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AT the beginning of March this year, Great Zimbabwe University (GZU) became the first institution of higher learning in the country to secure a broadcasting licence for its campus radio.
The university has several campuses in Masvingo province — the main campus just east of the City of Masvingo — then Mashava and Chiredzi with satellite sites around the country.
In securing the licence for its campus radio, the university argues that this will enable it to reach out to its student community around the various sites much more easily and in real time.
But the campus radio is not only going to benefit students; it will become a vehicle for social cohesion, one that will allow the community in the province to speak to itself and interrogate issues they consider of critical importance to them and fashion out appropriate responses, while escalating proposals for national solutions to the Government.
The radio licence is valid for 10 years.
The granting of the licence to operate a radio station is propitious in that it comes at a time when educational institutions all over the world are grappling with issues of how to continue to deliver lessons and operate effectively during the coronavirus pandemic.
So the Great Zimbabwe University, as one of the recently established institutions of higher learning, has a head start, especially in the context of delivery of education in Zimbabwe.
For Tavita Natasha Mpala, born on March 29, 1996 in Bulawayo and hailing from the dusty streets of Bulawayo, the GZU Campus Radio is a platform where dreams are unfolding themselves.
Mpala becomes the voice and face of the Great Zimbabwe University Campus Radio.
Mpala draws inspiration for her success from both her parents.
Her father was an army medical laboratory scientist, while her mother was a fashion designer at a large clothing company/factory in the City of Kings and Queens.
She always speaks with admiration of her mother, who taught her and her two older brothers the values of determination and generosity – traits she hopes to be known for in the entertainment sector.
Growing up, Mpala was encouraged by everyone around her that she would be an amazing teacher because she enjoyed the role during children’s playtime games (amatope).
But it was during debates and public speaking events when she was part of the school team at St Bernard’s High in Bulawayo’s suburb of Pumula, that the course of her future was shaped.
“I had always been confident. People used to say ‘ngilamawala’. Our literature teacher, Madam Dluli encouraged me to put my skills and energy to good use by joining the debate and public speaking club.
“At first I was hesitant but the week I started attending sessions, I was elected junior vice-president of the club. I went on to win tournaments while representing the club,” she recalls.
It was then that she fell in love with being at the centre of attention. She was happily unaware how this period would go on to shape her career path.
She continued to perfect her craft, even though she was getting increasingly convinced that she should become a lawyer.
When the time came for her to apply to study at university, she was unsure what it was she exactly wanted to pursue. The other factor was that her results fell short of the requirements for enrolling for a law degree.
She wanted a degree programme that would allow her to express her views, one that would challenge her but most importantly, one that would allow her never to be anyone but herself.
That is how her journey into Media Studies began at Great Zimbabwe University in June 2015, pursuing a programme in Media and Cultural Studies.
The first lectures opened up perceptions on Social Media and Branding.
In 2016, Yafm, a local radio station conducted auditions for a presenter for a youth-oriented show. The Great Zimbabwe University facilitated students to take part in the auditions.
The same year, Mpala had her debut on Campus Connection. Then there followed “a great season presenting” and juggling school during the week and radio during the weekends.
“I would be exhausted most of the times but the rewards seemed greater. Being on radio allowed me the opportunity to be in charge of the creative process that goes into preparing and executing a show.
“The training and support I received from Yafm staff made it easier for me to fall in love with radio. I also went for an attachment at Yafm. It was during this period that my radio name, “Black Peppa”, the spice of radio, was birthed,” explains Mpala.
The year 2019 started off with doubts as it was her last semester at the GZU – the pressures of growing up; figuring out a sustainable career path and a fulfilling job were slowly trickling in.
Then came the call from the Great Zimbabwe Campus Director, Mr Golden Maunganidze. Would she and some classmates with radio experience prepare to interview Vice-Chancellor, Professor Rungano Zvobgo?
The rest, as the saying goes, is history. Highlights so far include interviewing Ministers Monica Mutsvangwa and Professor Amon Murwira, Ministers of Information, Publicity and Broadcasting Services, and Higher and Tertiary Education, Science and Technology respectively.
“I am eternally grateful to the university for trusting me and allowing me to have conversations with such high-profile people – people I would never had access to. But the challenge lies ahead in ensuring the Campus Radio is at the heartbeat and pulse of the GZU campus community and the generality of the people in the province.”
Online Reporter