A Zimbabwean, whose leg was amputated after he was bitten by a venomous snake in his rural Guruve home in Mashonaland Central and then written off by some relatives, has passed medical studies with flying colors at a USA college.
Goodwell Nzou, who was at Narazeth College under the EducationUSA’s U.S. Student Achievers’ Program (USAP), told almost 3,000 guests and graduands in a ceremonial charge that people should never give up even under the most difficult situations.
For his sterling work, Nzou has been granted a five-year fully-funded PhD scholarship in regenerative medicine in USA.
He received every award that the Chemistry Department hands out.
Nzou, who was the president of Liyana Band at King George Sixth School for the disabled is the 19th of 22 children of parents who are subsistence farmers.
His parents and some sibblings cannot read and write. Nzou is a prolific drummer, marimba player and singer.
Hatinawedu Mupiwa, who also struggled to raise money for school fees in Nyanga, Manicaland province, due to poverty but managed to get a scholarship to study in America, also passed his studies at Berea College with outstanding grades.
Mupiwa majored in computer and information science and mathematics. He received the T. J. Wood Award Achievement Award, given to a graduating senior person for outstanding scholarship and excellent contributions to the life and work of Berea College, and the Steve Boyce Senior Mathematics Award presented to senior mathematics majors for excellence in their field.
Mupiwa also got the Dr. Charles Bishop Spangler Mathematics Award, established by Dr. Daniel Patrick Spangler and presented this year to a Berea College senior, who was chosen by the Mathematics Faculty.
He has since been offered a job by international banking giant, Goldman Sachs. Google and Microsoft are eyeing him, thanks to the solid education he has received in America.