For decades, African Portfolio has been giving back to the people living in and around the communities we visit on safari. For every trip we plan, we contribute to meaningful projects across Africa, ensuring that our clients’ travel experiences make a lasting difference for the people and places we visit. Our passion has been working to empower local people to pursue academic or skills training to enable them to support themselves and their families. Recently, Diane spent the day with Education Matters, a non-profit organization in Zimbabwe dedicated to providing high-achieving, low-income Zimbabwean and refugee students an opportunity to excel at the world’s top universities. Through the program the students are encouraged to use their education to promote positive change in Zimbabwe and across the African continent.

Approximately 50 miles east of Harare is the USAP (United States Achievers Program) Community School, a residential institution for 11th and 12th-grade. The school offers a two-year curriculum that emphasizes critical thinking, problem-solving skills, and community impact, to prepare students to compete for positions at prominent universities. This week I visited the campus, hosted by Rebecca Zeigler Mano, the founder and director of the program. In addition to her extensive resume of professional and academic accomplishments, Rebecca is an impressive, inspirational change maker. In her words, “a donation to the school is an investment in someone’s future and the ripple effects are tremendous. When you transform someone’s life by giving them access to a top university with skills that allow them to succeed and thrive there, you are investing not only in that person, their family and the community but in the impact they can have on our world.”

Two recent graduates, Kuda and Olly, showed me around the beautiful campus, set in the miombo woodlands surrounded by Zimbabwe’s famous balancing rocks. Both Kuda and Olly are working as teaching assistants at the school until they depart for the States in August. Olly is on full scholarship to Brown University, where she will study pharmacology and Kuda has been accepted to Northwestern University to study physics and engineering. Students at USAP are enrolled in the Cambridge A-Level academic curriculum but also have access to extensive extracurricular studies including African culture, arts, sports, drama, robotics, music, archery and social entrepreneurship.  Both Kuda and Olly talked passionately about what is known as the Capstone project, where final-year students research real-world challenges in their home communities and develop actionable solutions. For example, one of the students discovered that the pods from Msasa trees, were a combustible source of energy and she has built 14 ‘stoves’ in her community that don’t require either electricity or solar power to provide heat. The pods are collected each season by the local community and then they all share in the energy provided by the stoves.

Graduates of USAP have pursued diverse careers, reflecting their academic studies and personal interests, including Finance, Economics, Consulting as well as Non-Profit and Community Development work.

1. Student Scholarships: Currently, 100% of USAP Community School students are on need-based scholarships covering approximately 95% of the cost of attendance. Additional funding is required to support the ongoing need for scholarships for each new class of students.
2. Infrastructure Development: To accommodate a growing student body and enhance the learning environment, there is a need to build additional classrooms, dormitories, and recreational facilities to support both academic and extracurricular activities. Currently there is only solar power in the classrooms so it’s a priority to provide additional solar panels to have lighting and hot water in the dorms as well.
3. Educational Resources and Technology: Investments in up-to-date educational materials, laboratory equipment, and technology are also important to remain academically competitive.

Support from donors like us – and you! – will directly impact the lives of these students, providing a path to become leaders and innovators in their communities and beyond. As Nelson Mandela said, “Education is the tool with which to shape the world”.