After Dubbo couple Dr Pethidia Mango and Dr Gerald Chitsunge hosted a student from their home country, Zimbabwe, to study at Dubbo Base Hospital, they realised they could help more students by funding their studies back home.
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Thirteen years ago, the two doctors sponsored a medical student to do an elective at the hospital and tallied up the amount they'd spent on visas, flights and accommodation, only to realise they could help more if they assisted students attend university in Zimbabwe.
The two doctors moved to Australia 13 years ago and had always been interested in helping people back home, especially with education, to break the poverty cycle.
In 2019, they founded a charity, called Simba reDzidzo (the power of education), which helps young people from socio-economically disadvantaged backgrounds in Zimbabwe secure scholarships to attend university. The charity now sponsors 16 students at different universities.
After a successful launch, the duo will host their first annual charity dinner to support the cause, and hope to raise a minimum of $10,000, which would help three students attend university for a year.
"We are trying to raise awareness as well as hopefully get some financial support and volunteers as well," Dr Chitsunge told the Daily Liberal.
"With our scholarship program we're not just offering scholarships, we're not just paying tuition fees, we're mentoring them, so we need professional people who are experienced in their professions who can buddy with the students in their disciplines ...
"With our mentorship program, each one of the 16 students is attached to a mentor who they communicate with virtually. Our current mentors are all over - some in Australia, UK, US ... "
Dr Mango mentors three students - two medical students and one studying pharmacy.
"I understand their profession, we can share knowledge ... we can have girl talk as well," she said.
Dr Mango appealed to the community to be generous, as "a little amount of donation goes a long way".
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Dr Chitsunge said there are "a lot of disadvantaged young people" in Africa.
"What our charity focuses on is to support those that are entrenched in generational poverty ... their families are struggling, their parents are not educated, they don't have significant jobs, they're not able to send them to school - we're trying to break that cycle of poverty in those communities," he said.
The Simba reDzidzo charity dinner will take place at the Savannah Function Centre at Taronga Western Plains Zoo, Dubbo, on Saturday, July 1 from 6pm to 10pm. There will be live music and dancing, raffles and auctions, and a three-course dinner will be served. Find out more at dubbo.com.au/events/simba-redzidzo-charity-dinner
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Sarah Falson
Daily Liberal journalist. I love telling people's stories. Get in touch at sarah.falson@austcommunitymedia.com.au
Daily Liberal journalist. I love telling people's stories. Get in touch at sarah.falson@austcommunitymedia.com.au
