Hello, my name is Tamara Mufaro Mushaninga, a 22-year-old African woman born and raised under the beautiful skies of Harare, Zimbabwe; driven to pursue one dream: To create works of Art through different forms of media that transcend language, culture, emotion and are simply a gateway to real moments of peace and happiness!

 

My journey began on May 11th, 1999, when I was born as a second child to my parents, Amos and Barbra Mushaninga. I became a younger sister to Tafara and, four years later, an older sister to Tadiwa Mushaninga. Unfortunately, on July 1st, 2013, my Father passed away suddenly and unexpectedly from underlying medical causes while on a business trip in Tanzania. At this time, my older brother was 18 years old and completing his final year of High School, while I was 14, and my younger brother was only 10.

 

While my Father’s passing shook our lives, we were blessed to find out that educational funds had been set aside by the company he worked for, and our family was given the guarantee that the funds would pay for each child’s school tuition as well as their bachelor’s degree. With this in mind, my brother and I completed high school based on the promise that our tuition was taken care of and continue to be covered till the end of university. However, after a few years, the harsh realities of Zimbabwe’s worsening economy caused the company to pull our funding, cutting us off completely.

 

The financial burden that had fallen upon my mother was too great to bear. My older brother changed to a cheaper university, and I took a gap year after high school, which allowed me to work odd jobs, and my mother raised enough funds for my college tuition. Not long after, my mother was diagnosed with Colon Cancer. Thankfully, it was caught in its early stages, but because of the surgery and the chemotherapy sessions my mother underwent, she had to stop working for a while. Bills, living expenses as well as college expenses piled up. As her children, we did all we could – applying for loans, buying groceries, and my brother taking breaks from school so that we could take care of our younger brother as well as our mom. My mother went back to work Monday through Friday to provide for the family while undergoing chemotherapy on the weekends. In June 2020, she was officially cancer-free; however, the effects of chemotherapy were still evident in her system and her road to recovery.

 

Filled with some hope, we began to look into different universities in Spain. We came across Marbella Design Academy, a design school for Fashion, Interior, Graphic Design, and Media. I applied and was instantly accepted! Before my studies at Marbella Design Academy, I studied at Metafora Studio Arts in Barcelona, where I took on as many art disciplines as I could. I mastered the art of sculpture, painting, drawing, molding, casting, collage, screen printing, still life, and performance art. I also had the honor of being a student representative in my foundation year. While I studied, I worked part-time as a babysitter for two children. The money I earned went towards helping to support myself, groceries, and upkeep until the COVID-19 lockdown.

 

Ultimately, studying in Spain has opened my eyes and allowed me to experience different cultures and meet people from around the world. I have had the opportunity to present one of my biggest paintings at MUTUO Art Galleria in Barcelona and even displayed my work during open studio events at Metáfora Studio Arts. The exposure has completely changed my mindset about how Art should be perceived. It is extensively celebrated, and everybody accepts everyone for who and where they are from.

 

While studying at Marbella Design Academy, I met aspiring African students, aiming and successfully breaking the stereotypical mindset that “art will not take you anywhere in life.” Being surrounded by many ethnicities and different perspectives has allowed me to relate to my peers and a greater audience. I have never felt more at home and at peace with myself and my passion than I do studying Graphic Design and Media to become a multimedia producer.

 

In December 2021, I returned to Zimbabwe to renew my passport and visa and experienced an impoverished nation. Due to economic hardships and Zimbabwe’s severe hyperinflation, coupled with the evolving strains of the COVID-19 pandemic, have caused many challenges in receiving funding for my tuition for my third year. My mother has exhausted her funds, has gone through loans, sold vehicles, and has even had our childhood home evaluated, all in hopes of raising enough funding for my tuition. She has suffered multiple trips to the emergency room due to hypertension, elevated stress, and belated chemotherapy spells due to overworking and the constant anxiety that her children might not be able to complete their education.

 

Being home over the past month has opened my eyes and made me relive the trauma of thinking I was about to lose the only parent I had left. The thought of losing her to the stress and uncertainty of an impoverished nation makes me feel exhausted and nervous yet determined because my most significant personality trait is my willpower - my inability to see failure in any form! While I believe there are life lessons, I refuse to believe that we were made to struggle out of circumstances beyond our control. While I am a talented artist, I have much to learn, and venturing into digital art has allowed me to communicate my ideas and process in a marketable way. I can now apply logic and emotions to create works that speak to an audience.

 

As I reflected on my time back in Zimbabwe, I saw how difficult it had become for my mother to simultaneously continue to source funding for all three of us. I want to ease the burden on her so she may fully recover and finally focus on herself after nine years of grief and struggle. This is why I am appealing to the public to assist me in completing my tertiary education and graduating with my degree.

With the help of these payments and your invaluable contributions, I will be able to complete my degree and get one step closer to becoming the kind of artist capable of producing works of art in every media, at any time and in every place. In the future, I plan to take up an internship either in Spain or another part of the world, gaining experience and exposure and continuing to grow my portfolio and become a multimedia producer. Thereby creating content and guiding teams through various projects, but right now, I need to raise enough funds quickly to pay the university by July 31st, 2022, or else I will be suspended solely due to the inability to pay my dues.

 

 

 

I am extremely grateful and appreciative of you for taking the time to read my story and for your consideration. Any contribution towards my future, no matter the amount, is sincerely appreciated. Please feel free to share my story on your social media platforms, even if you cannot contribute financially at this time. Awareness goes a long way! With your help, I am hopeful and excited to see where my journey goes from here.

 

With immense heartfelt gratitude,

 

Tamara Mufaro and Family.