Thread by @mentorshipzim

I know I didn't deserve that fellowship. I believe that it was the doing of God. My fellow American professors think it is a dump think for a scientist to say, but I insist on telling people that I believe that I got that John Wakeford Fellowship by the doing of God.

So I found myself with an offer from UZ which was too good to decline and the John Wakeford Fellowship which I really wanted. I had reached a fork in the road. I went to professor Jacob Mufunda who was the dean of the medical school&told him my story. He referred me to Dr Harrid

Prof Harrid was the chairperson of the Dept of Surgery&Radiology. I met him. Before I opened my mouth, he gave me the most valuable career advice that I have ever been given. He had already been briefed by Prof Mufunda. I will repeat his advice here.

1. If you maintain a healthy lifestyle and 2) Get very educated&excel at what you do and 3) have a solid reputation for integrity&performance and 4) Strive to improve yourself everyday-JOB OPPORTUNITIES WILL COME YOUR WAY. He concluded by telling me 3 more things which I will

also repeat. a) In the process of doing the above 4 things, if you amass wealth, you will also amass massive influence. b) Whenever faced with a choice between professional&intellectual growth on one hand&MONEY on the other-always choose growth. c) Remember the decision is yours.

Those words still ring in my ears and based on that i chose to go for a degree in Nuclear Medicine. One other thing happened that I attribute to divine intervention. On 14 Nov 1997 the Zim dollar collapsed in what became known as Black Friday.

Because of currency uncertainty the John Wakeford Trustees decided that I had to go to South Africa instead of UK. They also decided to disburse the full amount in one tranche. So they instructed me to go to what used to be Bard House in Harare to collect the money. I didn't know

how much the Fellowship was worth. When I got the check I was overawed. I shall not say how much it was save to say it was a good fraction of a million dollars. It was enough to buy my first property, buy my wife a car&pay for the first semester at the University of Jhb.

That is exactly what I did. So I proceeded to SA with enough money for only 1 semester. At the end of the 1st semester I had a full house of distinctions. That earned me a merit scholarship that paid for the rest of the year.

At the beginning of the 2nd semester the students protested against the Radiobiology lecturer. The university was forced to fire him without an alternative. Because I was excelling in Radiobiology my classmates petitioned the Dean to appoint me in his place. It was crazy.

Crazy as the idea was, the dean acceded&appointed me as a PEER TUTOR in Radiobiology. I was retained in that position even after a replacement was hired. I had distinctions in all my courses. Based on my results, for the second year I got a 20000 Norwegian krone scholarship from

Noycomed-Amersham of Norway, Zim$150000 from John Wakeford Trust and a Merit scholarship from the university. I used $100000 to buy a stand in Zimre Park. This was in 1998. So my first two properties were sacrifices that I made from my scholarship money. My lifestyle in SA was

not glamorous but I have no regrets. After graduation I returned to Zim in 2000. Within 3 months, I received 2 very interesting offers. The first was from the Belgian government. The Belgian gvt was looking for 5 people from Africa to study Biomedical Engineering.

The purpose of the scholarship was to develop a cadre of Africans with expertise in radiotherapy, nuclear medicine and radiology equipment. It was a great investment, given that these pieces of equipment are expensive to maintain. the gvt pays a lot of money for their maintenance

and repair. To me it was a no brainer. But to my utter amazement, the MOHCW declined my application for study leave arguing that I needed to " serve bond" for the years i had spent studying in South Africa. At the same time I was offered a job by a private hospital in Botswana.

Initially I was not interested in the Botswana job because I hoped that the MOHCW would eventually grant me study leave. Since I had nothing to lose I kept negotiating for better terms-some of which were outrageous. Those demands included subscriptions to academic journals

continuous professional development and sponsorship for attending conferences. Most of my demands were met. They were desperate to get me. In June 2000 the Botswana hospital paid off my bond with the MOHCW and I resigned. Up to now Zim struggles with breakdown of Nuclear Medicine

and Radiotherapy Equipment. Years later I met Dr Stamps&told him my story. He assured me that if I had appealed to his office he would have facilitated my release to study in Belgium. So what did I learn from this? Two things:

1. It does not hurt to take your case all the way to the highest office. 2. Most embassies in Harare have scholarships that they do not advertise but information is given to people who inquire at the embassies. 3. Don't hesitate to negotiate a package if offered a job.

My new employer enrolled me in an MBA program with DeMontfort University (Leicester-UK). The MBA really opened my eyes and sharpened me in many ways. I decided to focus a lot on Strategy, Organizational Development&Change and Industrial Psychology. I would like to believe that I

became very good in these areas. Since then I have always made my decisions using tools that I learnt in the MBA classes. When PET was a new technology in Nuclear Medicine, I decided to exploit the 1st mover advantage to advance my career. At a time there were only 3 PET scanners

in UK I did my research&learnt that the Blackrock Clinic in Dublin, Ireland was buying a PET scanner. Determined to be one of the first Africans with expertise in Positron Emission Tomography (PET), I applied for a job at Blackrock Clinic&got hired. My employment contract in

allowed for this. In 2002 I moved to Dublin, and immersed myself in PET for 6 months. After which I resigned&returned to Africa. Professionally as far as PET was concerned I was already ahead of the curve on the continent. When Bokamoso hospital in Botswana decided to open a

Nuclear Medicine dept, they hired me to spearhead the project. Using skills acquired in the MBA program I did a lot of consultancy work focusing on the recruitment&development of high level executives&preparing them to compete for top level jobs. In 2010 I returned to Zim& worked

as Program Manager in the Non Communicable Diseases at MOHCW head office. Although the salary was orders of magnitude less than what I had been earning previously, the job was meaningful. It sparked my interest in global health and public health.