for development, in offer-ing the two candidates for the conferring of honorary degrees.

Ireson was also the keynote speaker, reflecting on God’s movement in the formation of Africa University. Addressing the students, he added, “It was established for you. Give yourself to the world and build a new Africa, and you will see the dream fulfilled.”

Introducing Kurewa, Salley said he was “the drum major” for the university in recruiting many of the faculty who staffed the school when it opened.

Kurewa reiterated the hard work of visioning in his re-marks: “If you are digging for something precious, you have to put in a lot of effort.”

Seventeen annual conferences

from three continents were rep-resented. Several conferences and individual congregations announced gifts for schol-arships. One African donor gave $500,000 and challenged Africans to match it. If so, the donor will give a second $500,000.

“This donor believes that Africa must be invested in Africa University,” Salley said. “It is then that you will see the continent transformed.”

—Black is communications director for the Illinois Great

Rivers Conference

A Partner in Malawi

Mercy Chikhosi Nyirongo

Ever since I was a child, I wanted to be a nurse. Public hospitals here in Malawi are free, but they have a severe shortage of staff. I wanted to be part of the solution. So when I finished my basic training, I worked for three years in one of Malawi’s public hospitals.

There, I observed hospital personnel handling people dif-ferently depending on their so-cioeconomic status. To change this practice, I would have to be in a managerial post. With a scholarship from The United Methodist Church, I earned a

bachelor of science degree in nursing from Africa Uni-versity. My studies helped me realize the need to emphasize patients’ rights in nursing schools.

The only way I had of saying “thank you” to the church was to give back. So when the post of health coordinator for the Malawi United Methodist Church was created, I applied and

received the position. In 2012, the Malawi church developed a new health board. In addition to overseeing all of the church’s health programs, the health board assists my office in pro-posal writing and strategic plan-ning. We now work together as a team for effective governance of the health department.

The health board in Malawi works with the United Method-ist Church of the Resurrection in Kansas, which funds most of the church’s current health programs. These programs are community-oriented and focus

mostly on preventive care. A Kansas-based foundation

called One5 is sponsoring the construction of the first United Methodist health-care facility in Blantyre, Malawi. There are only two doctors per 100,000 people in Malawi. The Malawi UMC has also received funds from Germany World Mission to support nutrition clinics and currently has a proposal un-der review with UMCOR for Imagine No Malaria program funds.

The global United Methodist connection has improved the social and economic status of communities in Malawi. It has helped our women to know their value, helped break the cycle of discrimination based on gender, religious affiliation or socioeconomic status, and reduced the oppression of the poorest members of society. —Nyirongo is conferencehealth coordinator for theMalawi United Methodist Church.

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The Malawi UMC, in partnership with the Church of the Resurrection in Kansas (USA), enabled this economic empowerment training in December 2012.

Paul

Bla

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Dr. Roger W. Ireson

Paul

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Dr. John W. Z. Kurewa

Africa University Celebrates 19th Graduation Ceremony

Sharai Muonwa

Speaking to the 450 new graduates, Daniel Sherrard, provost of Earth University, San José, Costa Rica, told the 19th graduating class of United Methodist-related Africa Uni-versity that the solution to the world’s problems lay in their capable hands.

Sherrard pointed out their training at AU has prepared them to be leaders — agents of change.

Patience Awadhi, a Congolese woman who earned a bachelor of science degree in psychol-ogy, is a good example of what Sherrard means. Awadhi is the firstborn in a family of eight. Her father works in a store and her mother sells vegetables at the local market.

“I can’t help but to be amazed by what God has done for me,” she said. Awadhi came to Africa University without speaking a word of English, but on June 8, she received a degree. “It was sheer hard work and determina-tion,” she continued.

In the 2013 graduating class,

female students constituted 58 percent of the graduates.

“This gender ratio clearly in-dicates our efforts to empower the girl child and our efforts to remain an equal-opportunity in-stitution,” said Fanuel Tagwira, vice chancellor and professor.

In his graduation address, Tag-wira expressed his appreciation to all those who paid tuition. “We also recognize the tremen-dous generosity and selfless contributions for this institution from many ordinary United Methodists across the world.”

To date, Africa University has 5,000 alumni on the African continent.

—Muonwa, program officer, Information Office, Africa University

Afric

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Members of the 2013 graduating class participate in a time of celebration.

Throughout her life, Marjorie Jean Light-foot has loved learning through books, drama, art, music, nature, travel and people. Her range of interests has led her to dramatize, direct, produce and act in works of Chau-cer, the Brontes, Maria Edgeworth, Virginia Woolf and Henry James, as well as write scholarly articles and teach.

Marjorie, born in Oak Park, Ill., is the young-est of three children of Maybelle and Cecil Light-foot. Her mother was a teacher and librarian and her father a pharmacist. Marjorie grew up attend-ing Sunday school at the Congregational church in Western Springs, Ill., but also frequenting the Presbyterian, Baptist, Methodist and Lutheran churches in Chicago and its suburbs. This fostered her ecumenical outlook.

Supported by scholar-

ships and a fellowship, Marjorie earned her undergraduate degree at Brown University (R.I.) and her master’s and doc-torate degrees at North-western University (Ill.). She taught in the Depart-ment of English for three years at Northwestern, three years at the Uni-versity of Arizona, and 40 years at Arizona State University, retiring in 2004. Teaching provided her with the opportunity to share her love of liter-ature with her students, her “kids,” as she calls them. Retirement has of-fered Marjorie the chance to continue taking classes and traveling the world.

Marjorie first learned about Africa University in the Contemporary Issues Sunday school class at Dayspring United Meth-odist Church, Tempe, Ariz. A member of the class, the Rev. Dr. Darvin Miller, traveled to Africa University in February 2012 with a group of 41 from the Desert South-west Annual Conference and spent a week on the campus interacting with students, faculty and staff. Dr. Miller was much impressed with all that he saw and heard and shared his photographs

and enthusiasm with the Contemporary Issues class upon his return.

Marjorie has read that two-thirds of the world’s illiterates are female. So she was particularly im-pressed that at Africa Uni-versity, women comprise one-half of the student population; women are roughly 30-35 percent of the faculty and staff; four of the highest ranking staff are women; one-third of the deans are women; gender equality has been mainstreamed throughout the curricula of the six fac-ulties or schools; and the university is pan-African, drawing students from more than one-half of the 55 nations of Africa.

The Marjorie Jean Light-foot Endowed Scholarship Fund will educate women from Kenya and Tanzania for generations to come.

“I am putting some of my resources and all my best wishes in Africa University,” Marjorie said. “Endowing a scholarship for a female student from Kenya or Tanzania will help to provide superb role models for the educa-tion of women.”

—Elaine Jenkins,AU Development Office

Summer 2013

In this issue:

606213/50M

Marjorie Jean Lightfoot: Changing the World Through the Education of Women

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Celebrating the Connection betw

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niversity and U

nited Methodist

CongregationsSum

mer 2

013

Sharai M

uon

wa

Aspecial fund to prom

ote wom

en’s enrollm

ent at Africa

University w

as launched by Z

imbabw

ean Vice President

Joice Mujuru at the M

utare cam

pus on April 19, 2013.

The G

irl Child Scholarship

Initiative, which is the brain-

child of Africa U

niversity, will

provide fees for disadvantaged fem

ale students who intend to

study at the university. Speaking at the event, D

r. Fanuel T

agwira, vice chancel-

lor of Africa U

niversity, high-lighted the im

portance of the initiative and the visit to the cam

pus by the vice president. “T

his is a historic day in the life of A

frica University and

a great opportunity for you,

Honorable V

ice President, to see w

hat The U

nited Method-

ist Church has done for Z

im-

babwe and A

frica,” he said.T

he university was granted

an official charter by President R

obert Mugabe in January

1992, when few

had the con-fidence that the church could set up a university. T

agwira

said the university has made

conscious efforts to promote

gender equality and equity at the university cam

pus by deliberately increasing the num

ber of female students.

Currently, 52 percent of the

students are female, com

pared to the previous year’s 50-50 m

ale-to-female ratio.

Dr. Ignatius C

hombo, acting

minister of higher and tertiary

education, said the Zim

ba-bw

ean government appreciates

the work of U

nited Methodist

missionaries. “T

he United M

ethodist C

hurch has been a resolute, cooperating partner in educa-tion in Z

imbabw

e,” he said. “You have been steadfast despite the innum

erable chal-lenges that you have faced and you have rem

ained resolute to the vision of the founding fathers of this institution: to educate the A

frican child.”R

ebecca Mutyam

bizi,


said, “This is the first such

initiative by any university in Z

imbabw

e, and we have the

first female vice president of

the Republic of Z

imbabw

eand in South and C

entralA

frica as our patron, on her

In her remarks, M

ujuru em

phasized that the govern-m

ent of Zim

babwe has alw

ays believed in the education of the Z

imbabw

ean population. Z

imbabw

e’s literacy rate is 93 percent, the highest in A

frica. She added that the govern-m

ent recognized the issues affecting the girl child, w

hich included poverty, sexual harassm

ent, abuse and early m

arriages. “W

e are proud that you have lived up to our expectations and have achieved w

hat you set out to do. W

ith students from

24 to 29 African coun-

tries, you truly deserve to call yourself A

frican,” M

ujuru said.

— M

uonwa, program

officer, Inform

ation Office, Africa

University

Africa UniversitySiboninkosi Hove, the youngest in a

family of 18 children, is a third year

business student at Africa University.

She could not attend school without

scholarship support from AU

.

Girl C

hild

Scholarsh

ip In

itiative Pro

motes W

om

en’s En

rollm

ent

at AU

Girl Child Scholarship Initiative Promotes Women’s Enrollment at AUSharai MuonwaZimbabwe’s vice president visited the campus to announce a special fund to provide fees for disadvantaged female students from Zimbabwe who intend to study at AU.

Dream Catchers and Visionaries Paul Black Africa University’s 20th anniversary celebration was a time of remembrance of God’s movement, the institution’s achievements and expectancy toward a vibrant future.

Upper New York Joins as Africa University Celebrates 20 Years of SuccessMaidstone MulengaUpper New York got rousing applause as officials shared the conference’s commitment to providing eight endowed scholarships through its $1 million campaign.

A Partner in MalawiMercy Chikhosi NyirongoMercy Chikhosi Nyirongo fulfilled her childhood dream of becoming a nurse. She wanted to be a part of the health-care solution in Malawi.

Africa University Celebrates 19th Graduation CeremonySharai MuonwaAU graduates urged to play a part in the development of their nations.

Marjorie Jean Lightfoot: Changing the World Through the Education of WomenElaine Jenkins Marjorie Jean Lightfoot places some of her resources and best wishes in Africa University.

1

alumna of A

frica University,

first visit to Africa U

niversity.”

chairperson of the Girl C

hild

AU Today Summer 2013: 20th Anniversary

Documents

Transcript of AU Today Summer 2013: 20th Anniversary