ENDOWED SCHOLARSHIPS

Scholarships are vital to Africa University; over 90% of students enrolled at Africa University receive financial aid. Africa has the dubious distinction of having some of the poorest nations, largest populations, and harshest living conditions in the world. Despite its trove of natural resources, the yearly incomes of Africans are some of the lowest in the world. Nearly half of its people live on less than a dollar a day. Ironically, better health care in recent decades has caused further problems in Africa. The population of the continent is approximately 800 million, and these increasing numbers have endangered the environment and strained already weakened governments. This is the world of the students of Africa University.

Millions of children have been orphaned from war, disease and starvation on the African

continent. Many of these children have become the head of their h o u s e h o l d s , responsible for raising their younger siblings

and struggling to feed their families. One student shared this story. “As the youngest of eight children whose parents died in the Liberian War a number of years ago, I could not have attended Africa University without the scholarship I received.”

An endowment of $125,000 is sufficient to provide a significant scholarship to one student attending Africa University. An individual or church willing to fully endow a scholarship with a contribution of at least $125,000 would have the opportunity to name the scholarship.

ENDOWED CHAIR of AGRICULTURE AND NATURAL RESOURCES

One of Africa’s greatest challenges is developing an efficient sustainable agricultural industry capable of feeding its people. Malnutrition is a common condition due to lack of food. A key to addressing the challenge of feeding a continent is increasing the number of dedicated agriculturally trained individuals who are ready to become tomorrow’s agricultural leaders. To accomplish this, AU must recruit and retain faculty with the vision, dedication and qualifications necessary to instill the passion and knowledge required to feed nations.

Limited resources make it difficult to be competitive in recruiting and retaining qualified faculty. One way to address this challenge is through the creation and funding of an endowed professorship, or chair position. The position is funded through the creation of an endowment, the earnings from which are used to support the position in perpetuity.

An endowment of $1,000,000 is sufficient to maintain an adequate flow of earnings by which to support a position in the School of Agriculture and Natural Resources. An individual or church willing to donate at least $750,000 toward this endowment would have the opportunity to name the chair.

CHARITABLE GIFT OPTIONS

Teaching a man to fish, or in this case men and women to address the challenges of their na-tions, is a tremendous blessing. The Indiana Conference has been supporting Africa Univer-sity for over 25 years. Here are several ways you can join in keeping the dream alive:

Gifts of cash are easy and the most com-mon gift. Please make your check payable to the United Methodist Foundation of Indiana (UMFI).

Gifts of stocks or bonds are potential gifts that may have tax benefits as well. The UMFI can process gifts of stock or bonds to benefit the AU campaign.

Gift of a life insurance policy can be made to benefit AU now or in the future.

IRA distributions can be used to fund a gift to the Indiana Campaign for AU.

Gifts of real property can be made to cre-ate a significant gift to the AU campaign. All real estate would be sold and the pro-ceeds applied to the funds.

Charitable Gift Annuities can have the du-al benefit of providing an annuity for the life of the donor and a gift to Africa Univer-sity.

If you would like the opportunity to name the Chair of Agriculture and Natural Resources, the minimum contribution is $750,000. This is 75% of the required corpus to provide sufficient funds to support this position far into the fu-ture.

If you would like the opportunity to name a scholarship to honor or memorialize someone important in your life, the minimum contribu-tion of $125,000. This fully funds one scholar-

KEEP THE DREAM KEEP THE DREAM

ALIVE ALIVE

Mr. Christian Zigbuo graduated in 2012 with a degree in Computer Information Systems and is serving as a Young Adult Missionary with UM General Board of Global Ministries in Democratic Republic of Congo. The Liberian Civil war ravaged Christian’s family, taking both his parents and three siblings. At the age of 10 he was an orphaned refugee. His life was turned around by United Methodists who helped him obtain an education both through Operation Classroom and Africa University. Christian received a four year scholarship to Africa University from funds provided by the Indiana Conference and he said “I don’t know if I’d be here without you.”

Ms. Ana Carvalho was a member of the first class of students enrolled in Africa University and graduated in 1996. She majored in agricultural economics which eventually led her to her present role as Operations

Officer of the World Bank’s Angola office where she manages the operations work for any Bank financed projects.

AU ALUMNI

By 2013, there were more than 4,000 alumni in communities across Africa. A significant proportion of Africa University graduates have subsequently attained Master's and Doctoral degrees from other institutions and have returned to Africa to change the world.

AFRICA UNIVERSITY

Africa University (AU) is a private university located just outside of Mutare, Zimbabwe. In the last academic year, more than 2,000 students were enrolled coming from 25 African countries.

In 1988 the General Conference of the United Methodist Church embraced a dream of Bishops Emilio J. M. de Carvalho and Arthur F. Kulah to begin a continent-wide university in Zimbabwe where no private universities existed. On April 6, 1991, thousands of people watched as the groundbreaking ceremony took place and one acacia tree was planted at the future site of Africa University.

United Methodists of Indiana have long supported AU. The former North and South Conferences each built and dedicated two dormitories on the campus of Africa University. These four buildings were a fine addition to the campus, however there is more to education than classrooms and dormitories.

Dedicated professional staff and engaged students create a great university. Buildings provide the infrastructure, but people develop the leaders who will address the challenges facing our world. For these students and professors the Dream Is Alive. We have the opportunity to create the infrastructure to support these dreams.