Philanthropist at 23

Youth Buzz
Fatima Bulla-Musakwa

A third-year medical student at the University of Zimbabwe is fashioning a career in philanthropy through voluntary work that includes provision of medical assistance to marginalised communities.

Twenty-three-year-old Shylette Ngwenya started working as a volunteer for Doctors and Nurses on a Mission in 2021.

Since then, she has earned a number of awards in recognition of her work. They include the Covid-19 Frontline Heroine award presented by Ignite Youth, a youth organisation.

She is also a volunteer with an organisation named GirlUp Zimbabwe, while she also wears numerous other hats. She is into motivational speaking, works as a data analyst at Hype Voyage, is a UZ Enactus member, programme manager at Impetus Infinity and Christian Medical Foundation co-chairperson.

Ngwenya traces her inspiration to assist marginalised communities back to her childhood in rural Binga, where her father died after failing to get medical assistance.

“Sometimes I feel this field is way too demanding. But at the end of the day, I am content that this space is where God chose me to be because after I lost my dad, I realised that this was not the kind of loss that I would ever want to experience.

“I watched my father getting sick. He was bed-ridden for months. He couldn’t even go to hospital because of the bills.

“So, I told myself that I wanted to do medicine, reach out to people and help them. I believe that’s where God wants me to be and that is where I can help my family members and the community at large,” added Ngwenya.

Growing up in Bulawayo after her sister took her in, Ngwenya struggled with low self-esteem. However, her background spurred her on as she kept all her focus on her studies.

At high school, due to the low self-esteem that forced her into a shell, Ngwenya did not participate in other school activities that included sport or public speaking. She opted to be engrossed in her studies, instead.

In 2018, she passed her A-Level examinations and enrolled as a medical student at the UZ the following year. There, she started taking online courses for leadership programmes and reading development books, which taught her life principles, among other things.

Through seminars she attended, she learnt public speaking skills, how to articulate issues and making presentations.

That shell she had kept herself in, which made her feel children from a poor background like her were not meant to seize opportunities, started breaking.

As the Covid-19 pandemic hit the country, Ngwenya stepped out to do volunteer work with Doctors and Nurses on a Mission.

“My greatest achievement has been touching lives that I never thought I would be able to help. Being positive and having faith in God that, if I put my heart to something, helping the next person, God is going to provide whatever I need to be able to help that person.”

In December last year, Ngwenya returned to Binga with other young people from various organisations and visited Tonga Primary School, which is near her village.

There, they ascertained that, apart from having nine classes, the school had one classroom block. Touched by the school’s plight, Ngwenya and her group sought donations, which included uniforms, stationery, sanitisers and masks for the learners. The following month, she managed to get well-wishers who were willing to pay school fees for some of the learners.

“Since January to date, we have paid for about 43 pupils at the school. There are about 145 pupils altogether. So, there are more still in need,” she added.

Having an impact on the next generation, especially young people in marginalised areas who have the potential, but lack opportunities, has become a calling for Ngwenya.

“So, I have stood in the gap to help those in primary schools to pay tuition fees, because I believe that coming from that environment myself, I was not going to be where I am today.

“But because I got opportunities to reach where I am today, I had to go back and help those kids to also reach where I am. We cannot brag that we have achieved this far when other kids are yet to reach that far.”

Twitter: @BullaFatima