It is always great to see alumni on campus, now that we are open to the general public. If ever you want to come and have lunch or morning coffee, cheer on any of the sporting activities or come to one of our Wednesday lunchtime assemblies, please request a visit via email. You can check our comings and goings online through the newsletters that are published on our website. Thanks to all of you who attended the MASS Design open meeting on Tuesday 13 September and participated in our Strategy Design Team with NoTosh. Both of these initiatives continue and we plan a special meeting with those who are interested in finding out more later in the term. I look forward to seeing you soon again.

A big thank you to all WK alumni who participated in our Term 2 events! We had a very busy term, characterized by exciting events. It was heartwarming and uplifting to see the College alumni during these events. Among these, we had the annual Dick and Enid Eyeington Soccer Tournament which continues to draw quite a significant number of people to celebrate the legacy of Dick and Enid Eyeington, UWC Africa Week, Eswatini Day, Music concert, Careers Fair, Nyatsela and the Visual Arts Exhibition.

Term 3 has started and IB2 mock exams are in progress; we also have a few activities before the end of the year, including our annual PSA Golf Day on Oct 23, 2022, as well as IB and Form 5 graduation ceremonies on November 12 and 18 respectively. Alumni are invited to form a team and participate in the Golf Day tournament.

The Dick and Enid Soccer Tournament saw a big comeback, after 2 years of covid, with the kick-off to the 12th annual edition taking place on 22 July 2022 on the WK campus. A record-breaking 25 teams participated, consisting of teams of the local banking institutions, and departmental ministries as well as two WK student teams, two WK staff teams and five alumni teams.

A big congratulations to our alumni team, Malume FC (captained by Sabelo Zwane - Eswatini, WK 00 - 04) for making it to the semi-finals. This year’s winners were Elangeni Ladies and Eveni Stars (coached by Sibusiso Mazibuko -  Eswatini, WK 07- 11); congratulations to them!

We hope to see more alumni teams when we celebrate the 13th Dick and Enid Eyeington Tournament next year during the school’s 60th-anniversary celebration, which also marks 20 years after the passing of Dick and Enid Eyeington. 

This year saw the return of on-campus events and alumni actively giving back their Time and Treasure to the College with the wealth of knowledge and discourse in the 8th edition of UWC Africa Week that took place from 27 July - 03 August 2022. 
We are grateful to our alumni from different industries who shared their views on “Africa, Rethought, Retold, Rewritten.”  They include:

On Tuesday the 2nd of August, approaching the end of UWC Africa Week 2022, the WK film club hosted the Africa Film Festival in which original films created by students were displayed. The night also featured a panel discussion with Zola Maseko, a prominent Swazi filmmaker and Waterford alumnus, and a screening of his 2016 feature film, The Whale Caller. During the panel discussion, which was held both live and on Zoom with varying degrees of technical success, a whole range of different topics related to the theme of African filmmaking was discussed, such as career opportunities, activism in filmmaking as well as what it is like to be a filmmaker on the continent. Zola also discussed how he spent his time at Waterford and his experience living in Eswatini as a political exile due to his involvement in the anti-Apartheid movement. He talked about how this experience shaped his outlook and ultimately inspired him to start making films. During the panel discussion, he said that the values of Waterford, those of diversity and anti-racism, served as an inspiration for his political outlook.

*Article by Alvin Mang’era, IB1

Lindi, the manager of PricewaterhouseCoopers (PwC) shared her profound gratitude for the insightful conversation. As a Waterford alumna, Lindi took time to remind learners on how life after Waterford will be challenging. She clearly expressed the need for students to mentally prepare for such realities and to approach the challenges daringly as they come.
Overall, Lindi was happy about the homecoming as it accorded her a chance to give back to Waterford as she was part of the panel that spoke on the theme: Year 2080 reconnecting the dots. She was excited about the invitation and mentioned that Waterford has improved from the time she was a scholar as far as student welfare is concerned.

*Article by Munyaradzi Masvaure
 

Women In Leadership Panel - Gigi Reid 
 

One of the panelists during the Women in Leadership Panel was Gigi Reid-Miles, a swazi lawyer, mother and charitarian. In the panel we learnt about Ms Reid-miles. She said a lot of her inspiration came from the resilient women in her life and her experience at Waterford. She said Waterford bestowed on her an inspiration to help others. When asked what advice she’d give to struggling young women she spoke of failing her first year of university, saying, “You cannot grow if you do not fail”. 

*Article By: Bo Young & Chido Murambiwa 

The last day of Africa Week saw a number of students representing about 40 high schools in Eswatini coming to Waterford Kamhlaba to get knowledge from different institutions, companies, and industries that were showcased at the Annual Eswatini Careers Fair 2022. 

The Careers Fair, a CAS programme founded by Wk alumni back in 2008, saw a number of alumni coming to show their support of the students through volunteering their time and for some showcasing their affiliated companies at the fair.

In Memory of Martin Kenyon
 

In Memory of Seapehi Molise ‘16
 

Scholarships are a strategic priority for Waterford. Gifts enhance the diversity of Waterford Kamhlaba UWCSA and expand the reach of the Scholarship Programme, enabling these experiences to be as rewarding as possible.  We continue to promote the Michael Stern 100 Scholarships Centennial Celebration. Michael Stern, founder and first principal of Waterford Kamhlaba was born 100 years ago. This year, we reflect on his conviction as the founder of Waterford Kamhlaba UWCSA. His conviction was that ideas built on mutual trust, cooperation and understanding between different races, classes and nations, would outlast man's inhumanity to man.

Michael Stern was intentional in establishing a bursary program. He wanted to ensure entry to Waterford would never be hindered by finances. This guarantees that there will always be real competition for quality students. With the continuity of the scholarship programme, the college has produced remarkable leaders, making positive change in various parts of the world. The support of donors, sponsors, alumni, volunteers and individuals has and will continue to sustain the legacy of Michael Stern. Join us in celebrating the memory of our Founder by supporting and growing our scholarship fundraising program to enable 100 deserving students with a full scholarship to access a high school and tertiary quality education.

Philanthropists Shelby and Gale Davis are UWCs greatest supporters and established the Davis–UWC IMPACT Challenge in 2015. In 2018, the largest scholarship programme for UWC to date was launched with the Davis-UWC Dare to Dream Programme, where Shelby Davis made a pledge of over USD $100 million towards the UWC movement’s scholarship fund, funding 100 scholarships over the next 20 years. In June 2021, he doubled his support to the  Davis-UWC Dare to Dream Programme for highly talented students in need. Under the new “Dare to Dream 2”-programme, Shelby Davis is pledging a further USD $5 million each year as a match-fund for each scholarship raised by the UWC schools, national committees and UWC International’s newly constituted International Philanthropy Committee. 

A college’s eligibility for the match is accessed on the basis of its continual improvement in raising donations. Our goal is to maintain consistency in cementing WK’s benefit through our Kamhlaba Fund and the Dare to Dream 2 scholarship programs.
Be a part of the change today. You can contact Celiwe or Joan for more information.