Pleased to announce our newest Grassroots Cricket board of directors Dr Mapfumo. Dr Takavada (Taka) Mapfumo moved from Zimbabwe to Australia in 2007 and works as a General Practitioner based in North Brisbane. Dr Mapfumo worked in different comunities including regional remote areas, Aboriginal and Torres Islander. He has a passion for disadvantaged communities and thrives on making a difference in people’s lives where he can. He is a strong believer of using the power of sport holistically to transform the biological, psychological,social and physical aspects of disadvantaged children in Zimbabwe. Dr Mapfumo was born in Buhera District , Manicaland Province, in eastern Zimbabwe and did his Primary education at Makumbe CPS.Being a rural remote area with no public transport he would walk 8kilomteres to and from school and still have some energy to work in their cornfields. His family considered themselves lucky as they could afford most basics, and this taught him at an earlier tender age the impact of “having or not having” on someone’s life. His family had enough savings to send him to a boarding school (St Francis of Assisi, Chivhu) where he gained enough grades to earn himself university entrance for medical degree. “Sadly some of my good mates from primary school – some of them late – did not have those opportunities and their dreams were shattered,” says Dr Mapfumo. Dr Mapfumo believes that he is where he is today because of opportunities that were presented to him, support from family and the community. “If only more people can the afforded those make-or-break opportunities, the world will be a better place,” he says He sees Grassroots Cricket, as a reputable charity that help make this kind of difference in the lives of young people. He feels at home working with people in need, underprivileged, minority or disadvantaged in any way. “Often this support begins something like lending a listening ear, empathy or a shoulder to lean on,” he says. He is confident that it will be satisfying to work with Grassroot Cricket, and continue to support the great work the organisation is already doing. He hopes to expand the horizons and is excited to be personally involved in Grassroots Cricket projects. Dr Mapfumo lives with his wife and four children in Brisbane where he enjoys the Australian way of life and also maintains strong links with Zimbabwe.He enjoys the team-work involved in Cricket ,incooperation of individual skills and how it connects people. His involvement in his children’s sporting activities has boosted his belief of the power of sport to shape young lives. Tawanda Karasa Adrian Oosthuizen Jimmy Adams Paul Wilson Kush Sira Charles Ncube Lachlan Furnell
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