Andrews Farm St Columba College student, Matala Kyemo has been accepted to Harvard

From surviving a refugee camp after fleeing a brutal civil war and with no English, an Andrews Farm St Columba College student is now heading to one of the world’s most prestigious universities.

At age three, Matala Kyemo was living in an African refugee camp.

Now aged 17, she is preparing to spend the northern summer studying at Harvard, the private Ivy League university in Cambridge, Massachusetts.

Matala Kyemo, a Year 12 student has just been accepted to Harvard. The Advertiser/ Morgan Sette

The Year 12 student at St Columba College in Andrews Farm has taken challenges along the journey in her stride, such as arriving in Australia with no English – her first word “banana” was taught to her by a flight attendant handing out fruit on the flight.

Matala has been accepted into Harvard’s Secondary School Summer Program and from July will live on campus for seven weeks, undertaking a college-level program designed to challenge school-aged students.

She has experience in university-level studies – St Columba runs an Independent Academic Study Program and in addition to school work Matala has completed nine of these self-directed courses from a variety of universities, on subjects including ancient history, justice, Japanese and African-American history.

Her family was forced to flee their home in the Democratic Republic of Congo in 2009 amid a brutal civil war – her parents took their other children one way, but Matala was with her grandmother and they fled in the other direction.

Matala, 17, with parents Rehema Kindu, and Abasi Kyemo Walumona at St Columba College in Andrews Farm. Picture: Morgan Sette.

She ended up in a Ugandan refugee camp with her grandmother for more than a year before the Red Cross reunited her with her parents in another camp where she stayed for three more years.

“I remember the camp had a playground where all the kids would hang out,” she recalls.

Matala arrived in Adelaide in 2014 aged seven with no English but high hopes.

The family were granted refugee status and now are proud Australian citizens.

Matala with her family. Picture: Morgan Sette

Matala was modest when asked by The Advertiser about hobbies and hopes, but it emerged in addition to academic studies she is in the school’s open girls soccer team and open debating team.

“I want to be an international student and study African politics and also ancient medicines,” she said. “I want to be a researcher and take ancient medicines, match them with modern technology and create new cures.

“The school gives great individual support to each student. Whenever I embark on new initiatives, the school provides insightful advice and allocates the necessary time for their execution.”

Darren Pitt, principal of St Columba College, Andrews Farm.

St Columba’s principal, Darren Pitt said the Harvard acceptance is “an incredible accolade.” “The program attracts an elite group of applicants from around the world, and only around two per cent are accepted,” he said.

Matala started at St Columba – the only joint Catholic/Anglican school in Australia – in Year 8 in 2020 and quickly shone as a high achieving student with a strong work ethic.

“The sacrifice my parents made in leaving everything behind to immigrate to Australia, giving up many of their own aspirations to ensure our dreams come true, serves as the foremost reason for my application for the Harvard program,” she said.

Originally published as Andrews Farm St Columba College student, Matala Kyemo has been accepted to Harvard