Reflection: Innocent Mutetwa
Rememberance by Rebecca Z. Mano, Usap Founder
Innocent had two families here in Zimbabwe. He was the youngest of nine children in the proud Mutetwa family in the high-density township of Chitungwiza and the apple of his parents' and older siblings' eyes, the one with the promise to uplift the family from poverty to a better life. His mother describes him as a "soft boy", one who was always reading, always thinking and always asking questions. From a young age, he began winning awards at school both for academics and sport, his favorite being tennis. On his national Grade 7 exams at the end of primary school, Innocent earned a perfect mark and on his O level exams in secondary school, he earned straight A's in 13 subjects, making him the best O level student in Zimbabwe that year.
As he entered his last year of A levels, his final year of high school, Innocent gained a second family. He applied to be a participant in the United States Student Achievers Program (Usap) run by the US Embassy and was selected from over 400 applicants as one of 30 Usap students his year. Usap works with students who shine with academic excellence, leadership potential, a strong ethos of community, and who are from economically-disadvantaged backgrounds to access higher educational opportunities in the US. Usap started in Zimbabwe but now runs in 14 countries – here at St. Lawrence, Evelyn Gatawa is Innocent's Usap big sister and he also has Usap siblings at St. Lawrence from Latvia, South Africa and Brazil.
Usap comes together as a family – in Innocent's case, 30 bright students with big dreams and the talent to realize them would travel for hours to meet at our US Embassy Educational Advising Office monthly and then weekly and then finally daily until they had confidently sent their applications for admission and full scholarships to America's top institutions. Usap continues as a family at its best in the US – students are in constant touch by email, phone and an annual conference, celebrate the good, endure the difficult and ultimately support one another throughout and beyond college. Inno's Usap brothers and sisters, as well as me, his Usap mother, have been devastated by his loss and left with so many unanswered questions and his unfulfilled potential. We miss him dearly.
Innocent was a loved member of his Usap cohort – he brought so much enthusiasm and determination to the group as well as a great sense of humor. I remember that at our first Usap meeting, he arrived an hour late – before I could be angry, he burst into the story of how he and his classmate from Nyanga High, a Catholic rural boys' boarding school about 250 miles from Harare, had slept at a bus stop a few miles from school under a tree in order to get the first bus in the morning to the capital city. I won't forget the Usap meeting we had in early April 2006, when we were discussing the exciting and disappointing admission decision news as a group -- Innocent showed up decked out in a matched pinstripe three piece suit. I was not the only one to assume he must have a job interview afterwards. Someone asked him, "Hey Inno, what's up with the suit?" His simple answer – "I am appropriately outfitted for the good news I am about to share and for the good man I am going to become." And that is how he broke to the group of Usap siblings his acceptance and offer of scholarship to join you here at St. Lawrence. From that day forward, Inno would come to our meetings in a suit – sometimes too large and borrowed, sometimes his own, but always making his impression when he walked into the room.
As many of you know, Innocent was a young man of deep faith. He took it upon himself to pray for the Usap students, both as a group and individually when they were embarking on their journeys to the US. He would always tell me "God bless you, Mhamha" if I had helped him in any way, big or small. I have no doubt that his own faith journey touched many of you deeply here.
Today, Eric Weinhold, the Director of International Admissions at St. Lawrence, and I traveled to Innocent's home here in Zimbabwe to spend the morning with his parents, brother and nephews. We talked, cried, shared with his family and Eric was able to explain who the people were in the photos Innocent had brought home, what he had been involved with at university and how St. Lawrence has been affected by his loss. We told Innocent’s family of the memorial service you are holding today and gave them copies of the program. As a strongly spiritual family, their first question was to know what time it would be in Zimbabwe when you held the service. We let them know it would occur from 11pm to 1230am Zimbabwe time. They then let us know that they would gather some friends and relatives and hold a vigil for Innocent throughout that time in solidarity with the expression of love and memory you are holding for their son today.
Both Innocent's biological and his Usap families miss him and will forever keep his memories dear. May he rest in peace.