By Stacey Mabuyaye
When I first walked into STAR Leadership Academy in February this year, I was amazed at the facility’s beauty and the brains it housed. Brilliant young minds from all over the country and dedicated staff, who wake up daily to think of the best ways they can make us better leaders.
If you had whispered in my ear a few years back that this was going to be my reality, I would have branded you a liar -mine is a tale of grace.
My name is Stacey Mabuyaye, I am a 16-year-old girl born in Mutema Village, a rural settlement in Chinge District in Zimbabwe’s Manicaland Province. I am the third born in a family of five. I have two elder brothers and two younger siblings, a boy and a girl.
I attended my primary school at Mutema Primary School where both my parents worked as teachers. They were also renowned farmers in our village who instilled values of independence, determination and hard work in us.
I performed well in primary school, when I results came out, I was the highest at Mutema Primary School. My father was proud and strived to send me to Mount Selinda High School, a prestigious boarding school in our area, like my elder brothers.
When I was enrolled at Mount Selinda High, there were people who remarked to my father that sending girls to a boarding school is a waste of time. l proved them wrong as l performed even better than my brothers.
Unfortunately, during the COVID-19 pandemic in 2021 we lost our father. I was in disbelief, and I refused to accept that he had died. In fact, I refused to mourn him. Our mother, despite being diagnosed with breast cancer earlier, took over from our father as the breadwinner and worked hard to maintain our family lifestyle. We continued going to the same schools.
As we were adjusting to our father’s absence, tragedy struck, and our mother died later in the year 2021. In an instant, my world was turned upside down, and l was thrust into a reality l never imagined facing at such a young age.
Losing both of our parents made the future seem bleak. My brothers had just finished writing their examinations for A and O levels, and l was only in Form Two. I lost hope in school as l only wished to excel and make my parents proud.
Amid our despair, hope emerged in the form of my aunt, Auntie Precious. Despite having her own family to take care of, she opened her home for me and my younger siblings. However, with limited financial resources, the prospect of continuing our schooling seemed like an unattainable dream.
Fate had other plans. The Mount Selinda High School Alumni paid for my school fees and my other brother’s, who was supposed to continue with high school. A year passed, and the alumni told us that they couldn’t pay for the school fees anymore, but by God’s grace, during the holiday, Higherlife Foundation, moved by our story, extended a helping hand.
With their generous support, l and my three siblings are still pursuing our education, although sometimes it is hard for my aunt to provide for other needs like uniforms, books and food.
The journey has not been easy. There are days when despair threatens to consume me when the pain of loss feels too heavy to bear, but l still remember my teacher’s words: “Background means nothing.” Besides the obvious dream of bettering mine and my siblings’ lives, I want to achieve success so I can extend the same help I am receiving to others. I want to work hard in my studies so I can be an oncologist and start an organisation that looks after women and children with cancer.
With the support of my friends, teachers and Higherlife Foundation l have the courage to persevere. As l was doing my last year of O-level, Mr Mberi and Mr Kanaveti from Higherlife Foundation introduced STAR Leadership Academy to our school, and l poured myself into my studies, using education as a beacon of hope and a pathway to a brighter future.
By God’s grace I was admitted to STAR Leadership Academy where I currently am and I am going through their famed intensive leadership training. I have no doubt that after this experience, my life will never be the same. I am excited about what the future holds for and I promise to fulfil the wishes my parents had for me. They sacrificed a lot for me to have a decent education and I would have betrayed their vision if I do not live a life of impact.
Stacey Mabuyaye is part of the STAR Leadership Academy Class of 2024.
