Zimbabwe Educational Outreach Project

Introduction

Welcome to the Zimbabwe Education Outreach Project site. We are Eric Farmer and David Moricca, two students from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. In the summer of 1997, we made our first of two trips to Zimbabwe to produce a multimedia documentary on children who overcame intense poverty to acquire their education.

Our presentation tells the stories of six teenage students who won a merit/need-based scholarship that allows them to finish their secondary education in a government boarding school in Zimbabwe. Without financial assistance, these students may have been unable to complete their education. The scholarship was originally named for Zimbabwe's late first lady, Sally Mugabe. It is sponsored by Students for Students International and is supported in Zimbabwe by the Child Survival and Development Foundation.

Since our first journey to Zimbabwe, we have traveled to K-12 schools, universities, and workshops/conferences to share the stories of these brilliant students from Zimbabwe. By focusing on the dreams and success of Zimbabwe's students, we attempt to present a side of Africa rarely described by the mainstream media and break down some familiar stereotypes. We also hope that the scholars' stories can inspire students in the USA to better value their educational opportunities.

We have also recently produced an educational video, Meet Zimbabwe's Young Scholars, that features the lives of these six scholarship students. The video is now available for curriculum use nationwide. Currently, it is being used in North Carolina for seventh grade social studies curriculum.

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Dave, Eric, Morleen
Here we spend time with Morleen Pindeni, a 1995 scholar from the Eastern Highlands of Zimbabwe.