The Sunday News
Rumbidzai Mbewe Sunday Leisure Correspondent
A ZIMBABWEAN student recently did the nation proud by scooping an award at the recently held DStv Eutelsat Star Awards.
The unique Pan-African competition seeks to cultivate interest in science and space technology in young African students.
The winners of the competition were announced in Zambia on Tuesday with the 18-year-old Joseph Mahiya from Hellenic Academy in Harare coming tops in the essay category and winning a trip to Paris and beyond to a launch site to witness a rocket blast into space to place a satellite into orbit.
The theme for the essay category was: to imagine yourself as a satellite looking down on earth and consider the key issues shaping Africa and how satellites can help development.
In an interview with Sunday Leisure, the essay winner Mahiya said he was very proud and happy about his achievement. He said winning the competition made him feel like he has fulfilled part of his ambitions.
“Having received the news that I won the essay contest, I had this great feeling of excitement and I couldn’t help it but smile especially when you have an encouraging supporting structure. My friends were there with me and it just made me feel good,” said Mahiya who is studying Mathematics, Physics and Chemistry at Hellenic Academy in Harare.
“I felt like I had fulfilled part of my ambitions after being unsuccessful in one of the essay contests that I had participated in. I didn’t give up though and look at where this hope has taken me. I have finally scooped something and my patience did indeed pay,” he said.
Mahiya said when he participated in the competition he did not think that his essay was going to make it to the top. He said he participated in the competition out of curiosity and almost gave up because he had little time to write the essay.
“Initially I saw some of the then upper sixes with the entry forms but they were not enough and so I had to get my own. I downloaded mine and the due date was a fortnight later. I then spent sleepless nights doing research on the internet, newspapers and books so that I could get an idea of what I was writing about,” he said.
Bearing in mind that there were more than a thousand entries in the competition, he almost gave up. However, his friends and family gave him the support and the encouragement to take part in the competition.
“I am very happy to have such a strong support team. I almost threw in the towel because I thought I did not have a chance. My friends and family encouraged me to take part in the competition because they believed in me and that gave me the strength to carry on,” he added.
“I asked myself why I can’t win and I could not find answers. From there I continued and I managed to put all things in order and submitted my essay. After I submitted I heard that the due date had been moved and I was devastated because that meant more people will be sending their essays hence lessening my chances of winning the competition,” he said.
His word of encouragement to his peers was that they should not sleep until they have achieved what they aspire to be in life. He said his triumph was testimony that hard work pays.
“We all can shape the nation as we all have brilliant ideas that can help build our country. When an opportunity presents itself, we should grab it with both hands because you never know where it will lead you,” he said.
The fourth edition of the DStv Eutelsat Star Awards, organised by MultiChoice and Eutelsat, attracted over 1 000 entries from 14 countries. The runner-up in the essay category was João Nuno Freire Melo (Angola) who won a trip for two to visit MultiChoice facilities and the South African National Space Agency near Johannesburg.
