Sue Morgan Trust helps another international student

Wednesday, 28 April 2010

Fidelis Sindani receiving the award: (L-R) Dr Sarah Cardey, Programme Director, Fidelis Sindani, Dr Bhavani Shankar, Director of the Graduate Institute, Professor Chris Garforth, Programme Director

The Sue Morgan Memorial Trust Fund 2010 Award has been presented to Mr Fidelis Sindani from Malawi who is studying for an MSc in Applied Development Studies.

This is an annual prize that is awarded to a deserving postgraduate student from Africa studying programmes in the Graduate Institute of International Development and Applied Economics.

Fidelis received a cheque for £1000 from the trust, which will be of great benefit to him in his future studies. He said: "I am greatly honoured to be this year's recipient of Sue Morgan Memorial Trust Award. Coming from an agricultural background, the modules I enrolled in have offered me a rare opportunity to learn about strategies that will directly benefit the vulnerable households that I serve in Malawi.

"On my part this award drives me to do well and keep the goal of Sue Morgan a reality. I very much appreciate the Trust's commitment to supporting agricultural development in Africa through this award."

Fidelis was nominated for the award by his Programme Director, Sarah Cardey. She said: "Fidelis is a very hard working, dedicated and conscientious student who has demonstrated continued academic development. He is an active participant in the classroom, engaging in lively and constructive discussions. He has also impressed other faculty members in his self-motivation in developing his dissertation proposal and initiating his research."

The objectives of the Trust are to provide financial support to individuals from African countries, particularly Malawi and Mozambique, to further their academic study, with a view to assisting agricultural development within their own country.

The Trust was created in the memory of Sue Morgan who died tragically in Mozambique on the 26th June 1991. Sue was a student in the Department of Agricultural and Food Economics in the session 1988/89 when she successfully completed the MSc in Tropical Agricultural Development. At the time of her death she was working as an Agricultural Economist for the Food Studies group in the Department of Development Studies at Oxford University, having completed two years in Malawi with Voluntary Service Overseas.