A Zimbabwean genius Angela Kumirai, recently got international acclaim when she was selected from 10 000 university students worldwide, as one of the top 25 finalists in the Ozy Genius Awards (OGAs), to implement a social impact idea.
Although she could not make into the top 10, Angela acquitted herself very well as her idea titled “Improved access to medication in Zimbabwe”, was widely acknowledged.
The OGAs, sponsored by Chevrolet, offers 10 college students the grand opportunity of up to US$10 000, along with the time and mentorship, to turn their ideas into reality.
This year’s genius winners were Dyllen Nellis (Stanford University), Tony Shu (Harvard), Gabriel Saruhashi (Yale), Joel Baraka (Wisconsin Madison), Dan Eggers (Baldwin Wallace), Grace Fisher (California Santa Barbara), Arleen Lopez (Rutgers Newark), Brandy Merriweather (Clark Atlanta), Antonia Ginsberg-Klemmt (New College of Florida) and Marcinia Johnson (Bennett College).
Angela was brought up on a plot in Gweru and attended Fletcher High School where she was head girl and achieved 20 points at Advanced Level in Mathematics, Physics, Chemistry and Computers.
Angela is now set to graduate cum laude from the University of Pennsylvania with a BA in Chemistry and in Health and Society.
Her initiative is a pharmaceutical idea which seeks to improve the Zimbabwean medication acquisition experience in remote districts to improve how Zimbabweans in those areas can easily access their medicines.
The idea entails getting alerts to medicine availability via mobile phone text messaging.
“This year’s winners have been the best of the best. In a year filled with difficulty, their bright ideas really shine through and give me hope for the future,” said OZY chief executive, Carlos Watson.
