Aviation industry opportunities beckon for underprivileged kids . . . First Lady’s foundation to roll out scholarships
ACADEMICALLY-GIFTED children from humble backgrounds will soon have opportunities to penetrate the lucrative aviation industry courtesy of a unique and life transforming scholarship programme to be administered by First Lady Dr Auxillia Mnangagwa’s Angel of Hope Foundation to empower the country’s youths.
Beneficiaries will be learning through leading aviation schools in Europe.
Spearheaded by Mr Seth Van Beek (22), one of the youngest commercial pilots and a Zimbabwean based in United Kingdom, the rollout of the scholarships is slated for early next year and will offer beneficiaries opportunities to train as pilots, air traffic controllers, flight attendants and engineers.
Commercial pilots fly charter flights, rescue operations, firefighting missions, crop dusting flights, and take aerial photographs. They often have additional duties that include scheduling flights and aircraft maintenance.
The awarding of the scholarships by European flight schools, shows just how the First Lady has captured the imagination of the world with her empowerment initiatives, prompting other citizens to want to lend a hand in her efforts to empower the motherland.
Yesterday, Mr Van Beek paid a courtesy call on the First Lady and gave a glimpse into what the scholarship programme entails.
“I have come to have a meeting with Amai, our mother the First Lady in regards to the future of the aviation industry within Zimbabwe as a whole and the start of a scholarship programme through the Angel of Hope Foundation,” he said.
“We have decided that in the New Year we will be launching the scholarship programme whereby we will be funding training for students from 16 years up whereby we will be providing scholarships for them to train to be pilots, air traffic controllers, flight attendants, engineers.
“We are looking to push towards the empowerment and indigenisation of the aviation industry in Zimbabwe as a whole and also supporting the President’s Vision 2030.”
Mr Van Beek, himself a person who rose from a humble background, said he sought to prove that with determination, everything was possible.
“We are in to provide services which should be like none other and the first of its kind to empower the youths of Zimbabwe for the rest of the world to know