MCB SALT Fellowship funds enables landmark gender achievement in Zimbabwe

Throughout Africa, I constantly meet incredible people in all fields of life and ministry who have been beneficiaries of the Nationals in Mission (NMA) and SALT Fellowship Programmes, funded by the World Mission Fund of MCB. It is wonderful how lives and Connexions have been transformed by these programmes and sometimes the stories are really worth celebrating. Dr. Noleen Chinyere, Vice-Principal of the United Theological College in Harare, Zimbabwe, is one such beneficiary.

The United Theological College in Harare is the only Ecumenical Theological College in Zimbabwe. There are currently 122 students from all Protestant denominations, about 40% women and 60% men, taught by six full-time and six part-time staff.

The Vice-Principal, Rev.Dr. Noleen Chinyere is a former SALT beneficiary, whose PhD studies were funded by the World Mission Fund of MCB. Coming from a poor rural background, she was the first of her family to get into high school and without the funding provided by the Methodist Church in Britain, she could never have afforded her PhD studies. And now, she has become not only the first woman in the Methodist Church in Zimbabwe to be awarded a PhD, but the first woman to be appointed Vice Principal at the United Theological College, since it was established in 1954.

Dr. Chinyere’s PhD studies focused on the experience of bereavement on women in rural Zimbabwe and the Church’s response (or lack of response) to the impact of tribal and social traditions that have caused lasting trauma to generations of widows and women. Dr. Chinyere’s research is regarded as a benchmark study of the impact of cultural traditions on women in contemporary society and she is profoundly grateful to MCB for the support that we have provided. After years of facing many challenges and hardships, she now beams with pride in what she has managed to achieve and gratitude for those who have enabled her progress. “Without the support MCB provided, I would not even have a job today,” she said. “From the bottom of my heart, I thank the Methodist Church for everything that they have done. I will ensure that that support is honoured.” Dr. Chinyere is determined to continue her research, to improve theological educational opportunities for women, and has already been approached by an academic institution in Germany to undertake further work on the impact of traditional cultural attitudes and practices on the lives of women in Africa.