Biography

Funding for my doctoral studies ended in December 2003 which negatively affected my studies. Even before then, the Zimbabwe national economic meltdown that started in early 2000 resulted in scaling down my studies. I spent more time on short-term assignments to meet the financial demands of my family. My studies were adversely affected in early 2004 when I joined a local NGO as a full-time Research Officer. In 2003, I heard about the KSAL thesis writing grant. In 2005, I attended the leadership training workshop which brought back some confidence and self-belief. The training made me realise the importance of individuals working towards leaving lasting impressions on disadvantaged communities. After the training workshop, my interest in development work increased. I read about interventions for developing countries with a bias towards monitoring and evaluation. At the end of 2005, I was appointed the head of the monitoring and evaluation department for the same organisation. Since then, I have immensely contributed towards delivery of demand-led and sustainable interventions to vulnerable communities. I have provided quality leadership in the evaluation of interventions around livelihoods and food security, health, HIV and AIDS, water sanitation and hygiene, and basic education – which have benefitted more than 100,000 vulnerable households over the years. This has given me great satisfaction which cannot be quantified in monetary terms resulting in me staying with the same organisation to date. However, the effects of the national economic meltdown and increased pressure of work led to my abandoning the PhD studies in 2006. I have realised that for me to able to complete PhD studies, I need meaningful sponsorship so that I can focus on studies only.