Travel from Zimbabwe to attend Bowdoin College

Hi All! My name is Selena (Bowdoin Class of 2016) and I'm fundraising on behalf of Mukudzei Seremani. I was fortunate to have mentored Mukudzei in a project about cervical cancer (more on this later) and she was recently accepted early-decision to Bowdoin. Although Mukudzei was fortunate to receive full scholarship support to Bowdoin, she and her family do not have the money to fund her trip to the US. I plan to purchase her flight and hotel and help her move into Bowdoin for orientation on August 25th - we've both reached out to Bowdoin to see if there are any additional resources she could use to support her during this trip but she was told there wasn't and I haven't heard back yet. This will be her first flight and first time leaving Zimbabwe. Thank you so much for considering donating to support Mukudzei - the flight we're looking at is just under $1700, anything else we're able to raise will go toward her lodging the first two nights in the US and getting her set up with winter clothes :)

More about Mukudzei below:

She is an incredibly inspiring individual and we worked together on a project to collect and disperse resources about cervical cancer treatments because rates are high in her community and she has experienced personal loss from cervical cancer. Additionally, Mukudzei is working on a Capstone project to provide better access for all individuals in her community. I TRULY believe Mukudzei can change the world.

In her own words, here are her responses to me asking about her research to share with the GoFundMe page:

Wheelchair Accessibility Project (Capstone)

I love research...yes I do more than anything else

-It is a systematic way I have always found answers to my questions, not only answers but answers with valid solutions

-I remember sitting in loneliness and bargaining after an accident I was run over by a car.

-The reason I remember that led to this loneliness is accessibility.

-I could not visit my friends with a wheelchair but they could because their homes did not make it comfortable for me to be around.

-This led to a lot of inclusion issues in some activities of the community I thought I could be part of.

-During my final year in high school I dedicated my time to research on the questions "What are the accommodations provided for wheelchair users in my community?"

-My main findings from both primary and secondary research were that the Government of Zimbabwe has not done enough in thinking about wheelchair users.

-These people also find it hard to get jobs despite the level of education and this makes their cost of living expensive for them as most of them are unemployed and require special services that are not provided by the state.

-Henceforth I came out with a plan to make portable wheelchair ramps from recycled plastic.

-Also teach wheelchair users how to make dishwashing liquid finding markets for them to supply as one of the income generating skill.

-During my time from January up to when I leave for college I was chosen out of a pool to be a Capstone Fellow

- Therefore sponsored by Education Matters I will be working to put this into action

-We have made our first bucket of dishwashing liquid now and we hope to get more than expected markets.

Supporting SDG #10 Reduced Inequalities I hope to go far and beyond

#inclusion #equality #kindness

Cervical Cancer Project

-My journey in research started as a young girl in search of why an aunt died from cervical cancer

- I knew answers were within reach.

- I did a research on Cervical Cancer Control

-I did not want to see other people losing beloved ones due to lack of knowledge.

-Then the journey started with simple application to Polygence where I got fully funded to see my dream coming TRUE.

-I never knew I was about to meet my destiny helper, a caring friend and a knowledgeable mentor who helped me find my answers

-We thought the best way to let people know is through a blog

- We gathered data, analysed and sorted it out.

-We made a beautiful blog on Cervical Cancer Control which I shared with my community on WhatsApp.

-Whenever I hear my phone buzzing I know one of the messages is a thank you note and I know I have made change and that change is making change

-Together a better community is built with lesser problems and countless solutions