The mother and daughter team of Mary Mataranyika and Patsva Madzokere both obtained their PgDip (HIV/AIDS) in March of this year – a first for the Africa Centre!

Both mother and daughter hail from Zimbabwe, but are currently working in Namibia. Mary has been employed by the Namibian Government since 2010 at the Ministry of Health and Social Services as this country’s chief medical laboratory technologist – being in charge of all the laboratories in the country. She holds, among other, a BSc degree in Clinical Sciences and a ​ BTech degree in Biomedical Technology, as well as a Post Graduate Diploma in Public Health.

Says Mary about the PgDip (HIV/AIDS) at Stellenbosch, “When the opportunity presented itself to do this diploma, I jumped at it. Little did I know that my daughter had also applied for the same course and in the same year!”

Patsva holds a BSc Honours in Pharmacy and is a registered pharmacist. She currently works at a Government hospital in Namibia. Both mother and daughter qualified to do the Mphil degree in HIV AIDS Management at the Centre in 2018.

According to Mary, “the PgDip in HIV/AIDS management has really opened our eyes to the HIV /AIDS pandemic. It’s possible to actually plan an intervention which can be successful. Assessing the impact that HIV has had in our communities has been made easy with this training, the role that me as a lab scientist and Patsva’s as a pharmacist can play have been made clearer.”  

The Africa Centre wishes this dynamic duo all the best for their Mphil studies!​