Chronicle Editor
Ricky Zililo and Innocent Kurira, Sports Reporters
ASTON Villa and Warriors midfielder Marvelous Nakamba never had it easy growing up.
He had a tough upbringing and it is that background that has inspired the England-based footballer to give other children the childhood that he never had.
Through his Marvelous Nakamba Foundation (MNF), Nakamba yesterday announced that he had paid first term tuition fees for 1 000 pupils around the country.
His foundation aims to support underprivileged children and youth from early childhood to post-secondary education, with educational programmes, sport, projects, life experiences and skills to prepare a bright future for communities and Zimbabwe at large.
The foundation was established in December 2019, but started paying fees for less fortunate pupils in January 2020.
Nakamba spent part of his childhood in Hwange before his parents, Antony and Charity, moved to Bulawayo where they are now proud owners of a house in Sunninghill low-density suburb.
Before they could afford the lavish lifestyle, things were difficult for the family, his father said yesterday.
“I’ll be honest with you, Marvelous didn’t have a rosy life growing up. It was tough and he understands what difficulties young kids face. He knows the challenges of wanting something and not getting it as a kid because that is the road he travelled,” said the elder Nakamba.
“When he was young, I left him and went to South Africa to fend for the family. He moved around primary schools as a youngster, starting at Sir Humphry Gibbs in Hwange and then went to Makwika in Number 3 (Hwange) before moving to rural Dinde. I returned to Zimbabwe when he was about eight years old to take him to stay with me in Bulawayo.
“After we left Hwange, he enrolled at Helemu Primary School in Njube and did his secondary at Njube High School. Throughout his journey in those schools, he saw the difficulties that pupils were subjected to and as a parent, I’m happy that he wants to make lives of other kids better than what he went through. God will bless him,” said his soft spoken father.
The proud father believes God will reward his son for his benevolent works.
“Now what he is simply doing is to give back to the community and the less privileged. He is sacrificing his earnings because at the moment he doesn’t have partners for the foundation and everything is being done from his pocket. What he said when he started the foundation was that if he can help two or three kids succeed in life, he will be happy. He knows that God will reward him.”
Marvelous’ father is a former employee of Hwange Colliery Company and played for the then Wankie Football Club as a goalkeeper.
Marvelous joined the Highlanders juniors before moving to Methembe Ndlovu’s famed Bantu Rovers Academy where he blossomed before moving to AS Nancy of France in 2012 and then to Dutch topflight side Vitesse in 2014.
After two seasons in the Dutch Eredivisie where he won the prestigious KNVB-Beker Cup, which is run along similar lines as the English FA Cup, in May 2017, Nakamba was snapped up by Belgium giants Club Brugge.
At Brugge, he impressed in the 2018-2019 Uefa Champions League and Aston Villa came knocking for his services.
Dumaza Dube, who coached Nakamba at Highlanders juniors is not surprised with Nakamba’s charity work, as he had always showed signs of kindness and humility at an early age.
“It’s not surprising that Marvelous is helping out because even as a junior player, he used to encourage fellow teammates. You know at times you see some juniors don’t like losing or teammates who lose possession, but instead of coming hard on his teammates, Marvelous had a way to encourage others. He always gave you what you asked him to do.
“Character wise, he is a grounded person; someone who isn’t easily swayed and is respectful. I must commend his parents for doing a great job in raising him because he is a humble person. What we see him doing now isn’t something that he learnt when he had grown up, but it’s something that was instilled in him by parents. It’s good to see him ploughing back to the community,” said Dube.
Former Highlanders striker Ndumiso “Tsuro” Vundla, who lost his eyesight, is one of the beneficiaries of the MNF.
He expressed his gratitude to the foundation for paying school fees for his child who is in Grade 4.
“It’s a very good gesture what they are doing to give back to the community and it creates a certain belonging. For instance, in my situation it goes a long way to alleviate some of my challenges,” said Vundla.
MNF board secretary Brian Moyo said with corporate backing, the foundation has the potential to assist more students.
“This issue of assisting in fees was and is all about the personal growth pattern of Marvelous considering he’s been there also. He went through many schools, looked on pathways and opportunities some people made for him, hence he thought it’s only logical that he comes through to assist.
“This is an ongoing exercise, which he is personally funding. Marvelous’ hope and desire is that one day he gets corporate partners so that the foundation is able to assist more students and cover almost all the corners of the country,” Moyo said.
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