ZIMBABWEAN Martin Ganda is now a derivatives analyst at Goldman Sachs in New York, but joining the global investment and securities bank would have been a dream too far as he struggled to get schools fees in Mutare’s impoverished Sakubva township not so long ago.

The 27 year-old recalls his father, who worked at a local paper mill in the eastern border town, struggling to feed his family of seven and pay school fees for his five children, even though he believed in the importance of education.

Martin says he was looking at possibly spending his life herding goats until a pen pal programme introduced at Chisamba Primary School between 1993 and 1994 dramatically changed his fortunes.

“I was fortunate to be paired with a girl named Caitlin Stoictz, who I became close friends with, corresponding over mail, exchanging pictures and cultural stories on the differences between the USA and Zimbabwe,” Ganda says.

However as the economic situation in Zimbabwe began to deteriorate the elder Ganda struggled to raise fees for his five children and Martin would often be dismissed from school.

"She (Stoictz) would notice that I wasn't answering for a while and ask what happened," he said. "I told her I was dismissed from school because my parents couldn't pay the fees."

The fees were about $10 a semester. Before long, Stoictz was sending him $20 from her baby-sitting money every three quarters or so. Not only did it pay his school fees, it helped his family eat and send his younger siblings to school.

"We grew up together through pictures," Ganda said, remembering being impressed by photos from Stoictz' prom date and home. "When she turned 16, she got a car. Back home, even professionals don't have cars."

With Stoictz’ help and the support of a small scholarship from a local firm Ganda managed to go to Marist Borthers High School in Nyanga for his A Levels after getting the best Ordinary Levels results in the region.

When he finished high school, he told Stoictz that he wanted to go to college where she was.

Letters, applications and requests for scholarships flew back and forth. Finally, Stoictz and her mother "strong-armed" Villanova University into giving Ganda a full-ride scholarship, and his fuure began.

At Villanova he was double major in Mathematics and Economics, graduated in 2007 and joined Goldman Sachs in New York City. 

“Now that I am here in America, my family has moved from their ghetto community to a nice place, and my siblings now attend better schools.

“I could not be where I am today without the help of Caitlin and her family, who took the leap of faith and believed in me while I was a rough diamond in the dust in Mutare,” he says.

But Martin has not forgotten that thousands of other bright children back in Zimbabwe need the sort of opportunities Stoictz’s help afforded him.

He has joined hands with other Zimbabwean professionals to set up Seeds for Africa, a scholarship fund for promising students from poor backgrounds back home.

“In Zimbabwe, there is a huge pit of talented young students who cannot reach their potential due to lack of funds.

“It is not about money or how many students we can help, but if we can rescue one child from poverty, that’s one child that will go and change his/her family's life and eventually his/her community,” he says.

Ganda feels he can best serve students in his country by leveraging his contacts and resources in America. He has worked with agencies at the United Nations and recruited some high-level philanthropists to his cause.

"When I was 10, if you asked me what I would do when I grew up, I would have said I'd be herding goats," Ganda said. "But I'm where I am because someone believed in me."

By Staff reporter and agencies

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