Orphaned girl starts university in Zimbabwe at 14 By Teo Kermeliotis, for CNN

Maud Chifamba, middle, started her
studies in accounting September 10 at the University of Zimbabwe. Aged
14, she is the country’s youngest ever university student.

STORY HIGHLIGHTS

• 14-year-old Maud Chifamba has been admitted to the University of Zimbabwe
• Maud, who is studying to be an accountant, is the youngest ever student in the country
• Unable to pay her school fees, the orphaned girl had to study alone at home
• She is being described as “confident, efficacious and unique”

(CNN) — She grew up in grinding poverty, losing
both her parents at a tender age but 14-year-old whizz-kid Maud Chifamba
has defied adversity and hardship to break academic records.

Against all odds, the
extremely bright teenager has written history as last week she became
the youngest ever university student in Zimbabwe — as well as the whole
of southern Africa, according to education officials.

Maud, who was born on
November 19, 1997, has just started her studies toward a Bachelor of
Accountancy Honors Degree at the University of Zimbabwe, the country’s
oldest and most esteemed educational institution. Her intellectual
prowess and hard work have earned her a four-year scholarship of nearly
$10,000 after she excelled at last year’s Advanced Level exams.

Now, one week into her new life at the university, softly-spoken Maud already feels settled.

“I’m really enjoying it,”
she says with striking modesty. “It’s better than what I expected. I’m
just enjoying all the lectures.”

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It really motivated me to work harder because there was no one to take care of me except myself.
Maud Chifamba

But before deservedly
claiming a spot inside the university’s vast lecture halls, finding
herself amongst much older students, Zimbabwe’s wunderkind had to
overcome tremendous financial and social challenges.

Born to a poor family in
the Hunters resettlement community in Chegutu, central Zimbabwe, Maud
lost her father when she was just five years old. Her mother also passed
away last year. Her two brothers, who are general workers at a farm,
were unable to pay the fees required to keep her at formal school so
Maud started studying vigorously at home all by herself.

Armed with determination,
Maud put all her efforts into studying, embarking on a disciplined
reading routine that lasted for several hours each day. “I studied very
hard,” she remembers. “For the biggest part of the day and even into the
night,” adds Maud.

Maud says the death of her parents made her realize that she would have to take her destiny into her own hands.

“It really motivated me
to work harder because there was no one to take care of me except myself
in the future,” says Maud. “That was … a motivator for me to have
something to do with my life.”

Gifted with natural
intelligence, Maud’s promising future was apparent from an early age.
Her remarkable aptitude impressed her primary school teachers who
decided to move her up from Grade 3 to Grade 6.

Aged nine, she took her
final primary school examinations, where she obtained top marks for all
of her subjects. Lacking financial support to undertake her high school
education, Maud studied on her own and completed her Ordinary Level in
just two years after skipping two forms.

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Her hard work paid off
last December when she scored 12 points at her A-Level exams, an
astonishing feat that earned the 14-year-old girl a place at the
Harare-based University of Zimbabwe.

“It’s phenomenal,
especially if you consider that for her A-Levels she was not in formal
school,” says Gershem Pasi, the commissioner general of the Zimbabwean Revenue Authority,
the body that’s now sponsoring Maud’s university education. “She was
just reading by herself at home and her brothers only managed to pay the
examination fee.”

Munyaradzi Madambi, dean
of students at the University of Zimbabwe, describes Maud as a “very
warm and polite young woman,” whose intelligence and maturity shines
through.

“(She is) confident,
efficacious and unique in the sense that you don’t normally expect this
position among kids from underprivileged backgrounds,” he says.

Madambi says the
university is committed to helping its wonder student develop into a
balanced individual while fulfilling her dreams.

Maud is an exceptional case in terms of intellectual prowess.
Munyaradzi Madambi, dean of students at the University of Zimbabwe

“We are making sure that
she grows up to be a well-moulded, mature adult but of course without
really suffocating her or putting her under any pressure,” he says.

Zimbabwe has an adult literacy rate of 92%, which is one of the highest in Africa, according to UNICEF. Madambi says people in the country have an “incredible and insatiable appetite for education.”

“Normally those that
come from underprivileged backgrounds, their desire is really to work
hard and excel and of course Maud is an exceptional case in terms of
intellectual prowess,” he says.

Maud is now on course to
conquer even greater heights, becoming Zimbabwe’s youngest ever
accountant when she graduates in four years time.

“My dream job is to become an accountant,” she says.

Source: CNN, Voice of Africa