Student Enrichment

INVESTING IN STUDENTS' EDUCATION

ZimUzo supports students’ education in three main ways: providing school supplies, learning equipment and devices; offering scholarships and grants; and providing extracurricular and remedial training. ZimUzo helps indigent students pay for school fees, supplies, books, and school uniforms, through its scholarship and grants program. ZimUzo partners with schools in rural communities to identify at-risk students—students who have stopped or may have to stop coming to school as a result of inability to pay school fees or for lack of the materials they need for school. Such students are then provided with what they need to return to or stay in school. The program also awards grants and scholarships to reward high academic achievement—attendance and performance—to encourage academic excellence.

In determining which students will be the recipients of our scholarships and grants, the criteria will be need-based, and we will partner with schools in the village to determine which students in the village meet the criteria. The specific criteria will be financial need, academic performance and attendance, and socioeconomic conditions. To qualify for scholarship or grant renewal, students must re-apply, maintain a certain grade point average, and provide 1-2 letters of recommendation. We will obtain reports, grade transcripts, and attestations through recipient applications or from the schools. Subsequent to approval, grant or scholarship money will be disbursed to the student either directly or through the school.

The committee of those determining which students will receive scholarships or grants will be determined by selection, specifically including the village/community leader, school principals, and additional elected officials who are already engaged in developing the community. ZimUzo will be relying partly on school authorities to help their indigent students. We will look to school officials, along with community leaders, to help decide which students would receive scholarships and grants.

We seek to invest in our students. Our goal is to turn underprivileged children into confident leaders and instruments of positive change. We also know that the brightest and most innovative mind can come from anywhere. ZimUzo seeks to encourage, not stifle, brilliant minds with brilliant ideas. By networking young thinkers and inventors who may come in contact with our organization with individuals who may be able to help them further their potential ideas and dreams, ZimUzo seeks to invest in children who would otherwise be discouraged or forgotten. We specialize in supporting indigent students in educational enrichment through computer training, supporting them financially through scholarships and grants, and providing a space for them to receive emotional support. Our students are untapped vessels of creativity and intelligence waiting for the right mentors to invest in them, mentors whom they may not even know they need. Oftentimes, our students lack the tools necessary to further their education, which leaves their brilliant minds without a means through which to work. ZimUzo seeks to address this issue.