New scholarship brings Energy to Lynn

The newly-established Martha Gudelsky Endowed Scholarship provides funds to students in need who demonstrate exemplary talent and leadership potential. Energy Maburutse of Bulawayo, Zimbabwe, is the first recipient of this scholarship

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“In my Shona culture, when a child is born, the whole village celebrates the feather in the parents’ cap. But on Oct. 15, 1989, when the third child was born to the Maburutse family, not any beasts were slaughtered. Instead, years of conflict and finger-pointing began because I was the first disabled person born to the extended family, the first disabled person born in my village,” writes Marburutse, who has Brittle Bone Syndrome.

Although most children like him in Zimbabwe are kept at home, mostly out of shame, his mother sent him to school in the capital of Harare when he was 7. That is where he learned that he was not alone – there were tens of thousands of disabled children like him; and a vehicle, called a wheelchair, not only existed, but could offer him means of getting around on his own.

Motivated to prove wrong all those who doubted his ability to succeed scholastically, Marburuste was determined to advance in his studies. He was awarded a scholarship to continue his education in Zimbabwe at the King George IV School for Disabled Children, where he learned independent living and gained self-esteem and hope for his future.

Lynn University is pleased to welcome Energy to campus, where he is currently enrolled in the Eugene M. and Chistine E. Lynn College of International Communication. His life goal is to become a leader in disability rights across the globe. “I need to sort out how a young boy in a wheelchair from a remote corner of a landlocked country can make a difference,” he says.