Key Takeaways
-
Prince Bashangezi co-founded TWEENS in 2020 to provide peer-to-peer tutoring for displaced children in Zimbabwe's Tongogara Refugee Camp.
-
The youth-led program has grown to offer A-Level preparation, ongoing homework support, and a girls' book club.
-
Now studying computer science and economics at Pomona College, Bashangezi continues to advocate for accessible education in underserved communities.
Empowering displaced students through the power of peer connection
When global lockdowns disrupted classroom learning in March 2020, displaced communities faced an unprecedented risk of educational setbacks. At the Tongogara Refugee Camp in Zimbabwe, home to over 17,000 people displaced by conflict across central and eastern Africa, Prince Bashangezi chose not to wait for standard schooling to resume. Having endured profound personal loss during wartime, he focused his energy on uplifting those around him.
Bashangezi and a group of fellow A-Level students at the USAP Community School decided to build a solution out of what they already had: their shared knowledge and dedication to one another. Together, they established TWEENS, an acronym for Together We Educationally Empower Non-privileged Students. Operating directly within the camp, the initiative enlisted older refugee students to tutor younger peers in an environment where resources, teachers, and structural stability were scarce.
Supported by the nonprofit Education Matters Africa, TWEENS demonstrated that credibility and trust in learning often flourish best through close proximity. Because the tutors lived through the same displacements and disruptions as their students, they offered not just lessons, but deep empathy and emotional encouragement that external programs rarely replicate.
What began as a localized response during a global crisis has continued to flourish for more than five years. Today, TWEENS has expanded its offerings to include dedicated A-Level studies, a girls’ book club, and ongoing homework assistance, ensuring children in the camp maintain a vital path forward.
Bashangezi’s educational path has since led him to Pomona College in California through the Global Student Haven Initiative, where he studies computer science and economics. By exploring how technology and resource distribution intersect with education, he continues to support the initiative that began in Tongogara, proving that shared knowledge and resilience can light the way toward a brighter future.
